Herk Harvey

Harold Arnold "Herk" Harvey (June 3, 1924 – April 3, 1996) was an American film director, screenwriter, actor and film producer, best known for his 1962 horror film Carnival of Souls.

Early life Harvey was born in Windsor, Colorado, the son of Everett and Minnie R. Prewitt Harvey. He grew up in Waverly, Illinois and in Fort Collins and was a graduate of Fort Collins High School before serving in the U.S. Navy as a Quartermaster, 3rd Class, during World War II, during which time he was studying chemical engineering. "But when I got out," Harvey said, "I decided that wasn't for me and so I went into the theater."

Harvey came to Lawrence, Kansas in 1945 to study at the University of Kansas, where he majored in theater and acted in scores of college stage productions, including Hay Fever, The Skin of Our Teeth, Beggar on Horseback, Juno and the Paycock, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Joan of Lorraine, Blithe Spirit, Harvey, and Hamlet. During his years at KU, Harvey served as vice-president of the Dramatics Workshop and was a member of the Owl Society, an honorary organization for male juniors. He earned a bachelor of science degree in education from the KU speech and drama department in 1948 and subsequently became employed by that department as an instructor, while also a graduate student.

Harvey made his directorial debut with an "experimental" production of Irwin Shaw's Bury the Dead in 1949, and went on to direct several other plays and pageants at the university. He received his master of arts degree in speech and dramatics from KU in 1950. Founded in 1947 in Lawrence by Arthur H. Wolf and Russell A. Mosser, Centron would come to the forefront of the industrial and educational film companies in the United States. Harvey joined the staff in 1952 and went on to work for Centron as a film director, writer, and producer for over three decades, making a variety of short industrial, educational, documentary, and government films. Films created by Harvey include Shake Hands With Danger, which won a 1980 Golden Eagle award from the Council on International Nontheatrical Events. Centron competed with large companies on both coasts to become one of the top producers of industrial and educational films. Harvey was known for his high quality films, coming in on time and under budget. Harvey and his film crews were dispatched to far-flung locations around the globe to bring back images for geography and travel films. Harvey also worked with many well-known professional actors and entertainers in Centron films, such as Walter Pidgeon, Rowan and Martin, Dennis Day, Louis Nye, George Gobel, Billy Barty, Anita Bryant, Eddie Albert, Ed Ames, Jesse White, and Ricardo Montalbán. The director won many national and international awards for his work, including the highest honors from the American Film Festival, C.I.N.E., and the Columbus Film Festival.

An article written by Harvey was published in the March 1956 issue of American Cinematographer magazine, concerning innovative special effects techniques that had been developed by the Centron crew during the production of an industrial film. Harvey also occasionally penned reviews of local theater productions for the Lawrence newspaper. In 1957, Harvey commissioned the construction of a custom-built house within a block of the Centron studios. The resultant home was hailed regionally as an exceptional display of modern suburban architecture and attracted thousands of spectators when opened for public inspection upon its completion. The home's hillside yard was criss-crossed with a winding network of stone walls and terraces, built by Harvey himself.

Harvey and his first wife Bea were divorced in 1960, due to the latter's infidelity, and shortly afterward Harvey met Pauline G. Pappas, who was one of the investors for Carnival of Souls. The two were married in 1967.

When a crew from ABC came to Lawrence in 1982 to shoot the controversial television movie on nuclear war, The Day After, they cast Harvey in a small speaking role as a farmer, while also casting a handful of other local thespians. The film was broadcast to much international publicity and controversy in 1983.

In 1981, Arthur Wolf and Russell Mosser had sold Centron to the Coronet division of Esquire, Inc., though production operations continued in Lawrence until decade's end. After 33 years with the firm, Harvey retired from Centron in 1985.