|
| Harold Adkins |
|
born:
10 July 1898 Lima, Ohio, United States of America |
died:
05 May 1964 North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States of America (heart attack, age 65) |
|
Young American actor who worked exclusively in the Vanity Fair Girls/Eddie Boland series of films with Hal Roach in the early 1920s. He had a scar over his right eye. 1898 born to C.H. Adkins and Lora T. Mathews: Lima, OH:10 Jul: Ancestry OH Births & Christenings. 1900 Census family is living in Lima, OH: Charles H.(Dad), Laura (Mom), Helen (dau), Harold (son). 1910 Census family is living in Oklahoma City, OK. Father is very successful lawyer. 1913 (approximately) family moves to Los Angeles. 1918 he was the “purchasing agent” for the Rolin Film Co..(WWI Draft Card). 1920 Census “clerk motion picture” living with divorced father. 1920-1922 “assistant director” Vanity Fair Girls and Eddie Boland film series' as “Harold Atkins”. 1926 listed as both “Hal Adkins” and “Hal Atkins” as “prpman” at his parents' address. 1930 Census “property man movie studio”: WWI veteran (no record found): living with parents. 1930-1935 working as “property master” for Chaplin Studios as “Hal Adkins”. 1936 “studio worker” living with parents. 1937 “auto mechanic” living with parents. 1938 “machinist” living with parents.(His brother-in-law is machinist). 1940 Census “motion picture set dresser” living with divorced father. 1941 Harold Adkins, “studio worker” lives 6822 Sunset Blvd. Parents address. 1942 Harold Mathews Adkins: “employer: “Motion Picture Studios”: Young Men's WWII Draft Card. 1942 Harold “Atkins” living at parents address, 6822 Sunset Blvd. 1942 marries a 39 yr old widow (Louise Theresa Bellmond Campbell). 1947 *shares with Marty Martin 1946 Academy Award (Scientific or Technical Achievement) for RKO ….....Miniatures Department equipment providing visual bullet effects w/o explosives (“Film Daily”). 1948 Wife, Louise, dies Oct 30th. 1964 Harold dies in LA on May 5th (CA Death Index). Obituary not found. *No direct evidence of Harold working for RKO Studio nor photos or obituary found. He is the ONLY Adkins, Atkins, Hal, Harold or H.M. in the given time-frame found living in Los Angeles or working at a movie studio and having mechanical experience. Harold M., Harold, and Hal ADKINS and ATKINS are the same person. 1916-1921 Harold's Mom and Dad are in a scandalous divorce trial (in the LA newspapers for 5 years). About 1913, Harold's Mom, Laura, started cheating on her husband with a wealthy man from Iowa who was to eventually inherit a $2,000,000 estate (with his sister) provided he is of good moral character when his 94 year old father in IA dies. Being a lawyer, Harold's Dad decides to sue the other man for $50,000 for alienation of his wife's affection. The jury trial goes on and lurid and titillating evidence about the “lovers” is presented. The Dad even breaks down sobbing during his testimony and wins the suit but the judgment is cut down to $5,000. (That's all his wife's affections were worth, according to one newspaper report). The defense denied everything and claimed that the allegations were part of a conspiracy to keep the “other man” from his $1,000,000 inheritance by smearing his character. The case carried on with appeals until 1921, when they settled out of court, dismissing the “other man” without any guilt. Do not know what happened to the “other man”, Albert H. Brett, but the Adkins's got divorced. Some time in the 1920's, they reconciled because the records show them living together (with Harold) until the 1940 Census which has them “divorced” and living apart. Two obituaries printed on the 7th, one in the Van Nuys News and the other in the Hollywood Citizen-News, confirm that the "Hal Adkins" that won the 1947 technical Oscar is the same as "our" Harold Adkins. He was found dead of an apparent heart attack in his North Hollywood home (6737 Kraft Avenue) by a neighbor. Both obits mention he worked in the motion picture industry for 40 years in the wardrobe and special effects departments of Warner Bros. (his "home lot"), RKO, Paramount, and the Chaplin studio. Further notes: -- Adkins also worked on model airplanes and their engines, serving as manager of the Trojan Miniature Products Company of Hollywood, California, which produced the Trojan Jr. engine (1937-1939). In reports of this work, he is often referred to as "Hal Atkins" or "Hal M. Atkins." In 1940, after Trojan's closure, he formed the Dragon engines company, which also proved short-lived. -- The Van Nuys News of 4 Nov 1948 noted the death of Harold's wife, Louise, reporting that she had committed suicide with cyanide that Harold was utilizing in his metalurgy. She left a note on their kitchen table near where he found her body. |
