Bert Lahr
Encyclopedia
Bert Lahr was an American actor and comedian
. Lahr is remembered today for his roles as the Cowardly Lion
and Kansas farmworker Zeke in The Wizard of Oz
, but was also well-known for work in burlesque
, vaudeville
, and on Broadway
.
section of Manhattan
. Dropping out of school at the age of 15 to join a juvenile vaudeville act, Lahr worked his way up to top billing on the Columbia Burlesque Circuit. In 1927 he debuted on Broadway in Delmar's Revels. Lahr played to packed houses, performing classic routines such as "The Song of the Woodman" (which he later reprised in the film Merry-Go-Round of 1938). Lahr had his first major success in a stage musical playing the prize fighter hero of Hold Everything!
(1928–29). Several other musicals followed, notably Flying High
(1930), Florenz Ziegfeld
's Hot-Cha! (1932) and The Show is On (1936) in which he co-starred with Beatrice Lillie
. In 1939, he co-starred with Ethel Merman
in DuBarry Was a Lady
.
, playing the part of the oddball aviator he had previously played on stage. He signed with New York-based Educational Pictures
for a series of two-reel comedies. When that series ended, he came back to Hollywood to work in feature films. Aside from The Wizard of Oz (1939), his movie career was limited. In the 1944 patriotic film Meet the People
, Lahr uttered the phrase "Heavens to Murgatroyd
!" which was later popularized by cartoon character Snagglepuss
.
. Lahr was signed to play the role on July 25, 1938. He starred opposite Judy Garland
, Ray Bolger
, Jack Haley
, Frank Morgan
, and Margaret Hamilton
. Lahr's lion costume was composed of real lion fur and, under the high-voltage lighting required for Oz's Technicolor
scenes, was unbearably hot. Lahr also contributed ad-lib comedic lines for his character. The Cowardly Lion is also the only character in the movie who has two solo song numbers-"If I Only Had the Nerve," performed after his initial meeting with Dorothy, The Scarecrow, and The Tin Man in the forest, and "If I Were King of the Forest," performed while he and the others are awaiting their audience with the Wizard.
An original Cowardly Lion costume worn by Bert Lahr in The Wizard of Oz resides in The Comisar Collection, the largest collection of television artifacts in the world.
in 1956 at the Coconut Grove Playhouse
in Miami, Florida, playing Estragon
to Tom Ewell
's Vladimir. The performance bombed, a large amount of the audience leaving before the show was over, and the critics did not treat it kindly. In his book Notes on a Cowardly Lion, John Lahr describes the problems as being caused partly by the choices of the director, including the decision to limit Bert's movement on stage, filling the stage with platforms, a misguided advertisement of the play as a light comedy, and other issues.
Lahr reprised his role in the play's short-lived Broadway
run. This time, however, it was with a new director, who had met with Beckett in Europe and discussed the play. The set was cleared and Bert was given more control over his performance. Advertisements were taken out urging intellectuals to support the play. It was a success and received enthusiastic ovations from the audience. Bert was praised and though he claimed he did not understand the play, others would disagree and say he understood it a great deal.
. He also performed as Moonface Martin in a television version of Anything Goes
with Ethel Merman
reprising her role as Reno Sweeney and Frank Sinatra
as Billy Crocker. In the late 1950s, Lahr supplied the voice of an animated bloodhound in "Old Whiff," a short cartoon produced by Mike Todd
which featured the olfactory Smell-O-Vision
process developed for Todd's feature film Scent of Mystery
(1960). In 1963, he appeared as Go-Go Garrity in the episode "Is Mr. Martian Coming Back" on NBC
's medical drama
The Eleventh Hour
. In 1964 he won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his role in the musical Foxy
.
musical Let's Face It (1954), the 1964 Hallmark Hall of Fame
production of The Fantasticks
, and an appearance as the mystery guest on What's My Line?
He also performed in commercials, including a memorable series for Lay's
potato chips during its long-running "Betcha can't eat just one" campaign with Lahr as "Aunt Tillie." He was not afraid to take on the classics in television performances of Androcles and the Lion
and the School for Wives (1956). At the American Shakespeare Festival he played Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream
(1960), for which he received the Best Shakespearean Actor of the Year Award.
"Laughter is never too far away from tears," he reflected on his comedy. "You will cry at a peddler much easier than you would cry at a woman dressed in ermine who had just lost her whole family."
when he died of cancer
on December 4, 1967. While the official cause of death was listed as pneumonia, it was later revealed that Lahr, unknown to all, had suffered from cancer for some time. His untimely passing forced the film's producers
to use a double in several scenes. Lahr is buried at Union Field Cemetery in Ridgewood, Queens
.
His son, New Yorker
theater critic John Lahr
, wrote a biography
of his father's life titled Notes on a Cowardly Lion-The Biography of Bert Lahr. His daughter Jane Lahr
was in the documentary Memories of Oz on the television network Turner Classic Movies
in 2001.
