Oscar Polk
American actor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Oscar Polk (December 25, 1899[1][2] – January 4, 1949) was an American actor. He portrayed the enslaved man Pork in the film Gone with the Wind (1939).
Oscar Polk | |
|---|---|
Portrait of Oscar Polk by Carl Van Vechten, Jan. 24, 1937 | |
| Born | December 25, 1899 Marianna, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Died | January 4, 1949 (aged 49) New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1927–1946 |
Life and career
His most memorable scene in that film comes when Pork discloses to Scarlett O'Hara, portrayed by Vivien Leigh, that the back property taxes “done run up sky high” on Tara in the amount of $300. He was married to Ivy V. Polk (née Ivy Parsons, born October 12, 1920), who had a deleted scene in Gone with the Wind.[3] They had a son, Oscar Polk Jr.
On January 4, 1949, Oscar Polk was fatally struck by a taxi cab as he stepped off a curb in Times Square in New York City 10 days after his 49th birthday. At the time of his death, he was scheduled to have a major role in the play Leading Lady, and he was replaced by Ossie Davis.[citation needed] He is buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Long Island, New York.
Theatre credits
Broadway
- The Trial of Mary Dugan (1927)
- Once in a Lifetime (1930)
- Both Your Houses (1933)
- The Green Pastures (1935)
- You Can't Take It with You (1936)
- Swingin' The Dream (1939), a swing music adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
- Sunny River (1942)
- The Walking Gentleman (1942)
- Dark Eyes (1943)
Other stage credits
- Horses Are Like That (1943)
- Bigger Than Barnum (1946)
- The Magnificent Heel (1946)
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1935 | It's a Great Life | Lazy Bones | |
| 1936 | The Green Pastures | Gabriel | |
| 1937 | Underworld | Sam Brown | |
| 1938 | Out of the Inkwell | Janitor | Uncredited |
| 1939 | Big Town Czar | Arthur, Harlem Numbers Man | Uncredited |
| 1939 | Gone with the Wind | Pork - House Servant | |
| 1940 | The Notorious Elinor Lee | Blakely | |
| 1941 | Birth of the Blues | Man in Jail | Uncredited |
| 1942 | Reap the Wild Wind | Salt Meat | |
| 1942 | White Cargo | Umeela | |
| 1943 | Cabin in the Sky | The Deacon / Fleetfoot |
