Oscar Polk

Oscar Polk (December 25, 1899 – January 4, 1949) was an American actor whose career spanned Broadway and film across more than two decades. Born on Christmas Day, he became a recognizable presence on the New York stage beginning in 1927 and continuing through 1943, appearing in productions ranging from drama and comedy to musical theater.

Polk made his Broadway debut in 1927 with The Trial of Mary Dugan, launching a stage career that would include notable productions across multiple genres. He appeared in the comedy Once in a Lifetime in 1930 and the drama Both Your Houses in 1933. His Broadway work continued with The Green Pastures in 1935 and You Can't Take It with You in 1936. Later credits included the swing music adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Swingin' the Dream, in 1939, followed by the musical Sunny River, the drama The Walking Gentleman, and the comedy Dark Eyes, all staged between 1942 and 1943. Additional Broadway appearances included the comedy Mr. Big and the play Cross Roads.

Beyond Broadway, Polk performed in several other stage productions, among them Horses Are Like That in 1943, Bigger Than Barnum in 1946, and The Magnificent Heel that same year.

In film, Polk is perhaps best known for portraying Pork, an enslaved man, in the 1939 production Gone with the Wind. Among his scenes in that film, one involves his character informing Scarlett O'Hara, played by Vivien Leigh, that the back property taxes on Tara had accumulated to $300. His wife, Ivy V. Polk, born Ivy Parsons on October 12, 1920, also had a connection to the film through a deleted scene. The couple had a son, Oscar Polk Jr.

Polk died on January 4, 1949, ten days after his forty-ninth birthday, when he was struck by a taxi cab after stepping off a curb in Times Square, New York City. At the time of his death, he had been cast in a major role in the play Leading Lady, a part that subsequently went to Ossie Davis. He is buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Long Island, New York.