# Robert Harron

Robert Emmett Harron (April 12, 1893 – September 5, 1920) was an American motion picture actor of the early silent film era. Although he acted in over 200 films, he is possibly best recalled for his roles in the D.W. Griffith directed films The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916).

## Early life and family

Born in New York City, Harron was second oldest child of nine siblings in a poor, working-class Irish Catholic family. Harron's younger siblings John (nicknamed "Johnnie"), Mary, and Charles also became actors while one of his younger sisters, Tessie, was an extra in silent films. Charles was killed in a car accident in December 1915. Tessie died of Spanish influenza in 1918 while Harron's brother John died of spinal meningitis in 1939.
Harron attended the Saint John Parochial School in Greenwich Village. At the age of fourteen, he found work as an errand boy at American Biograph Studios near Union Square in Manhattan to help support his family. In addition to cleaning duties, Harron also appeared as an extra in a few shorts for Biograph.

## Career

Within a year of working for Biograph, Harron was noticed by newly hired director D.W. Griffith. Harron quickly became a favorite of Griffith, and Griffith began to give the 14-year-old increasingly larger film roles. His first film for Griffith was the 1908 comedy A Calamitous Elopement. (He fit the delivery boy costume and was repeatedly used in such roles until he outgrew the outfit.) The teenaged Harron was often cast by Griffith in the role of the "sensitive" and "naïve" boy, who was overwhelmingly sympathetic and appealing to American film-goers in the very early years of American motion pictures and not far removed from Harron's real-life persona; Harron was often described as a quiet and soft-spoken youth. It was these traits that helped garner much public interest in the young actor, especially amongst young female fans. In 1912 alone, Harron appeared in nearly forty films at Biograph.
Harron is probably best recalled for his roles in the three epic Griffith films: 1914's Judith of Bethulia, opposite Blanche Sweet, Mae Marsh, Henry B. Walthall, and Dorothy and Lillian Gish; 1915's controversial all-star cast The Birth of a Nation; and 1916's colossal multi-scenario Intolerance opposite such popular stars of the era as Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Miriam Cooper, Wallace Reid, Harold Lockwood and Mildred Harris. One of Harron's most popular roles of the era came in 1919 when he starred opposite Lillian Gish in the Griffith directed romantic film True Heart Susie.
Harron's film career continued to flourish throughout the 1910s, and he was occasionally paired with leading actresses Mae Marsh and Lillian Gish with romantic plots, often in roles that cemented his "sensitive boy" image. Harron had, in fact, a burgeoning off-screen romantic relationship with Dorothy Gish. By 1920, Harron had grown too old to continue playing the juvenile roles that had launched his career. He began losing leading man roles to Richard Barthelmess. Later that year, D.W. Griffith agreed to loan Harron to Metro Pictures for a four-picture deal. His first film for Metro, also the last film of his career, was the comedy Coincidence. The film was released in 1921, after Harron's death.

