THE DAVE HARVEY STORY
\n [Guest star Danny Kaye]<\/h2>\n
(2) Procedurally, it is essential to emphasize that, as far as is known, the subject of this chronicle did not write anything about himself, and nobody else has written about him either (other than brief comments). \u00a0Thus I was free to decide how to deal with the available material, published and online, unconstrained by existing works about the biographee. \u00a0Needless to say (he said needlessly), I handled that material in a completely objective \u2014 if not objectionable \u2014 manner (in my opinion).<\/p>\n (3) To contextualize this mini-biography, it is essentially a spin-off from, and in one limited section a continuation of, an earlier article, one that led me to recognize the need for much more information on the biographee. \u00a0That article\u2019s title, \u201cSTIC Signature Songs (and Sources)<\/a>,\u201d will be cited herein as SSSS. \u00a0[Meadows (a)]\u00a0<\/p>\n (4) Now to footnoting (mandatory for ex-academics). \u00a0Or rather, in this case, \u201ctext-noting\u201d \u2014 names\/titles and pages (if any) of sources are placed within the text; the sources in full are listed at the end (though not in scholarly-journal format). \u00a0Substantive comments are placed either at the ends of paragraphs, as [notes], or in SIDEBARS for less directly relevant material. \u00a0For online sources, n.p. (no page) and n.d. (no date) sometimes are necessary. \u00a0To simplify setup of the lengthy bibliography, italics are omitted there.<\/p>\n (5) An episode of purely personal significance was a direct outgrowth of this account. \u00a0Initially it was to be included herein as a SIDEBAR, but instead it has appeared separately; its\u00a0mention here is to call attention to its indirect relevance and online existence. \u00a0[Meadows (b)]\u00a0<\/p>\n (6) Finally, an explanation is in order for the broad scope of this work, which, for the sake of thorough coverage, extensively discusses the various relationships (direct and indirect) between the biographee and several of his most consequential friends and\/or associates. \u00a0My guiding assumption was that doing this study properly required doing it as exhaustively (and exhaustedly) as possible. \u00a0So much for preliminaries.\n<\/ul>\n INTRODUCTION.<\/strong> During its 37-month existence in World War II (WWII) under Japanese control (1942-1945), Santo Tomas Internment Camp (STIC) in Manila usually contained about 4,000 civilian prisoners, mostly Americans, along with other Allied-country nationals, mostly British. \u00a0Almost all of those (non-infant) internees knew and respected one man in particular \u2014 a veteran professional showman named David Harvey MacTurk. \u00a0Few if any other internees matched his popularity. And since the end of WWII, likely thousands more, relatives and friends of former internees, have learned about him, for his renown remains unmatched within the internee community. \u00a0It derives from the fact that he had served as the Camp’s Mr. Entertainment\u00a0\u2014 an iconic performer who had presided over and dispensed most of the programs that immeasurably buoyed the morale of his fellow internees throughout their captivity. \u00a0Thus\u00a0he was admired by\u00a0almost\u00a0all of his fellow internees \u2014 almost, because he made no secret of his belief that the prisoners had been betrayed and deserted by the U.S. government, a view that did not sit well with those who disagreed with him. Given his background and expertise, it was not surprising \u2014 in fact, it was virtually inevitable \u00a0\u2014 that DHM would be placed in charge of most Camp entertainment activities. \u00a0Probably the most appreciated of those occurred in the form of what were variously called stage\/variety\/floor shows (which the Nipponese military banned in mid-1944, after having earlier taken over the Camp from civilian commandants). \u00a0Those stage shows were by far the most important element of DHM\u2019s efforts to temporarily distract internees from the daily slings and arrows of STIC life. \u00a0And\u00a0never in the course of his show-business career did he undertake a more important role than as the Camp’s chief diversion-dispenser.<\/p>\n Yet regardless of DHM’s status in the Camp, it is doubtful that internees really knew much about him. \u00a0Probably only his closest friends and associates in STIC knew the details of his show-business career. \u00a0That surmise rests upon the likelihood that DHM, despite his seemingly gregarious nature, actually was a very private individual. \u00a0In turn, that judgment is based entirely upon two significant facts cited in the Preface and worth repeating: that, as far as is known,\u00a0DHM wrote nothing about himself,\u00a0and that nobody else has written anything about\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>him.\u00a0 Even his obituaries, lacking information, are noticeably brief (and error-riddled). [E.g.,\u00a0New York Times<\/em>, 28]<\/p>\n This work seeks to fill as many gaps as possible in DHM’s record, and thereby to add to Camp history as well. \u00a0To summarize its format, it traces DHM’s career and then some, with accounts of his key friends and associates \u2014 those who had the most significant direct contact with DHM, or (as in one case) had indirectly and unknowingly influenced him. \u00a0This study divides DHM’s life into six \u201cchapters,” or stages, as follows.