Oscar Polk

Oscar Polk
Portrait of Oscar Polk by Carl Van Vechten,
Jan. 24, 1937
Born(1899-12-25)December 25, 1899
Marianna, Arkansas, U.S.
DiedJanuary 4, 1949(1949-01-04) (aged 49)
New York City, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1927–1946

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).

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. He is buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Long Island, New York.

Theatre credits

Broadway

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
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

References

  1. ^ National Archives and Records Administration. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918.
  2. ^ U.S. Census, April 1, 1930. State of New York, County of New York, enumeration district 1053, page 1-B.
  3. ^ Gone with the Wind screen tests (US 1937–39)