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
. Lahr is remembered today for his roles as the Cowardly Lion
Cowardly Lion
The Cowardly Lion is the main character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is a Lion, but he talks and interacts with humans....
and Kansas farmworker Zeke in The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
, but was also well-known for work in burlesque
American burlesque
American Burlesque is a genre of variety show. Derived from elements of Victorian burlesque, music hall and minstrel shows, burlesque shows in America became popular in the 1860s and evolved to feature ribald comedy and female striptease...
, vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
, and on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
.
Early life
Lahr was born in New York City, of German-Jewish heritage. Lahr grew up in the YorkvilleYorkville, Manhattan
Yorkville is a neighborhood in the greater Upper East Side, in the Borough of Manhattan in New York City. Yorkville's boundaries include: the East River on the east, 96th Street on the north, Third Avenue on the west and 72nd Street to the south. However, its southern boundary is a subject of...
section of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. Dropping out of school at the age of 15 to join a juvenile vaudeville act, Lahr worked his way up to top billing on the Columbia Burlesque Circuit. In 1927 he debuted on Broadway in Delmar's Revels. Lahr played to packed houses, performing classic routines such as "The Song of the Woodman" (which he later reprised in the film Merry-Go-Round of 1938). Lahr had his first major success in a stage musical playing the prize fighter hero of Hold Everything!
Hold Everything!
Hold Everything! is a musical comedy with book by John McGowan and B. G. de Sylva, lyrics by Lew Brown and B. G. de Sylva, and music by Ray Henderson....
(1928–29). Several other musicals followed, notably Flying High
Flying High (musical)
Flying High is a musical comedy with book by B. G. DeSylva, Lew Brown, and John McGowan, lyrics by B. G. DeSylva and Lew Brown, music by Ray Henderson....
(1930), Florenz Ziegfeld
Florenz Ziegfeld
Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. , , was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the Ziegfeld Follies , inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris. He also produced the musical Show Boat...
's Hot-Cha! (1932) and The Show is On (1936) in which he co-starred with Beatrice Lillie
Beatrice Lillie
Beatrice Gladys "Bea" Lillie was an actress and comedic performer. Following her 1920 marriage to Sir Robert Peel in England, she was known in private life as Lady Peel.-Early career:...
. In 1939, he co-starred with Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman was an American actress and singer. Known primarily for her powerful voice and roles in musical theatre, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage." Among the many standards introduced by Merman in Broadway musicals are "I Got Rhythm", "Everything's...
in DuBarry Was a Lady
DuBarry Was a Lady
DuBarry Was a Lady is a Broadway musical, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and the book by Herbert Fields and B.G. DeSylva. The musical starred Bert Lahr, Ethel Merman and Betty Grable, and the song "Friendship" was one of the highlights...
.
Marriages
His later life was troubled. His first wife, Mercedes, developed a severe mental health problem that left her hospitalized. This complicated his relationship with his second wife, Mildred, as he had legal problems getting a divorce in New York State at the time. Mildred became tired of waiting and became involved with another man, marrying him. Bert was heartbroken but eventually won Mildred back. Through all of this time he had to continue to work and travel.Career
Lahr made his feature film debut in 1931's Flying HighFlying High (1931 film)
Flying High , also known as George White's Flying High, is a musical film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by George White with lyrics by B. G. DeSylva and Lew Brown, music by Ray Henderson, with additional songs by Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh .The film opened on November 14, 1931...
, playing the part of the oddball aviator he had previously played on stage. He signed with New York-based Educational Pictures
Educational Pictures
Educational Pictures was a film distribution company founded in 1919 by Earle Hammons . Educational primarily distributed short subjects, and today is probably best known for its series of 1930s comedies starring Buster Keaton, as well as for a series of one-reel comedies featuring Shirley...
for a series of two-reel comedies. When that series ended, he came back to Hollywood to work in feature films. Aside from The Wizard of Oz (1939), his movie career was limited. In the 1944 patriotic film Meet the People
Meet the People
Meet the People was a 1944 MGM patriotic film made during World War II with Lucille Ball and Dick Powell that took its title from a successful Los Angeles stage revue...
, Lahr uttered the phrase "Heavens to Murgatroyd
Murgatroyd
Murgatroyd is a surname. Its etymology, according to one source, is as follows: In 1371, a constable was appointed for the district of Warley in Yorkshire...
!" which was later popularized by cartoon character Snagglepuss
Snagglepuss
Snagglepuss is a Hanna-Barbera cartoon character created in 1959, a pink anthropomorphic mountain lion voiced by Daws Butler. He is best known for his famous catchphrase, "Heavens to Murgatroyd!", along with phrases such as "Exit, stage left!" Snagglepuss was originally known as "Snaggletooth"...
