Charles Harris
actor, soundtrack, writer
- Birth name:
- Charles Kassel Harris
- Born:
- 1865-05-01, Poughkeepsie, New York, USA
- Died:
- 1930-12-22, New York City, New York, USA
- Professions:
- actor, soundtrack, writer
Biography
Charles K. Harris traded banjo licks on the vaudeville circuit before a single sentimental ballad catapulted him into legend. In 1892 he scribbled “After the Ball,” sold the sheet-music rights for next to nothing, and watched it sell five million copies—an earthquake that turned Tin Pan Alley into a genuine industry. From a cluttered office in Chicago he ran a publishing house that pumped out hits like a Midwestern hit factory: “Hello Central, Give Me Heaven,” “Break the News to Mother,” and a cascade of titles that tugged sleeves and heartstrings—“I’m Trying So Hard to Forget You,” “There’ll Come a Time,” “Better than Gold,” and a dozen more. Between copyrights he moonlighted as a scenarist for silent pictures and crafted stage plays that toured the same circuits he once barnstormed. When ASCAP was born in 1914, Harris strode in as a charter signer, cementing his place at the founders’ table. By the time the Roaring Twenties began, his melodies had already become the lullabies and farewells of a generation.
