Harriet Hoctor

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Harriet Hoctor (September 25, 1905 – June 9, 1977) was a ballerina and dancer from Hoosick Falls, New York. Her eyes were dark and her hair was blonde.

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[edit] Youth dancer

Hoctor's Aunt Annie worked as a social secretary to a wealthy woman in Hoosick Falls who took an interest in Hoctor. At the age of twelve she was sent to New York City and placed under the tutelage of Russian ballet master Louis H. Chalif. In 1930 Hoctor resided with Annie in a house on Murray Hill, Manhattan. The home of J. Pierpont Morgan was just around the corner.

By the time she was sixteen Hoctor was touring in vaudeville on the same bill as the Duncan Sisters. She was asked to join their act and became a key player in their Topsy and Eva show presented on Broadway. Hoctor appeared in a doll ballet and was informed that Florenz Ziegfeld was offering her a trial. He cast her in a production of The Three Musketeers

[edit] Stage career

She appeared in the Vanities revue of Earl Carroll in 1932 after a year of performing in England. At the request of Ziegfeld she did not sign a contract to remain abroad. While overseas she posed for sculptor Jacob Epstein and Olive Snell. Back in the United States Hoctor appeared with comedians like Jack Benny and George Jessel.

[edit] Movies

In the late 1930s, she performed as a dancer in a number of Hollywood movies. She appeared as herself in The Great Ziegfeld (1936), Shall We Dance (1937), and Billy Rose's Casa Manana Revue (1938). Shall We Dance featured Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Edward Everett Horton. Hoctor joined Billy Rose Productions in 1940 and was in the cast of The Diamond Horseshoe.

[edit] Instructor

Hoctor opened her own dance school in Boston, Massachusetts in 1945. She commuted to New York for shows. She continued teaching in Boston until she retired in 1974. Many of her students achieved success in their show careers.

[edit] Personal info

She designed her own costumes. Hoctor enjoyed ping pong as a hobby. As a trained dancer she avoided tennis, golf, swimming, and ice skating. Each of these sports had adverse consequences such as building up the shoulders, producing arm and wrist muscles, and thickening the ankles.

[edit] Remembered

Harriet Hoctor died in Arlington, Virginia, at the Northern Virginia Doctor's Hospital, in 1977. Her death came after an extended illness. She was buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in Hoosick Falls following a Mass of Christian Burial at the Church of the Immaculate Conception.

The summer she died playwright Frank Wirmusky cast This Is Your Life, Hoosick Falls. The play transformed one hundred and fifty years of the town's history into an hour long theatrical performance. Actors depicted twelve Hoosick Falls men and women from the past who made important contributions in various endeavors. One of those portrayed was Hoctor. Actress Kelly Thompson donned beads prior to appearing on stage as Hoctor, looking like a 1920s era flapper.

[edit] References

  • Bennington, Vermont Banner, Obituary, Harriet Hoctor, June 11, 1977, Page 2.
  • Bennington Banner, In Falls, a proud past, a promising future, August 5, 1977, Page 6.
  • Bismarck Tribune, Romantic Story of the Belle From Hoosick Falls, August 18, 1930, Page 6.
  • Syracuse Herald, Foreign Nations Which Once Sent Stars To US Now Import Our Dancers, August 12, 1932, Page 14.

[edit] External Link