## Death

In late August 1920, Harron traveled by train from Los Angeles to New York City to attend the premiere of the film Way Down East and a preview of what would become his final film, Coincidence. Harron checked into the Hotel Seymour on September 1 with his friend, screenwriter and director Victor Heerman, with whom he was sharing a room. Harron and Heerman attended the preview for Coincidence later that day. Heerman later said that the preview went poorly, as the film was not well received by the audience.
After the premiere, Harron returned to his hotel room alone. At some point during the evening, Harron sustained a gunshot wound to the chest. According to published reports and Harron's own account, he had the gun in his trunk along with his clothes and other possessions. As he was removing clothes from the trunk, the gun fell to the floor and discharged. Harron was hit in the chest, the bullet having punctured his lung. Harron called the hotel desk for assistance and was still conscious when the hotel manager came to his room. Not realizing he was seriously wounded, Harron joked with the manager that he was in a "devil of a fix" having shot himself. He initially refused to let the manager call an ambulance, only wanting to be examined by a local physician in his room. After a physician could not be found, Harron relented and agreed to allow the manager to call an ambulance. When medics arrived and attempted to transport Harron using a stretcher, he insisted on being taken down in a chair. As he had lost a considerable amount of blood, medics had to convince Harron that he needed to be transported on a stretcher.
Harron was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center where he remained conscious but in critical condition. While he was being treated, Harron was arrested for possessing a firearm without a permit under the Sullivan Act and placed in the hospital's prison ward. Shortly after the shooting, rumors arose that the shooting was not accidental and Harron had attempted suicide. There was speculation that Harron was disappointed over being passed over for the leading role in Way Down East (Richard Barthelmess was ultimately cast). Several of Harron's friends rejected the attempted suicide theory. Victor Heerman, with whom he often went on double dates and was staying with Harron in the Hotel Seymour, later said that he visited Harron in the hospital and he denied that he had attempted suicide. Harron admitted the gun belonged to him, but claimed that he had brought it with him because he did not want the gun at the family home in Los Angeles. Harron told Heerman that his younger brother Johnnie had become "hard to handle" and he feared leaving the gun at the family home where Johnnie could find it. Harron told Heerman that he wrapped the gun up in a pair of his trousers and placed them in his suitcase. On the night of the shooting, Harron said he had gone to retrieve the trousers from his suitcase to have them pressed when the gun fell out onto the floor and discharged. Harron also told a priest who visited him in the hospital that the shooting was an accident.
Despite Harron's denial, rumors of attempted suicide persisted. One such rumor was that Harron attempted suicide over the breakup of his relationship with Dorothy Gish. Victor Heerman rejected this theory because Harron, a teetotaler and virgin, was a devout Catholic who would have deemed suicide a mortal sin. Actresses Miriam Cooper and Lillian Gish, both of whom were friends with Harron, agreed with Heerman's reasoning. Cooper and Gish also believed Harron would not have attempted suicide as he was his family's major source of income and had plans to start shooting a new film with Elmer Clifton.
Friends who visited Harron in the hospital were optimistic about his recovery, as he appeared to be on the mend. However, on September 5, four days after he was shot, Harron died of his wound. He is interred at Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, Queens, New York City.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1907 | Dr. Skinum | Boy at Door | Short film Lost film |
| 1907 | Mr. Gay and Mrs. | Messenger | Short film Lost film |
| 1908 | Bobby's Kodak | Son | Short film |
| 1908 | The Snowman | A child | Short film Lost film |
| 1908 | Balked at the Altar | | Short film |
| 1908 | Monday Morning in a Coney Island Police Court | Young Man | Short film |
| 1908 | A Calamitous Elopement | George Wilkinson | Short film |
| 1909 | Those Awful Hats | Theatre Audience | Short film, Uncredited |
| 1909 | A Sound Sleeper | Fighter | Short film Lost film |
| 1909 | At the Altar | Boy On Street | Short film |
| 1909 | Jones and the Lady Book Agent | Messenger | Short film |
| 1909 | A Drunkard's Reformation | Theatre Usher | Short film |
| 1909 | The Lonely Villa | | Short film |
| 1909 | The Hessian Renegades | Farmer | Short film |
| 1909 | To Save Her Soul | Stagehand / Usher | Short film |
| 1910 | Ramona | | Short film |
| 1910 | The Modern Prodigal | At Post Office | |
| 1911 | The Broken Cross | | Short film Lost film |
