By Shannon Larson
Chair of the Friends of Pentwater Township Cemetery
Long before his name appeared in Hollywood film credits, Harold H. Hurley's story began in Oceana County. Born in Pentwater to a village dry goods clerk and a former Hart schoolteacher, he would go on to work alongside some of the best-known names at Paramount Pictures, helping produce Westerns, adventure films and crime dramas seen in theaters across the country.
Harold Henwood Hurley was born on February 22, 1894, in Pentwater, the son of Thomas J. and Edith (Henwood) Hurley. Following his parents' separation, his mother took Harold and his younger sister, Lillian, to California in 1905. Edith remarried four years later, and Los Angeles became Harold's home.
Although he grew up in California, Harold's early adulthood took him far beyond the West Coast. Following World War I, he served overseas with the U.S. Army's Brest Casual Company in France during the return of American troops in 1919. Back in California, he began building a career that would eventually lead him into the motion picture industry.
His early employment included journalism with The Evening Express. In 1923, he joined the Lasky Studio, part of the motion picture business that became Paramount Pictures, as an assistant publicity director. That same year, on August 29, he married Leonitae "Nita" Katherine Parker.
Their daughter, Patricia Ann, was born in 1931. By that time, Hurley had advanced within the film industry, serving as executive assistant to producer David O. Selznick. He later held the same position under Emanuel Cohen, Paramount's vice president of production, gaining valuable experience in the business of filmmaking.
In February 1933, Hurley signed a contract to become an associate producer, marking an important step in his Hollywood career. After years of working behind the scenes with studio executives, he was now helping oversee film productions himself.
Among his early producing credits were "Heritage of the Desert" and "Wild Horse Mesa." Throughout the 1930s, Hurley helped supply Paramount with the lower-budget films commonly known as "B pictures." These productions, often Westerns, mysteries and adventure stories, were an important part of the moviegoing experience during Hollywood's studio era.
His credits included "The Mysterious Rider" and "The Thundering Herd" in 1933, "The Last Round-Up" in 1934, "Two Fisted" in 1935, "Drift Fence" and "Sky Parade" in 1936, "Partners in Crime" in 1937, "Give Me a Sailor" and "Hunted Men" in 1938, and "King of Chinatown" in 1939.
Hurley continued working closely with Paramount's leading executives even as his producing credits grew. In March 1935, he became executive assistant to Ernst Lubitsch, the studio's managing director of production. His film work also included an uncredited assistant director role on "Ambush" in 1939.
By 1940, the boy born in Pentwater had achieved considerable financial success in Hollywood. According to The Buffalo News, Hurley was earning an annual salary of nearly $112,000, a substantial sum at the time (adjusted for inflation, this would equal almost $2.7 million today).
His career at Paramount, however, was nearing its end. In June 1940, The Jersey Journal reported his resignation, along with the studio's decision to discontinue B-picture production.
The years following his departure from Paramount were difficult. In January 1943, the San Bernardino County Sun published a trustee's sale notice involving property held by Harold and Nita following a default on payments. That September, the newspaper reported his arrest on a charge of issuing a check without sufficient funds. The Los Angeles Evening Citizen News subsequently reported that a bench warrant had been issued, and his $1,000 bail was forfeited after he failed to appear in court in connection with the $270 check charge.
Hurley's final years were also marked by declining health. He was living with his mother on his sister Lillian Bagby's family ranch in Ventura County when he died on February 18, 1946, just four days before his 52nd birthday. The following day's Ventura County Star-Free Press reported his death as a suicide. His sister told the newspaper that Harold had been in poor health for approximately two years.
Although Hurley spent most of his life in California, his family's roots remained firmly planted in Oceana County.
By 1920, his father, Thomas, was living on Wythe Street in Pentwater with his brothers, Henry and village attorney John F. "Judge" Hurley. Thomas died in Pentwater in 1927 and is buried in the Hurley family plot at Pentwater Township Cemetery, alongside Harold's paternal grandparents, Henry and Mary Ann (Donovan) Hurley, and his uncle, Henry "Had" Hurley.
Nearby are the graves of another uncle, John F. "Judge" Hurley, and John's wife, Olive. Harold's maternal grandparents, John and Mary (Adams) Henwood, are buried in Hart Cemetery.
These family connections offer a reminder that Oceana County's history reaches far beyond its borders. From a childhood in Pentwater to a career in Hollywood during the golden age of motion pictures, Harold H. Hurley's life followed an extraordinary path. Though he made his home and career in California, the family graves in Pentwater and Hart preserve a lasting connection between his story and the community where it began.
