Oswald Yorke
| Oswald Yorke | |
|---|---|
Annie Russell and Oswald Yorke in "Major Barbara" ca. 1906
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| Born |
Oswald Parkinson Harker 24 November 1866 Poole, Dorset, England, United Kingdom |
| Died | 25 January 1943 (aged 76) New York City, New York, United States |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1880s–1939 |
| Spouse(s) |
Annie Russell Ruth Guiterman |
Oswald Yorke (née Harker) (24 November 1866 – 25 January 1943) was a British character actor who had a near sixty-year career performing on both sides of the Atlantic.
Oswald Parkinson Harker was born in Poole, Dorset, the youngest of six children raised by Joseph and Sarah (née Parkinson) Harker. Yorke’s father, a solicitor, was born in York, Yorkshire, while his mother was a native of Richmond, Yorkshire. As a boy, Yorke attended Christ’s Hospital Boys School, then located in Newgate.
Oswald Yorke first performed on stage in 1884 and later as a member of a company headed by British actor Sir Francis Robert Benson. Yorke’s London’s debut on 26 February 1889, at The Royal Strand Theatre, was followed early the next year by performances at London’s Vaudeville Theatre in such plays as School for Scandal, "A Pair of Lunatics" and "Meadow Sweet". Oswald Yorke would remain a principal player with the Vaudeville Theatre throughout the balance of the 1890s.
In 1896, Yorke toured America with Edward Smith Willard performing Henry Jones’ play The Rogue Comedy. The following year, he returned with Willard’s company with another of Jones’ works, The Physician. In October 1900, he played an attaché with the French Embassy in The Eaglett, an adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s L’Aiglon by Louis Napoleon Parker that starred Maude Adams. By the next year, Yorke became associated with the Empire Theatre on Broadway, first appearing as Lieutenant Sir Walter Mannering opposite John Drew and Guy Standing in Roger Marshall’s The Second in Command. Yorke stayed with Empire Theatre, then under the management of Charles Frohman, for a number of seasons. He went on to play Bill Walker in George Bernard Shaw’s Major Barbara at the Court Theatre in London and Broadway’s New Theatre and later as Malvolio at the Century Theatre in Shakespeare’s The Twelfth Night.
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