Hank claimed the number three represented the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost and therefore he considered it to be a sacred number. His strict upbringing as a devout Lutheran while being raised in Germany made it uneasy for him to wear the number three, so despite wanting to break into Hollywood, he decided to stand his ground over this number issue.
Luckily for Hank, a quick-thinking member of the props department (a woman named Marguerite Michnick) realized there was a box of unused jerseys with the number forty-seven on them.
These jerseys were to be given to the crew to commemorate the upcoming New Year. The jerseys
were ordered and received but the idea was scrapped when the movie studio decided to release the
film in December of 1946 rather than January of 1947.
Hank thanked Marguerite, Capra agreed to the slight wardrobe change, and the jersey was donned for the screen test.
 |
| Donna Reed and James Stewart in a photo still from the movie It's a Wonderful Life |
The photo below is the only known still image from Henry Gerckens's screen test with Donna Reed. This photo has been passed from Gerckens to Gerckens for seventy years.
As it turns out, Capra claimed he wanted a taller leading man, but our family has always felt it was what we refer to as “the jersey incident” that cost Hank the role of a lifetime.
 |
| Donna Reed and Hank Gerckens in a photo still from a screen test for the movie It's a Wonderful Life |
Marquerite (the props woman). He did land a small part on Broadway in the musical South Pacific and another minor role in Mel Brook's play, All-American.
Once Hank realized there would be no acting career, he and Marguerite opened and operated a successful bakery until their deaths.
The bakery which is now long gone was located in Manhattan at 47 West 47th Street.
Coincidence...maybe, but now you know the untold story.
Merry Christmas everyone and Uncle Hank, you'd be surprised at how much of you has been passed down through the generations.
No comments:
Post a Comment