Harold Ritz

Harold Joachim (May 22, 1907 – March 29, 1986), known professionally as Harry Ritz was an American actor and comedian. He was also the youngest of the Ritz Brothers.

Ritz was born Harold Joachim on May 22, 1907 in Newark, New Jersey. He was born the fourth of five children to parents Max, (December 1871–January 4, 1939) and Pauline Joachim, (May 1874–November 26, 1935). 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.

Shortly after he graduated from high school in 1925, he and brothers Al and Jimmy decided to team up and form a song-and-comedy act called the Ritz Brothers. Harry and Jimmy chose the name "Ritz" following brother Al who entered vaudeville with that name after seeing it on the side of a laundry truck. A typical act 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."

By 1930 they were playing the Palace where the headliner was Frank Fay and his bride, Barbara Stanwyck.

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 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 Jim stayed together briefly. But the club business had peaked and Harry and Jim made two final film appearances. Harry by himself made one film before retiring from show business in 1978.

Ritz was married four times, had six children and one granddaughter.

In his last years, Ritz battled with cancer, and Alzheimer's disease. But Ritz died of pneumonia on March 29, 1986. He left behind a widow, his children, granddaughter and his sister. Ritz is buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Ritz, along with his brothers, influenced comedians such as Jerry Lewis, Sid Caesar, Mel Brooks, and Danny Kaye. Brooks cast Ritz in a cameo in his 1976 movie Silent Movie, which marked Harry's final screen appearance. In an interview with Esquire magazine, Brooks had this to say regarding Ritz;

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