Introduction
Lee F. Harvey was born in Philadelphia around 1891. He started acting with stock theater companies at the age of 16, and toured the nation in that capacity. In Camden, he played with the Chester Devonde stock company alongside Francis X. Bushman, who went on to fame as one of the leading actors in silent films prior to World War I. Mr. Bushman is also known as being the first actor to play Tarzan on film. Chester Devonde was nationally known as a playwright and producer, and at least one of his plays, “Kongo,” was made into a movie. Lee Harvey also appeared in movies, as a player for the Lubin Motion Picture Company in Philadelphia.
After serving with the Army in World War I, Lee Harvey worked producing stage productions and managing theaters. In Camden he produced plays at the Lyceum Theater, which stood on Broadway and Federal Street. He managed theaters all over the tri-state area for the Stanley and Savar theater chains, including the Century Theater in Audubon NJ, where he was working in the late 1930s. In 1940 he was assigned to manage the Towers Theatre in Camden, which he managed until his death on April 20, 1950. He is buried at New Cathedral Cemetery in Philadelphia PA.
Lee F. Harvey, 55, Towers Manager, Theatre Vet Dies
Camden Courier-Post —
Lee F. Harvey, 55, manager of the Towers theatre for the last 10 years and for many years associated with the theatre in Camden and through the country, died in Jefferson Hospital, Philadelphia, Thursday, following an operation. He resided at 247 Edgewood avenue, Audubon.
Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Harvey started playing with stock companies when he was 16 and toured all parts of the nation. Here in Camden he played with the old Chester Devonde stock company with which Francis X. Bushman was leading man, and which presented plays at the old Broadway theatre on Broadway, near Sycamore street, north of Kaighn avenue.
Mr. Harvey became a matinee idol of the camden players who pre—
The Towers Theatre
1950
The Towers Theatre
Camden Courier-Post, February 1942