Herbert Heyes was born on August 3, 1889 in Vader, Washington, USA. He was an actor, known for A Place in the Sun (1951), The Seven Little Foys (1955) and Park Row (1952). He died on May 31, 1958 in North Hollywood, California, USA.
Herbert's first stage appearance at the Baker Theater was carrying a spear. The rate for carrying a spear was 50 cents, but the super-captain held out 10 cents as a commission. The first time his name appeared on a program was in If I Were King, for which his pay was raised to $ 6.00 per week. Wanting to impress management, young Heyes arranged to have a flower bouquet passed to him over the footlights at the end of the play. The plan backfired when the flowers were instead handed to the leading lady.
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In 1934 Heyes became vice-president and general manager of a show boat. The show boat with a seating capacity of 750 provided dramas, music, dancing and vaudeville acts in one night stands on the Columbia and Willamette Rivers.
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In March 1930 a newspaper in Medford, Oregon, USA reported that Herbert Heyes, a resident of California, had registered as a guest at a Medford hotel. He was unaccompanied.
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Heyes was reported in the San Francisco Chronicle in 1928 to be associated with the Babies' Aid Society, a civic philanthropic organization. In addition to philanthropic interests he was known as an ardent rug collector.
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Heyes was stroke oarsmen for the Portland (Oregon) rowing club. The club rowed on the Columbia River.
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In 1916 Herbert signed his first and only film contract at the age of twenty-seven. Fox Films immediately put him to work in a flood of silent movies. When the contract expired in 1923 Heyes became a free lancer. He maintained that status throughout the remainder of his career.
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Herbert Heyes "acting debut" occurred at the age of four in the little community church in Vader, Washington, USA. He had a piece to speak in a Christmas pageant.
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Fishing was Heyes' major hobby. He went to Florida each winter to fish and in the early fall usually came back to Washington to enjoy his hobby. Another favorite fishing destination was in central Oregon in the Deschutes River State Recreation Area. On a 1940 fishing trip with his wife, Helene described the clear, cold mountain water as being like nectar, and not like the bottled water back home in Hollywood. She also loved the western hospitality of central Oregon, something that had been lost in Los Angeles.
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Joe St. Peter, the producer of the play East Lynne in Everett, WA, USA, with Herbert Heyes as leading man, raised Herbert's salary from $ 6 a week to $25 a week in 1908.
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In Herbert's obituary it was reported that he passed away in his North Hollywood home. He had been ill for three years and in critical condition for the final three weeks. It was his wish to be cremated.
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San Francisco drama critic George C. Warren in June 1922 reviewed Herbert's debut with the Alcazar Company in his role as Maurice Monnier in Blind Youth. He described Heyes as a big, fine looking man with a high pitched thin voice. He went on to say that he lacked personality with so little magnetism that upon entering the second act with others one was not aware of his presence until he spoke.
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In the silent film in 1916, Under Two Flags, Herbert Heyes co-starred with Theda Bara. In 1917 they shared top billing in The Darling of Paris and The Tiger Woman. Their final appearance together was in Salome in 1918. These four films led to leading man roles in twenty silent films through 1924. He left making movies to focus on radio, stage productions and various business interests until returning to appear in films from 1942 to 1952. During his last six years in show business he had major roles in six movies, but largely devoted himself to character acting television appearances in nearly forty programs until appearances on Sugarfoot and the George Burns Show just before he passed away in 1958.
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An eight room furnished house boat was offered for sale in a 1906 classified ad by Herbert Heyes. The price listed was a "snap for cash.".
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A stage duel in a 1913 play at Milwaukee's Saxe Theater with knives between actors Charles Dingle and Herbert Heyes became realistic when in the third act of Pierre of the Plains Heyes accidentally fell. His knife blade caused a painful flesh wound to Dingle's leg causing him to be carried to his dressing room. The theater's house physician treated the wound and reported it was not serious.
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Herbert Heyes is credited as the creator of the radio soap operas in 1924. With the advent of radio he scored two firsts. He took the lead in the first radio serial, Who Killed the Caretaker, and in Main Street, the first radio drama, with Gladys George.
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Portrayed Mr. Gimbel in both the 1947 Big Screen version "Miracle on 34th Street" as well as the 1955 Television version "The Miracle on 34th Street" on the Twentieth Century Fox Hour.
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Dignified character actor, first on stage in 1906 with the Baker Stock Company in Portland, Oregon. From 1910, in leading roles with actor-manager James K. Hackett. In films from 1915. Notable as star opposite Theda Bara in Under Two Flags (1916). Also active on Broadway and in radio.