|
Real name: Harold Mathews Adkins Height: 5'9" |
Films listed on this page: complete Hal Roach filmography. |
 |
14 |
|
|
Acknowledgements & sources: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XX99-5R8 (Lima, OH birth record) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMCM-M2B 1900 (Census family in Lima, OH.) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLQG-928 1910 (Census family in Oklahoma City) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHQK-KK8 1920 (Census family in LA (divorced parents) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCZB-7BC 1930 (Census parents together) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K9C6-N77 1940 (Census parents divorced and apart) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZVF-V1V 1918 (WWI Draft: Purchasing agent at Rolin) http://www.archive.org/stream/camera03unse#page/n512/mode/1up/search/%22harold+atkins%22 (Atkins at Roach; one of many examples to 1922) https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH19210926.2.164&srpos=314&e=01-01-1910-06-06-1964--en--20-LAH-301-byDA-txt-txIN-adkins-------1 (LA Herald 26 Sep 1921 Parents in divorce court) https://rescarta.lapl.org/ResCarta-Web/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=040428be-8b21-4de1-9b1e-3421068c0f1c/LPU00000/LL000007/00000003 (1926 LA City Dir has Harold M. Adkins, property man and also Hal Atkins, property man: both at same address of Harold's Father on 5418--6th Ave) https://archive.org/stream/filmdailyyearboo00film_0#page/627/mode/1up/search/adkins (1930 Film Daily p.627; Hal Adkins at Chaplin Studio as Property Master) http://www.archive.org/stream/insidefacts11-1930-01-11#page/n15/mode/1up/search/%22hal+atkins%22 (Hal Atkins at Chaplin Studio as Property Master “Inside Facts of Stage & Screen” p.11) https://rescarta.lapl.org/ResCarta-Web/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=040428be-8b21-4de1-9b1e-3421068c0f1c/cl000000/20150604/00000003 (1930 & 1931 LA City Dir p.352 & 350; Harold Atkins res. 5418 --6th Ave.“prop asst” Charles Chaplin Studios. Address is Father C H Adkins) http://www.archive.org/stream/filmdailyyearboo00film_5#page/n582/mode/1up/search/atkins (Hal Atkins Property Master at Chaplin Studio “1935 Film Daily Yearbook” p.572) https://rescarta.lapl.org/ResCarta-Web/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=040428be-8b21-4de1-9b1e-3421068c0f1c/cl000000/20180218/00000006 (1937 p.103 & 1938 p.104 LA City Directories; Harold M. Adkins is an auto mechanic & machinist living at 6826 Sunset Blvd with Father) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G93H-HVTG?i=1739&cc=1804002 (1942 marriage) https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=YMDraftCardsWWII&h=18385243&indiv=try&o_vc=Record:OtherRecord&rhSource=6482 (1942 WWII Young Mens Draft Card at Ancestry.com) https://archive.org/stream/filmdaily91wids#page/n561/mode/1up/search/adkins (1946 Academy Award p.10) https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=5180&h=40177&ssrc=pt&tid=2436159&pid=-1820979408&usePUB=true (1948 Death of wife) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VP4Z-PBT (1964 Death of Harold M. Adkins CA Death Index) https://archive.org/details/sim_model-airplane-news_1938-02_18_2/page/n18/mode/1up?q=%22hal+atkins%22&view=theater (Model Airplane News, Feb 1938) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/683099758/ (Hollywood Citizen-News, 14 Mar 1938) https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DNVN19481104.1.39 (Van Nuys News, 4 Nov 1948) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/684666792/ (Citizen-News [Hollywood, CA], 7 May 1964) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/684666796/ (Citizen-News [Hollywood, CA], 7 May 1964) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/701724559/ (Van Nuys News, 7 May 1964) https://archive.org/details/sim_variety_1964-05-20_234_13/page/63/mode/1up?view=theater&q=adkins (Variety, 20 May 1964) https://plans.modelaircraft.org/wp-content/uploads/pdf/MB878OTMB1.pdf (Model Builder, Aug 1978) https://www.gruppofalchi.com/files/2018-MotorBoys_ModelEngine_PlanBook.pdf#page=4 (Model Engine Plan Book, The Motor Boys International) Jim Jarvis (bio notes and research) Jesse Brisson (additional bio notes and research) This page was last updated on: 12 July 2024 |
