George Ernest

George Ernest
George Ernest (fourth from left) as Roger Jones in the Jones Family film On Their Own (1940)
Born	George Ruud Hjorth (1921-11-20)November 20, 1921 Pittsfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	June 25, 2009(2009-06-25) (aged 87) Whittier, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1930–1942

George Ernest (born George Ruud Hjorth; November 20, 1921 – June 25, 2009) was an American actor and

Ernest was born George Ruud Hjorth to a Norwegian mother and Danish father. The family moved to California when he was two-and-a-half years old. His father owned a restaurant in Hollywood.^[1]

Acting career

Ernest began getting small parts in silent films when he was just three years old.^[1] He had a successful career as a child actor, being a member of Our Gang in 1931. He also played Roger Jones in 17 Jones Family low-budget films from 1936 to 1940 (named Roger Evers in the first movie, Every Saturday Night). However, as he grew older, roles became scarcer, so he learned from cameramen on his films and became one himself.

World War II

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and the United States officially entered World War II, he enlisted. At a friend's suggestion, he became a combat photographer and "one of the 17 original movie makers" of a special OSS photographic unit headed by noted film director John Ford.^[1] He had to sign an agreement not to discuss his wartime work for 50 years.^[1]

On his first combat mission, he photographed the

Hjorth also shot pictures of Buchenwald concentration camp and the aftermath of an Axis atrocity in France (the corpses of dozens of civilians burned alive).^[1]

Post-war

He became an executive for McDonnell Douglas.^[1] When OSS files were declassified, his wartime activities came to light. Historians are searching for the film he shot, so far without success.^[1]

He died on June 25, 2009, in Whittier, California.

He was one of the subjects in two documentaries - The Our Gang Story (1994)^[2] and Shooting War (2000),^[3] about World War II combat cameramen - and episode 9 of the TV series Brad Meltzer's Lost History.

Partial filmography

References