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atmosphere when they were traveling. One of the show's early performances was in
Duquesne Gardens in September 1940. By 1945 it was playing in 20 North American cities, with only four weeks off in a year. Harris traveled with the Ice Capades for the first three weeks of every year's new show, and
83:. After U.S. Army service in 1918, he transferred from Catholic University to Georgetown University, where he received a law degree in 1921. He worked in the family entertainment business during vacations from school, and entered it full-time upon graduation.
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arena and began offering a variety of entertainments. Like other arenas, these included skating, ice hockey, rodeo, boxing, bicycle racing, and more. The venture was successful, pulling the family company out of debt. In 1936, Harris founded the
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103:. By the time of his father's death in 1926, young Johnny was managing all the company's theaters outside of Pittsburgh. He soon increased the stable from 14 theaters to 25.
175:, who quickly became the star of the show, performing as such for fifteen years. He married her, 27 years his junior, in 1949; the couple divorced ten years later.
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to entertain the audience between periods of hockey games. On March 31, 1936, she created a local sensation when she performed at a playoff game between the
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136:. This event strengthened Harris' notion that ice skating could be a good spectator event, and he began to implement his plans for an ice spectacular.
148:, where Harris submitted a proposal to establish an ice show to play at their arenas. The proposal was greeted favorably, and the group organized the
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159:. He closely supervised every phase of the show, including the hiring of performers, who lived in a closely supervised
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attended all 26 performances when it visited
Pittsburgh. Printed programs for the shows featured the phrase "
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152:. Harris quickly took charge of the show, using his film and entertainment background to model it after
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In 1963, John H. Harris sold the Ice
Capades for $ 5.5 million. He died in 1969 at age 70.
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team that was to play in
Pittsburgh for 26 years. Harris brought in Olympic figure skater
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theater in
Pittsburgh. At a young age, he showed an entrepreneurial bent by operating a
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At Harris
Amusement Companies, his first job was to manage the Strand Theater in
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John H. Harris, nicknamed "Johnny", was six years old in 1905 when his father,
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309:"Obituaries: John H. Harris, Showman, Dies; First Owner of Ice Capades",
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In
February 1940, Harris and eight other arena managers met in
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In 1941 Harris hired 16-year-old figure skating champion
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teams. He was married for ten years to ice skating star
282:"Donna Atwood dies at 85; longtime Ice Capades Star"
238:. Washington, DC: Penchant Publishing Company, Ltd.
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111:In the depression year of 1932, John leased the
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253:Historical Dictionary of Figure Skating
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206:"The Harris Family and its Ice Capades"
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236:Ice Capades "years of entertainment"
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340:Businesspeople from Pittsburgh
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249:Hines, James R. (2011-04-22).
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234:Hamilton, F. F. Jr. (1974).
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288:. 2011-01-21. Archived from
210:Western Pennsylvania History
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257:. Scarecrow Press. p.
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269:john h harris ice capades.
130:Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets
93:Youngstown, Pennsylvania
29:Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
204:Biehl, Mary A. (2004).
166:John H. Harris presents
134:Atlantic City Seagulls
122:American Hockey League
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31:. He was the son of
168:... Ice Capades."
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87:Early career
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335:1969 deaths
330:1898 births
150:Ice Capades
140:Ice Capades
126:Sonja Henie
99:theater in
77:paper route
69:Nickelodeon
45:Ice Capades
324:Categories
296:2013-08-04
264:2014-03-13
220:2014-03-13
216:(4): 37–39
182:References
101:McKeesport
97:vaudeville
59:Early life
49:ice hockey
41:impresario
132:and the
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