Douglas Grant Hertz was born in Haddon Hall, Bycullah Road, Enfield, Middlesex, England, on the 16th March 1893, the son of Jacob and Caroline Hertz (née Stewart). His father was a merchant, born in Germany, and his mother, who was his father’s second wife, was from Scotland. By 1897, the family had moved to Sutton, Surrey, where his father became a commercial chemist, and Douglas worked as a clerk for him.
In November 1910, at the age of seventeen, Douglas emigrated to the United States of America, where he went to his older step-brother, Arthur, an automobile salesman in Portland, Oregon. By 1913, he was working in the lumber yard of Woods Lumber Company in Kansas City, Missouri, and in newspaper reports from this period, it would appear that he was prone to exaggeration, and even blatantly lying about his family, his qualifications, and his life experiences up to that time!
Douglas claimed to be aged 31 years, when he was actually aged 20 years, most likely adding eleven years to his age because he was claiming to have been a graduate of Cambridge University, had qualified as a lawyer, and had practised law in San Francisco, California. These claims would have been impossible for a 20-year-old to have achieved, and were all false. Also, he claimed that his father was a British Member of Parliament – which he never was, and when his mother died in February 1913, he claimed that she had left him a fortune, and was waiting to receive it!
On the 7th May 1913, he married Mary Magdalena “Madeline” Lawless in Kansas City. Madeline was from Strong City, Kansas, and the newlyweds decided to drive by car to her family in Strong City, where a wedding reception was planned for them at the home of her sister. On the 11th May, four days after their wedding, Madeline was fatally injured when a train struck their car at a level crossing at Saffordville, Kansas, and it was reported that Douglas suffered a fractured skull, but survived.
He must have made a very rapid recovery from his injuries, because on the 7th July 1913, he married a widow, Mamie Ray (née Holloway) in Kansas City. The couple went on their honeymoon to the Buckingham Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri. On the 24th July, however, Mamie left him and returned to Kansas City as she apparently discovered that Douglas wasn’t as wealthy as she thought he was when she married him! She may also have seen through his lies and exaggerations!
On learning that his bride had returned to Kansas City, Douglas immediately returned to the city in search of her, but when she refused to see him, and suggested he end his life, he attempted to do just that by entering a saloon, and shooting himself in the chest - the bullet narrowly missing his heart! Despite being in a critical condition for a period, he eventually made a full recovery, but Mamie never returned to him.
In 1915, he decided to return home and enlist in the British Army, not as a common soldier, but as an officer, and therefore he was seeking a commission. Consequently, he booked second cabin passage on the May sailing of the
Lusitania from New York to Liverpool.
Having left St. Louis, probably by rail, sometime in April; he boarded the liner at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York port, on the morning of 1st May 1915, in time for her scheduled 10 o’clock departure. He would then have had to have waited until just after mid-day before the vessel actually left, because she had to embark passengers, crew and cargo from the liner S.S.
Cameronia which the British Admiralty had requisitioned for war service as a troop ship at the end of April.
Then, six days out of New York, on the afternoon of 7th May, and within sight of the coast of southern Ireland, the
Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20. At that time, she was only about fourteen hours steaming time away from the safety of her home port.
Douglas Hertz survived this action, and having been rescued from the sea, he was landed at Queenstown, from where he eventually reached his home in Sutton.
Having returned home and recovered from his ordeal, Douglas Hertz secured a commission as a second lieutenant in the Prince of Wales Volunteers (South Lancashire) Regiment, and although he later claimed that he had served with his unit in the Dardanelles campaign, where he suffered a fractured skull, this proved false! Due to fracturing his skull in the incident in Saffordville, Kansas, in 1913, and probably because of the gunshot wound he suffered to his chest in his failed suicide attempt in the same year, he was assigned clerical duties and never served anywhere close to a battlefront. His military career was short-lived as he was medically discharged from the army in August 1916.
On the 22nd March 1916, he married Frances Marie “Molly” Carstensen at St. Aidan’s United Reformed Church, Didsbury, Lancashire. On their marriage certificate, her name is recorded as “Carr”, but this was incorrect. On the 25th January 1916, Molly had given birth to a daughter, Noelle “Nola” Marie Madeline Carstensen. Douglas adopted the child as his own.
In August 1916, following his discharge from the army, the entire family travelled to St. Louis, Missouri, Douglas stating that he was a lawyer on landing in New York City. He had brought with him from England a motion picture he had produced, entitled
‘Fighting for Verdun’. He spent a number of months promoting his movie in New York; however, surviving reviews of it illustrate two major flaws – there was no combat footage, nor were there any images of Verdun!
In June 1917, the family were living at Old Church Road, Greenwich, Connecticut, and Douglas was working as a kennel manager. Then, in 1920, they were in Chicago, Illinois, where Douglas was president of a language school, but by 1921, they had returned to New York City, where Douglas applied to become a naturalized U.S. citizen. On his application, he gave his occupation as being a publisher.
In 1925, the family were residing at Post Road, Cortlandt, Westchester County, New York, and Douglas was now a farmer! Sometime after this, Douglas and Molly divorced, and whereas Molly and her daughter moved into New York City, Douglas travelled south west.
On the 22nd June 1930, in Los Angeles, California, he married Modette Pisani (née Hunt), who was a widow, and a former actress who had stared in
Show Boat – produced by the renowned Florenz Ziegfeld. The couple later separated, but reconciled within a short period. In 1939, he again applied for U.S. citizenship, this time stating his occupation as being a horse breeder and trainer, and residing at the Pegasus Club, Rockleigh, New Jersey. His wife, Modette, died in New York on the 10th January 1940 of a brain haemorrhage, aged 34 years. Their home at that time was at 551. Fifth Avenue, New York City.
On the 21st December 1940, he married Mary Elizabeth Goodfellow, in the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration, East 29th Street, Manhattan, New York City. His bride was seventeen years his junior, and had been born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The couple resided at 127. East 54th Street, New York City, but they divorced in Dade County, Florida, in 1948.
On the 21st December 1962, Douglas Hertz married for the sixth and final time, when he married Florence Jean Gannon in Clarke County, Nevada. The couple resided at 546. Atherton Avenue, Novato, Marin County, California.
On the 28th November 1967, Douglas Hertz died in Novato, aged 74 years. His remains were buried in Valley Memorial Park, Novato.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Manchester England Non-Conformist Marriages 1758 – 1937, California County Birth, Marriage and Death Records 1849 – 1980, New York Index to Marriage Licenses 1938 – 1940, Florida Divorce Index 1927 – 2001, Nevada Marriage Index 1956 – 2005, California Death Index 1940 – 1997, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1920 U.S. Federal Census, 1925 New York State Census, New York State and Federal Naturalization Records 1794 – 1943, New Jersey Naturalization Records 1878 – 1945, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards 1917 – 1918, U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards 1942, London Gazette, Daily Independent Journal, The Spokesman-Review, The Emporia Weekly Gazette, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.