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.
Died	January 4, 1949(1949-01-04) (aged 49) New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1927–1946

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

• The Trial of Mary Dugan (1927)
• Once in a Lifetime (1930)
• Both Your Houses (1933)
• The Green Pastures (1935)
• You Can't Take It with You (1936)
• Swingin' The Dream (1939), a swing music adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
• Sunny River (1942)
• The Walking Gentleman (1942)
• Dark Eyes (1943)

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)

External links

• Oscar Polk at IMDb
• Oscar Polk at the Internet Broadway Database