| 1911 | The White Rose of the Wilds | White Rose's Brother | Short film Lost film |
| 1911 | Enoch Arden | Teenage Arden Son | Part II |
| 1911 | Fighting Blood | The Old Soldier's Son | Short film |
| 1911 | A Country Cupid | Among Students | Short film |
| 1911 | The Last Drop of Water | In Wagon Train | Short film |
| 1911 | The Battle | A Union soldier | Short film |
| 1911 | The Miser's Heart | Bakeshop Assistant | Short film |
| 1912 | For His Son | At Soda Fountain | Short film, Uncredited |
| 1912 | The Transformation of Mike | At Dance | Short film |
| 1912 | Under Burning Skies | On Street / At Farewell Party | Short film |
| 1912 | A String of Pearls | In Tenement | Short film Lost film |
| 1912 | One Is Business, the Other Crime | Delivery Boy | Uncredited, Short film |
| 1912 | The Lesser Evil | In Smuggler Band | Short film |
| 1912 | A Temporary Truce | The Murdered Indian's Son | Short film |
| 1912 | Man's Lust for Gold | The Prospector's Son | Short film Lost film |
| 1912 | The Inner Circle | In Crowd / Accident Witness | Short film |
| 1912 | A Change of Spirit | Young Man on Street | Short film Lost film Uncredited |
| 1912 | Two Daughters of Eve | At Stage Door | Short film |
| 1912 | Friends | Stableboy | Short film, Uncredited |
| 1912 | So Near, Yet So Far | The Rival / In Club | Short film |
| 1912 | A Feud in the Kentucky Hills | A brother | Short film |
| 1912 | The Painted Lady | Beau at Ice Cream Festival | Short film, Uncredited |
| 1912 | The Musketeers of Pig Alley | Rival Gang Member / In Alley / At Dance | Short film |
| 1912 | Heredity | Indian | Short film Lost film |
| 1912 | The Informer | The Southern Boy | Short |
| 1912 | A Sailor's Heart | On Porch | Short film Uncredited |
| 1912 | Brutality | | Short film |
| 1912 | The New York Hat | Youth outside church | Short film |
| 1912 | My Hero | The Young Man | Short film Lost film |
| 1912 | The Burglar's Dilemma | Young Burglar | Short film |
| 1912 | A Cry for Help | Witness to Accident | Short film Lost film |
| 1913 | A Misappropriated Turkey | Union Member | Short film Lost film |
| 1913 | Brothers | The Father's Favorite Son | Short film Lost film |
| 1913 | Oil and Water | Minor Role | Short film Uncredited |
| 1913 | Love in an Apartment Hotel | The Desk Clerk | Short film Lost film |
| 1913 | Broken Ways | In Telegraph Office | Short film |
| 1913 | Near to Earth | Gato's Brother | Short film Lost film |
| 1913 | Fate | The Beloved Son | Short film |
| 1913 | The Sheriff's Baby | The Deputy | Short film Lost film |
| 1913 | A Misunderstood Boy | The Son | Short film |
| 1913 | The House of Darkness | Asylum Guard | Short film |
| 1913 | A Timely Interception | The Farmer's Adopted Son | Short film |
| 1913 | Death's Marathon | The Messenger | Short film |
| 1913 | The Sorrowful Shore | One of the Son's Friends | Short film |
| 1913 | The Battle at Elderbush Gulch | The father | Short film |
| 1913 | The Tender Hearted Boy | The Tender Hearted Boy | Short film Lost film |
| 1913 | The Little Tease | Jim | |
| 1913 | The Yaqui Cur | Strongheart | |
| 1914 | Judith of Bethulia | Nathan | |
| 1914 | The Battle of the Sexes | John Andrews, the son | Lost film A fragment survives |
| 1914 | Brute Force | Harry Faulkner | Short, Prologue - Weakhands (The Old Days) |
| 1914 | The Great Leap; Until Death Do Us Part | Bobby Dawson | Lost film |
| 1914 | The Life of General Villa | American lover | Lost film |
| 1914 | Home, Sweet Home | The Easterner, Robert Winthrop | |
| 1914 | The Escape | Larry Joyce | Lost film |
| 1914 | The Rebellion of Kitty Belle | Joe Belle | Short film Lost film |
| 1914 | The Avenging Conscience | The Grocer's boy | |
| 1914 | The Idiot | The Idiot | Short film Lost film |
| 1915 | The Birth of a Nation | Tod Stoneman | |
| 1915 | The Outcast | Bob | Lost film |
| 1915 | The Outlaw's Revenge | American lover | Lost film |
| 1915 | Her Shattered Idol | Robert | |
| 1915 | The Missing Links | Henry Gaylord | Lost film |
| 1916 | Hoodoo Ann | Jimmie Vance | |
| 1916 | A Child of the Paris Streets | Jimmie Parker | |
| 1916 | A Wild Girl of the Sierras | Bob Jordan | Lost film |
| 1916 | The Marriage of Molly-O | Larry O'Dea | Lost film |
| 1916 | Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages | The Boy (Modern Story) | |
| 1916 | The Little Liar | Bobby | Lost film |
| 1916 | The Wharf Rat | Edward Holmes | Lost film |
| 1917 | The Bad Boy | Jimmie Bates | Lost film |
| 1918 | An Old-Fashioned Young Man | Frank Trent | |
| 1918 | Sunshine Alley | Ned Morris | Lost film |
| 1918 | Hearts of the World | The Boy, Douglas Gordon Hamilton | Uncredited |
| 1918 | The Great Love | Jim Young | Lost film |
| 1918 | The Greatest Thing in Life | Edward Livingston | Lost film |
| 1918 | A Romance of Happy Valley | John L. Logan, Jr. | |
| 1919 | The Girl Who Stayed at Home | James Grey | |
| 1919 | True Heart Susie | William Jenkins | |
| 1919 | The Mother and the Law | The Boy | |
| 1919 | The Greatest Question | Jimmie Hilton | |
| 1921 | Coincidence | Billy Jenks | Posthumous release Lost film |