Harold Ritz

Harry Ritz (né Joachim; May 22, 1907 – March 29, 1986) was an American comedian and actor. He was the youngest of the Ritz Brothers.

Early life

Ritz was born Harry Joachim on May 28, 1907, in Newark, New Jersey. He was born the youngest of six children to parents Max and Pauline Joachim. 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.

Career

By 1925, and after a full career on Broadway, he and brothers Al and Jimmy decided to team up and form a song/dance-and-comedy act called the Ritz Brothers. Al chose the name "Ritz" after seeing it on the side of a laundry truck. 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." Their comedy style was a tandem song and dance, as if they were one.

By 1930 they were playing the Palace where the headliner was Frank Fay with his bride, Barbara Stanwyck. By 1934, they had done their first film together as a team, Hotel Anchovy, all of 18 minutes long.

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.)

The Ritz Brothers started their Hollywood film career with 20th Century Fox in 1936, starring with Alice Faye in Sing, Baby, Sing. Later they were in One in a Million with Sonja Henie, The Three Musketeers with Don Ameche, Kentucky Moonshine and The Goldwyn Follies.

The brothers left Fox in 1940 and went with rival studio Universal. The brothers quit after filming the movie "Never a Dull Moment" in 1943 to concentrate on club dates. The Ritzes, among the first of the big-money acts in Las Vegas, made a few television specials in the early 1950s. They carried their zaniness on the road until 1965 when Al died in New Orleans where they were performing. Harry and Jimmy stayed together and by 1966 opened the new Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. They continued to perform, just the two of them, in Florida and upstate New York theaters, cruise ships, as well as some guest appearances on the Dick Cavett Show, Merv Griffin, etc. By the 1970s and 1980s, they had small roles in films such as Blazing Stewardesses (1975) and Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976). Harry also appeared in a cameo in the 1976 Mel Brooks film Silent Movie.

Personal life Harry was married four times. He had 7 children (with three different mothers).

Death and legacy

In his last years, Ritz battled cancer and Alzheimer's disease, but eventually died of pneumonia on March 29, 1986. He left behind a widow, his children, granddaughter and his sister.

In that same interview, Lewis had this to say about Ritz:

Filmography YearTitleRoleNotes 1934 Hotel Anchovy Harry – Hotel Manager Short 1936 Sing, Baby, Sing Himself 1936 One in a Million Himself Uncredited 1937 On the Avenue One of the Ritz Brothers Uncredited 1937 You Can't Have Everything One of the Ritz Brothers Uncredited 1937 Life Begins in College Himself 1937 Ali Baba Goes to Town Himself – at Fictional Premiere Uncredited 1937 Cinema Circus Himself Short, Uncredited, (archive footage) 1938 The Goldwyn Follies Himself Uncredited 1938 Kentucky Moonshine Himself 1938 Straight Place and Show Himself 1939 The Three Musketeers First Lackey 1939 The Gorilla Harrigan 1939 Pack Up Your Troubles Himself – The Ritz Brothers Uncredited 1940 Argentine Nights Himself 1942 Behind the Eight Ball Harry Jester 1943 Hi'ya, Chum Merry Madcap Harry 1943 Show-Business at War Himself 1943 Never a Dull Moment Himself – One of The Three Funny Bunnies Uncredited, Documentary short 1956 Brooklyn Goes to Las Vegas Himself Short 1975 Blazing Stewardesses Harry 1976 Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood Cleaning Woman Uncredited 1976 Silent Movie Man in Tailor Shop