<\/p>\n STAGE 2: \u00a01933-1934 \u2014 The Collaborative Artiste<\/p>\n STAGE 3: \u00a01935-1936 \u2014 The Transition<\/p>\n STAGE 4: \u00a01937-1941 \u2014 The Solo Performer\/Leader<\/p>\n STAGE 5: \u00a01942-1945 \u2014 The Prison Camp Years<\/p>\n STAGE 6: \u00a01945-1972 \u2014 The Quiet Years\n<\/ul>\n Much of the coverage (stages 2-4) is on the extremely interesting and least-known period of DHM’s life. \u00a0Probably most people would regard his STIC phase as the most interesting, though of course it is already relatively well-documented, thanks mainly to the Camp\u2019s \u201cofficial\u201d histories by A.V.H. Hartendorp and Frederic Stevens, as well as the various comments and observations about DHM in numerous recollections by former internees. \u00a0As for DHM’s post-internment stage, that is both well-known and the most tranquil period of his life, thus it receives the least extensive coverage herein.<\/p>\n STAGE 1: 1904-1933 \u2014 THE HOMETOWN YEARS.<\/strong> The following\u00a0i<\/strong>nformation on DHM\u2019s early life is based on material gleaned from several official sources \u2014 the U.S. Census, the New York State Census, and the Morristown (New Jersey) City Directory \u2014 as well as from the Morristown High School Yearbook, newspaper articles, steamship manifests, and of course the monopolistic entity known as Ancestry (via a public family tree attributed not to the MacTurk family but to the Engles family, whose relation to the MacTurks is unknown).<\/p>\n DHM was proud of his Scottish heritage, and in fact he performed on occasion in Scottish attire (as he did in STIC). \u00a0For that reason, what follows is a brief digression into DHM\u2019s Scottish ancestry. \u00a0To begin with, the MacTurk family name\u00a0\u2014 which has a number of spelling variations\u00a0\u2014 can be traced to its first recorded appearance in 1538: a\u00a0\u201cGalwegian surname, in Gaelic MocTuirc means\u00a0\u2019son of Tore,\u2019 from tore, a boar.\u201d \u00a0Though not commonplace, the MacTurk name appears in novels by Sir Walter Scott and Charlotte Bronte. \u00a0The MacTurk motto is\u00a0\u201cPace vel bello,\u201d which means\u00a0\u201cIn peace or war\u201d\u00a0\u2014 singularly appropriate, in light of DHM\u2019s experiences. \u00a0[HouseofNames<\/em>, n.p.] [Note: \u00a0According to Ancestry, the average MacTurk life expectancy in the U.S. as of 1960 was 66 years; thus DHM in the Philippines barely exceeded that at 67, one week short of 68, when he died in 1972. \u00a0[Ancestry<\/em>, n.p.] ]<\/p>\n For the record, here is the\u00a0Scottish Clan Crest Gifts<\/em>\u00a0display [n.p.] of the\u00a0\u201cMacTurk Family History & Family Crest\u201d and of the\u00a0\u201cMacturk Coat of Arms\u201d respectively:![\"Little](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philippineinternment.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Little-Theatre-Under-the-Stars-1946-Stevens.png?ssl=1\")
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\n[“The Little Theatre Under the Stars,” illus. from Santo Tomas Internment Camp<\/em>, 1946, by Frederic H. Stevens]
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\nPREFACE.<\/strong>\u00a0The purpose of this Preface is to call attention to matters that otherwise might be overlooked in the main text, despite their relevance to this work. \u00a0Some of the following points might not seem to be worth mention, but they affected this study\u00a0in one way or another, and they merit attention on that score.<\/p>\n\n(1) Substantively, much of this narrative has been made possible by the invaluable research efforts of Cliff Mills of\u00a0Philippine Internment\u00a0<\/em>renown; Maurice Francis, U.K. honcho of The Gang; and CPOW<\/a> head Sally Meadows \u2014 all of whom, it should be noted, have similarly contributed to several of my other STIC articles. \u00a0Without their various and innumerable findings, this mini-biography would not have gotten off the ground (\u201cmini\u201d because it is a bit shorter than the typical printed volume).<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/a>David Harvey MacTurk (1904-1972) was the entertainer’s full name, but he was \u2014 and remains \u2014\u00a0much<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0better known\u00a0to one and all simply as Dave Harvey. That was the professional name he had adopted about a dozen or so years prior to the start of the Pacific war, when he was beginning his career as an artiste.\u00a0And henceforth in the realm of show business \u2014 and even otherwise \u2014 he remained best known as Dave Harvey the professional entertainer. \u00a0To avoid possible confusion between his actual name and his professional name, and to preclude potential carping for downplaying either name, as a \u201ccompromise\u201d and to simplify matters he will be referred to herein as DHM.\u00a0\u00a0His sketch was affectionately drawn by, and is from the book by, STIC internee\/statistics-keeper\/artist James McCall. [McCall, \u201cThat funny, funny man, Dave Harvey,\u201d Plate XLIII]<\/p>\n\nSTAGE 1: \u00a01904-1933 \u2014 The Hometown Years<\/p>\n
<\/a>DHM was born on 31 August 1904, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father was David Francis MacTurk (1876-1950), who also was born in Philadelphia; whose father \u2014 DHM\u2019s grandfather \u2014 was born in Scotland; and who was listed as a \u201clino opr\u201d (linotype operator) in Morristown City Directories. \u00a0DHM’s mother was Gertrude Harvey (1874-1936), who was the source of his middle name and thus also of his professional surname. \u00a0To the right is the announcement of the 1902 MacTurk-Harvey wedding, which took place in an Episcopal church in Philadelphia. [The Baltimore Sun,<\/em>\u00a07]<\/p>\n
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\n[Dave Harvey in kilt after liberation, STIC February 1945]
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