Huntz Hall

Henry Richard "Huntz" Hall (August 15, 1920[1] – January 30, 1999) was an American radio, stage, and movie performer who appeared in the popular "Dead End Kids" movies, including Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), and in the later "Bowery Boys" movies, during the late 1930s to the late 1950s.

Huntz Hall
Born
Henry Richard Hall

(1920-08-15)August 15, 1920[1]
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedJanuary 30, 1999(1999-01-30) (aged 78)
North Hollywood, California, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1935–1994
Spouse(s)
Elsie May Anderson
​
​
(m. 1940⁠–⁠1944)​
(divorced)
Leslie Wright
​
(m. 1948⁠–⁠1953)​
(divorced)
Leah Hall
​
(m. 1966⁠–⁠1999)​
(his death)[2]
Children2

Life and career

Hall was born in 1920 in New York City[3] to Joseph Patrick Hall, an engineer from Ireland, and his wife, Mary Ellen (Mullen).[1] The fourteenth of sixteen children, he was nicknamed "Huntz" because of his ostensibly Teutonic nose.[4][5][6][7]

Hall attended Catholic schools[6] and started performing on radio at five years of age.[8]

He appeared on Broadway in the 1935 production of Dead End, a play written and directed by Sidney Kingsley.[9][10] Hall was then cast along with the other Dead End Kids in the 1937 film Dead End, directed by William Wyler and starring Humphrey Bogart.[11]

Hall served in the United States Army during World War II. In 1943, he appeared in the USN training film "Don't Kill Your Friends" as moronic Ensign Dilbert the Pilot, who carelessly causes the death of a civilian and three servicemen.

In 1948, Hall was arrested for possession of marijuana. His trial, held in 1949, resulted in a hung jury.[12]

Hall later played the increasingly buffoonish Horace DeBussy "Sach" Jones in 48 "The Bowery Boys" films, gaining top billing when his longtime partner, Leo Gorcey, left the series in 1956. Hall and Gorcey reunited in Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar (1966) and The Phynx (1969).

He also appeared in such films as The Return of Doctor X (1939), A Walk in the Sun (1945), Gentle Giant (1967), Herbie Rides Again (1974), and The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery (1975) opposite Gabriel Dell, another former Bowery Boy.

He was one of the celebrities featured on the cover of The Beatles' 1967 album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. In 1971, he co-starred with Art Metrano and Jamie Farr in the situation comedy "The Chicago Teddy Bears". His plans to produce a movie series, "The Ghetto Boys" (a take on the "Bowery Boys"), fell through. In 1973, Hall took part in Princess Grace of Monaco's Council for Drug Abuse, part of the Catholic Office of Drug Education.[13]

In 1976, he appeared in Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood, and in 1977 he played movie mogul Jesse Lasky in Ken Russell's film Valentino. His later films included Gas Pump Girls (1979) and The Escape Artist (1982), the latter reuniting him with Gabriel Dell. His final film appearance was in Auntie Lee's Meat Pies in 1993. He performed in dinner theater productions and then retired in 1994.[8]

Behind Sach: The Huntz Hall Story by Jim Manago, published by BearManor Media in 2015, is the first biography of Hall.

Death

Hall died from congestive heart failure on January 30, 1999, at the age of 78 in North Hollywood, California. He was interred in a niche at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California.[8]

Filmography

Film

Television
YearSeriesRoleNotes
1966FlipperBarney2 Episodes: "Disaster in the Everglades, Parts 1 and 2"
1970Barefoot in the ParkFellowsEpisode: "Disorder in the Court"
1971The Chicago Teddy BearsDutch5 Episodes
1972The Corner BarSparky SchnauzerEpisode: "The Navy Reunion"
1975The Ghost BustersGronk2 Episodes: "Which Witch Is Which?" & "Merlin the Magician"
1975The Sky's the LimitHitchhikerTV Movie
1976Matt HelmWillyEpisode: "Die Once, Die Twice"
1976Good HeavensBarneyEpisode: "Good Neighbor Maxine"
1978CHiPSArmored car driverEpisode: "Crack-Up"
1982Diff'rent StrokesThe Happy WandererEpisode: "Big Brother"
1988Night HeatFather O'MalleyEpisode: "Bless Me Father"
1993Daddy DearestThe Pretzel ManEpisode: "American We"; final role

References
  1. Leonard Getz in his 2006 book From Broadway to the Bowery published by McFarland & Company uses August 15, but the more authoritative Social Security Death Index uses August 18, 1920. The Independent uses August 15, 1919, and the New York Times lists his age as 78, which would make his birth year 1920. Walker and Roat's biography uses 1919. As was the case with many actors, their resumes often conflict with official documents submitted to the government.
  2. Florida Marriage Index
  3. Social Security Death Index
  4. Huntz Hall, Allmovie
  5. Leonard Getz (2006). From Broadway to the Bowery. McFarland & Company. ISBN 0-7864-2535-0.
  6. Vallance, Tom (1999-03-03). "Huntz Hall". The Independent. London. Retrieved May 17, 2010. Henry Richard Hall (Huntz Hall), actor: born New York 15 August 1919; married four times (one son); died Los Angeles 30 January 1999.
  7. "Huntz Hall". IMDb. Retrieved June 28, 2010.
  8. Michael T. Kaufman (February 2, 1999). "Huntz Hall, Perpetual Youth In 'Bowery' Films, Dies at 78". New York Times. Retrieved June 28, 2010. Huntz Hall, who for 20 years played the slow-witted sidekick of Leo Gorcey in more than 80 Bowery Boys, Dead End Kids and East Side Kids movies, died on Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 78. The cause was cardiac disease, his family said.
  9. "Huntz Hall". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Retrieved June 27, 2010.
  10. "BROADWAY TO BOWERY AND BACK: Hunts Hall reveals the secrets behind the Dead End Kids, East Side Kids & Bowery Boys". Screen Thrills Illustrated. No. 05 (v02n01): 37. 1963.
  11. "Dead End (1937)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved June 27, 2010.
  12. Vallance, Tom (February 3, 1999). "Obituary: Huntz Hall". The Independent. London.
  13. David Ragan. "Who's Who in Hollywood 1900-1976", Arlington House, 1976, p. 176.
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