Harry Karl (1914 - 1982)

Born 9 Mar 1914 in New York, United States

Husband of Ruth E. Lamb — married 23 May 1937 in Los Angeles, California

Died 7 Aug 1982 at age 68 in Los Angeles, CA

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Biography

Businessman. In 1952, Karl took over as president of Karl's Shoe Stores, which at that time was the nation's largest privately held retail shoe chain. Between 1947 and 1958, he was married twice to actress Marie McDonald. In 1954, she was charged with driving under the influence of drugs and hit-and-run and he was charged with felonious assault when he tried to run down two cameramen with his car outside the courthouse. In late 1959, he was married for less than a month to actress Joan Perry Cohn, who was the widow of motion-picture pioneer Harry Cohn. The following year he married Debbie Reynolds after her divorce from Eddie Fisher. Their marriage lasted 13 years. Reynolds later found herself in financial difficulty because of Karl's gambling and bad investments. He died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center one day after open-heart surgery.

Following from: http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/144/Harry+Karl/index.html

9 March 14 - is born in New York, marries Ruth Lamb, 7 April 39, his daughter Judie Karl Anderson is born

marries actress Marie McDonald

his daughter lives in Chicago but spends the summers with Karl and Marie at their Californian home

the Karls adopt two children, Denise and Harrison

takes over the company that will become Karl’s Shoe Stores, the nation’s largest privately held retail shoe chain

Marie is charged with driving under the influence of drugs and hit-and-run. Karl is charged with felonious assault when trying to run down two cameramen with his car outside the courthouse.

spends a quarter million dollars trying to improve the health of his wife

presents Marie with a “Le Mans” Cadillac roadster, specially customized by Barris. The car boasts a television set, radiotelephone, tape recorder, and cocktail bar. The paint is 30 coats of "platinum dust."

divorces Marie in Nevada. Marie testifies that she is allergic to him. He will start dating actress Rhonda Fleming.

June 55 - Rhonda is Karl’s escort at his birthday party

with ex-wife Marie McDonald, he sails for Europe. They try unsuccessfully to remarry in Paris, London, Tangiers, Zurich, and Liechtenstein.

remarries Marie in Yuma, Arizona, but they separate soon afterwards. She claims he beat her when she was four months pregnant.

12 September 56 - his daughter Tina Marie is born, the Karls reconcile

January 57 - Marie disappears from their home in Encino and is found 24 hours later and 40 miles away, in her pajamas, on a desert road near Indio, California. She claims she was kidnapped from her house by two men. It turns out to be a publicity stunt to boost Marie’s sagging career.

is charged by Marie with having hired the kidnappers. Months later, she admitts that she made up the story because Karl was suing her for divorce.

October 57 - Sheila Graham doesn’t believe reports that Marie will remarry Karl

December 57 - with his former wife he’s on a shopping whirl around Paris

March 58 - Marie sues for divorce and is awarded a million-dollar settlement

September 59 - is the beau of Rhonda Fleming again

marries the widow of Columbia boss Harry Cohn, 48-year-old actress Joan Perry

divorces Perry after less than a month. She will marry actor Laurence Harvey in 1968.

25 November 60- marries the ex of singer-actor Eddie Fisher, actress Debbie Reynolds, at the Beverly Hills home of his sister, Mrs. Sarah Pollack. The surprise marriage comes less than three hours after they announced their engagement. Debbie is looking more for a father for her children than for a husband.

has a soft spot for alligator shoes and diamond rings

starts to take Debbie's jewelry and to use it to gamble. Debbie’s young daughter, Carrie Fisher, hates him. She writes letters to her mother telling her to get a divorce.

hires hookers made up as manicurists to come to their house. Due to his stepdaughter, the girls "help him with more than his nails.”

starts to drink and becomes a crabby old man

1973- to repay Karl’s debts, his wife and stepdaughter are off to New York for the Broadway revival of Irene. Karl stays in Beverly Hills.

divorces Debbie Reynolds, who will claim that he spent all of her money

29 July 82 - enters Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles

6 August 82 - undergoes bypass surgery

7 August 82 - dies the night after open heart surgery at age 68 in Los Angeles, California, and leaves Debbie with $2 million in debt. Survivors include a son, Harrison, and three daughters, Judie Anderson, Denise Bailey, and Tina Karl.

24 May 2010 - his daughter Judie dies at age 71

Sources: The New York Times, Fallen Angels by Kirk Crivello, Carrie Fisher, Photoplay, Silver Screen, Modern Screen, Hollywood Babylon II by Kenneth Anger, www.Ancestry.com

Sources

• "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHQV-6VP : Fri Sep 01 21:19:18 UTC 2023), Entry for Penchaz Karl and Rosa Karl, 1920.
• "United States Census, 1930", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCDQ-1NG : Wed Sep 20 22:36:10 UTC 2023), Entry for Pinches Karl and Rosa Karl, 1930.
• wikipedia

• http://www.nytimes.com/1982/08/10/obituaries/harry-karl-former-husband-of-two-movie-actresses-dies.html

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/135800620/harry-karl