Harold Ritz
| Harry Ritz | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Harold Joachim |
| Born |
May 22, 1907 Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | March 29, 1986 (aged 78) San Diego, California, U.S. |
| Medium | Film, stage |
| Years active | 1925–1978 |
| Genres | Slapstick |
| Children | 6 |
| Relative(s) |
Al Ritz (brother) Jimmy Ritz (brother) |
Harold Joachim (May 22, 1907 – March 29, 1986), known professionally as Harry Ritz was an American actor and comedian. He was also the youngest of the Ritz Brothers.
Ritz was born Harold Joachim on May 22, 1907 in Newark, New Jersey. He was born the fourth of five children to parents Max, (December 1871–January 4, 1939) and Pauline Joachim, (May 1874–November 26, 1935). His father was born in Austria-Hungary and owned a haberdashery and his mother was born in Russia.
Ritz was the brother to fellow comedians, (and future comedy partners), Al and Jimmy Ritz. He also had another brother named George who would become the future manager to the Ritz Brothers and had a sister named Gertrude Soll.
Shortly after he graduated from high school in 1925, he and brothers Al and Jimmy decided to team up and form a song-and-comedy act called the Ritz Brothers. Harry and Jimmy chose the name "Ritz" following brother Al who entered vaudeville with that name after seeing it on the side of a laundry truck. A typical act the brothers would have Harry standing in the middle singing The Man in the Middle Is the Funny One, a song written for them. The other two brothers would then take to berating Harry for occupying that favored spot and, as they screamed their displeasure, Harry would wander about bellowing "Don't holler--please don't holler."
By 1930 they were playing the Palace where the headliner was Frank Fay and his bride, Barbara Stanwyck.
They worked in Shubert shows for a time and in 1932 caught the attention of Earl Carroll who featured them in his Vanities that year. They were appearing at the old Clover Club on Hollywood's Sunset Strip when Darryl F. Zanuck reportedly caught the act and signed them to a contract. (Al had appeared earlier in a silent film, The Avenging Trail in 1918.)
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