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TF on boarding a tramp steamer for
a leisurely year's cruise of the
world I discovered that Harry Charles
Sanger was one of the passengers I
would feel assured at once that the
trip was going to be a success. That is
saying a mouthful because people get
on each other's nerves sailing the
ocean for weeks on end without
touching a harbor. A perfect panacea
for any kind of nausea is the sturdy
optimism of the Sanger brand. Fif
teen years of show business and a
stretch in Hollywood could not take
the lustre off Harry's almost naive
optimism. Nevertheless those who
"never give a sucker an even break"
had better pass up Harry. His open
kindness is unobtrusively tempered
with well supressed shrewdness. Once
in Hollywood, when someone was
about to slip a mickey to him during
an intricate deal, Harry saved the day
in the producer's office explosive at
mosphere by saying: "I feel like a
cad but I feel that I cannot afford to
accept your generosity." Everybody
laughed and the tension was broken.
Harry emerged from the conference
with a contract exactly five times bet
ter than that offered at the outset of
the discussion. If this throws a sharp
light on the jittery way of doing bus
iness in Hollywood it also is a good
sample of Harry's subtle style of per
suasion.
TT ARRY Charles Sanger was born
July 17, 1904, in Manhattan.
After finishing elementary and high
schools in Brooklyn he attended New
York University, where he became a
track star. At 45 he still is trim and
seems to be in good enough a condi
tion to give anyone a run for his
money. In the early twenties, as cap
tain of his High School track team,
he held the High School record for
New York City for the 100 yards in
10.1 seconds, and over 23 feet for
the running broad jump, a very re
spectable distance. He later competed
HARRY SANGER
Someone was about to slip a mickey
for the Newark Athletic Club for
five years specializing in the hop, step
and jump. He won the Senior Metro
politan Championships in this event
in 1925 and again in 1926, placing
third in the Senior National Cham
pionships in 1927. Getting better all
the time, he was all set for an Olym
pic start in Amsterdam in 1928 but
during the tryouts he sprained his
ankle so severely that his athletic car
eer was suddenly ended. But he had
done well. Charles Paddock, Olym
pic and World Champion track star
in the 100 and 200 yards, testified of
Harry Sanger when he saw him jump
more than 47 feet in the hop, step
and jump feature: '"How does a little
fellow like you cover so much dis
tance?" To Harry this praise was
worth more than a pail full of
medals. Because of his athletic prow
ess he was offered scholarships at Rut
gers, Syracuse and New York Uni
versity but Harry turned them down.
He wanted to become a producer. Sure
enough and without apparent reason,
Harry was appointed in 1927 to be
come dramatic director of the "Roose
velt Camp" for children near Monti-
cello, New York. His first season at
Monticello was at once successful, the
more remarkable since his predecessor
in the job had been none other than
Clifford Odets, the playwright. Harry
Sanger, the director, had his children
from six to sixteen perform Oscar
Wilde, Shakespeare and of course
Harry Sanger, if not with artistic fin
esse then with rousing enthusiasm,
TN 1928 he created his own com-
edy-dancing act of Angelo, Andre
and Sanger. A thorough artist, Sang
er had his troupe parody each and
every ballet classic. It was a violent
success. Harry's stage gyrations could
hardly escape the scouting eyes of
Hollywood. In 1931 he signed a
contract with Metro Goldwyn Mayer
as assistant dance director, and dancer
in a mechanical ballet staged by
Theodore Kosloff and Leroy Prinz in
the musical extravaganza "Madam
Satan." During the war he quit pic
tures for good to become a manager
for Georgia and Florida for the One
Two Three Company, dealing in
fruit juice concentrates. As a fruit
juice man he played it straight. What
can you expect? He made his home in
Miami and before long he met the
Baron, who made him sales manager
for six states, Florida, Georgia, South
Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana and
Texas. Harry Sanger, at last, was
happy. He has plenty of room now
to move about, something he had
always needed as an athlete, as a
Shakespearean actor and as a sales
man.
TT ARRY is a mosaic personality
and despite it, loyal to the core.
To hear from him that he is happy
after all his varied and successful ex
periences means something. You be
lieve him when he says: "Heineken's
is my baby. My pride and joy. There
is nothing like it in quality. One
phrase I always use in connection
with Heineken's is: 'It's mellow like a
cello'." Like a real son of the arts, he
is proud of his bon mots as he is of
the "mellow-cello" coinage. A man
of so many interests and achievements
as Harry must be, it is easy to see, a
man's man. That makes him singu
larly qualified to keep the Heineken's
cases moving from Key West to
Houston, which he does with the
swiftness of a ballet dancer and the
authority of a producer who knows
to produce.
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