Death
In 1920, D. W. Griffith cast Richard Barthelmess to star in Way Down East, and Harron signed a production deal with Metro Pictures. His first film for Metro, also the last film of his career, called Coincidence, was finished and then released the next year in 1921. Harron traveled from Los Angeles to New York by train to support Lillian Gish at the film premiere of Way Down East. He checked in to the Hotel Seymour on September 1. He was also there for a preview of Coincidence and was sharing the hotel room with director Victor Heerman, who attended the preview and said it did not go very well.
While Harron was alone in his hotel room on September 1, a gun in his possession discharged and wounded him. According to published reports, Harron had a gun in a trunk along with other possessions. As he took some clothes out the trunk, the gun fell to the floor and discharged hitting him in the chest. He called the hotel desk for assistance and was still conscious when the hotel manager came to his room. Not realizing he was seriously wounded, Harron joked with the manager that he was in a "devil of a fix" having shot himself. Harron initially refused to let the manager call an ambulance, only wanting to be examined by a local physician. After a physician could not be found, Harron agreed to allow the manager to call an ambulance. Harron then insisted that he not be taken down by stretcher, but a chair. As Harron had lost a considerable amount of blood, he was finally convinced to be taken downstairs on a stretcher.
Harron was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center. While he was being treated, Harron was arrested for possessing a firearm without a permit under the Sullivan Act. On September 5, 1920, Harron died of his wound.
Even before his death, there were rumors that Harron's death was not accidental and that he had attempted suicide. There was speculation that he was despondent over being passed over for a leading role by Griffith or over the breakup of his relationship with Dorothy Gish. Victor Heerman, with whom Harron would double-date, said that Harron was a teetotaler and a virgin because he was a devout Catholic, and for those reasons Heerman rejected claims it was a suicide. Miriam Cooper and Lillian Gish agreed, largely because he was his family's major source of income and he was about to start filming with Elmer Clifton.
Harron was interred at Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, Queens, New York City.
Read more about this topic: Robert Harron
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