PEORIA’S OWN HARRY FRAZEE

                      PEORIA’S  OWN  HARRY FRAZEE

                                     NORMAN V. KELLY

 

Peoria has had so many memorable and even famous people that I wish I had started writing about them individually forty years ago instead of concentrating on crime and mayhem.  It would seem to me that most of those that were born and raised here left Peoria to seek their fame and fortune.  The list is endless and although I have written about quite a few of them, there are hundreds more that are still oblivious to most of us today.  Take Harry Herbert Frazee for instance.  Now here was a guy that lit up the newspapers back in 1920’s, not only in sports but in the theatrical world as well. 

Harry was born here in Peoria on June 29, 1880, and his history shows that he appeared to have hit the ground running, because at an early age, he never seemed to have a quiet moment. Harry, as a kid, played in the most unique house ever built in Peoria, according to the newspaper stories here in Peoria.  It was an octagon-shaped house located at 121 Fourth Street way back in 1858.  The eight-sided house was a tourist attraction from the moment it was constructed.  Owned by several prominent men, the Frazee family moved into it perhaps in the 1890’s.   Harry’s father owned the Peoria Pump Company, and were among the socially elite folks in town.  Many parties brightened up the old place, and Harry flourished there as a child.  A lot of his time was spent at the Grand Opera House, where his interest in the theater was sparked.  He was a busy kid, running errands, handing out play bills and talking to every famous person that played the famous Opera House.  He worked as an usher in a local theater and soon became an assistant to the agent that booked shows that came to Peoria.   Around seventeen he was in Chicago where he met Harry Bay, another Peorian, and together they formed a theatrical booking company.  Bay was a professional ball player, and of course Harry became interested in baseball as well as the theater. 

 

The partners parted because Bay wanted to go back to baseball.  Frazee made famous the ‘Rube Shows,’ which brought theatrical acts into small towns all over America, including many stage plays.  Harry settled in Chicago where he built the famous Cort Theater.  He made a fortune in this field but was still restless.  He decided to get a couple more partners and buy a baseball team.  Harry had had experience here in town by playing third base and managing the Peoria Distillers baseball team.  So at the close of the 1916 season Harry and his partners bought the Boston Red Sox, then World Champions, for $500,000.00 and seven years later Harry sold the team for $1.250.00.00.

 

While sole owner of the club, Harry Frazee sold the great Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1920 for $137,000.00.  Soon after that an additional fifteen players were sold by Frazee, provoking a lot of hatred from Boston Red Sox fans here in Peoria, Illinois.  Frazee was also busy making and booking major stage plays which played on Broadway such a the smash hit No, No, Nanette and dozens of other shows that added to his wealth.  Harry bought the then famous Harris Theater, quickly changing the name to the Frazee Theater.   Our Peoria native received a lot of negative press not only here in Peoria for his baseball antics, but nationally as well.  A sportswriter called him “The Evil Genie from Peoria.” Local folks often called him “Harry the Horrible.”   Of course they had no idea of the financial aspects of all that wheeling and dealing, they only wanted Babe Ruth to stay with the Red Sox.

 

And so from small town Peoria, Illinois, to Chicago and Broadway Harry Frazee made his merry, controversial way, making a fortune along the way. He even took time to buy Fenway Park. Song writer Irving Caesar, who penned Tea For Two, said, “Harry Frazee never drew a sober breath in his life, but he was a hell of a producer. He made more sense drunk than most men do sober.”  Is that what is known as a ‘Left handed compliment?’

 

Harry Frazee died June 4, 1939 of kidney failure at the age of 47.  He appeared to pack more excitement into his short life than most people do in a century of living.  He left his widow Margaret and one son, Harry Junior.  Harry’s grave is located in Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla,  Westchester, New York.  Many famous people are buried there:  Low Gehrig, Anne Bancroft, Danny Kaye and Beverly Sills among the celebrities.  Harry Frazee, a hometown kid that made it to the big time, from Fourth Street to Park Avenue.  Wow! What a ride.

Editor’s Note:   Norm is a local historian and welcomes your suggestions on forgotten Peorians.                                         norman.kelly@sbcglobal.net