.
"The Cowardly Lion": The Wizard of Oz
Lahr's most iconic role was that of "Zeke (farmhand)/The Cowardly Lion" in M-G-M's 1939 adaptation of The Wizard of OzThe Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
. Lahr was signed to play the role on July 25, 1938. He starred opposite Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
, Ray Bolger
Ray Bolger
Raymond Wallace "Ray" Bolger was an American entertainer of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of the Scarecrow and Kansas farmworker Hank in The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
, Jack Haley
Jack Haley
John Joseph "Jack" Haley was an American stage, radio, and film actor best known for his portrayal of the Tin Man and Kansas farmworker Hickory in The Wizard of Oz.-Career:...
, Frank Morgan
Frank Morgan
Frank Morgan was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of the title character in the film The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
, and Margaret Hamilton
Margaret Hamilton
Margaret Hamilton was an American film actress known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz...
. Lahr's lion costume was composed of real lion fur and, under the high-voltage lighting required for Oz's Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
scenes, was unbearably hot. Lahr also contributed ad-lib comedic lines for his character. The Cowardly Lion is also the only character in the movie who has two solo song numbers-"If I Only Had the Nerve," performed after his initial meeting with Dorothy, The Scarecrow, and The Tin Man in the forest, and "If I Were King of the Forest," performed while he and the others are awaiting their audience with the Wizard.
An original Cowardly Lion costume worn by Bert Lahr in The Wizard of Oz resides in The Comisar Collection, the largest collection of television artifacts in the world.
Waiting for Godot
He made the transition to straight theatre. He got a script of Waiting for Godot, and after reading he was greatly impressed but unsure of how the revolutionary play would be received in the United States. It had been performed in Europe to great acclaim, but was somewhat obscure and intellectual. He co-starred in the premiere of Waiting for GodotWaiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
in 1956 at the Coconut Grove Playhouse
Coconut Grove Playhouse
The Coconut Grove Playhouse was a legitimate theater in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States.The building was originally constructed as a movie theater called the Player's State Theater. It first opened on January 3, 1927 as a part of the Paramount chain. The movie house...
in Miami, Florida, playing Estragon
Estragon
Estragon is one of the two main characters from Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. His name is the French word for tarragon.- The impulsive misanthrope :...
to Tom Ewell
Tom Ewell
Tom Ewell was an American actor.-Early life and career:Born Samuel Yewell Tompkins in Owensboro, Kentucky, where his family expected him to follow in their footsteps as lawyers or whiskey and tobacco dealers....
's Vladimir. The performance bombed, a large amount of the audience leaving before the show was over, and the critics did not treat it kindly. In his book Notes on a Cowardly Lion, John Lahr describes the problems as being caused partly by the choices of the director, including the decision to limit Bert's movement on stage, filling the stage with platforms, a misguided advertisement of the play as a light comedy, and other issues.
Lahr reprised his role in the play's short-lived Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
run. This time, however, it was with a new director, who had met with Beckett in Europe and discussed the play. The set was cleared and Bert was given more control over his performance. Advertisements were taken out urging intellectuals to support the play. It was a success and received enthusiastic ovations from the audience. Bert was praised and though he claimed he did not understand the play, others would disagree and say he understood it a great deal.
Other work
Among other Broadway roles, Lahr played Queen Victoria in a sketch from the musical Two on the AisleTwo on the Aisle
Two on the Aisle is a musical revue with a book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Jule Styne.The project marked Comden and Green's return to Broadway following their successful reign at MGM and their first teaming with composer Styne...
. He also performed as Moonface Martin in a television version of Anything Goes
Anything Goes
Anything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London...
with Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman was an American actress and singer. Known primarily for her powerful voice and roles in musical theatre, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage." Among the many standards introduced by Merman in Broadway musicals are "I Got Rhythm", "Everything's...
reprising her role as Reno Sweeney and Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
as Billy Crocker. In the late 1950s, Lahr supplied the voice of an animated bloodhound in "Old Whiff," a short cartoon produced by Mike Todd
Mike Todd
Michael Todd was an American theatre and film producer, best known for his 1956 production of Around the World in Eighty Days, which won an Academy Award for Best Picture...
which featured the olfactory Smell-O-Vision
Smell-o-vision
Smell-O-Vision was a system that released odor during the projection of a film so that the viewer could "smell" what was happening in the movie. The technique was created by Hans Laube and made its only appearance in the 1960 film Scent of Mystery, produced by Mike Todd, Jr., son of film producer...
process developed for Todd's feature film Scent of Mystery
Scent of Mystery
Scent of Mystery is a 1960 mystery film that featured the one and only use of Smell-O-Vision, a system that timed odors to points in the film's plot. It was the first film in which aromas were integral to the story, providing important details to the audience...
(1960). In 1963, he appeared as Go-Go Garrity in the episode "Is Mr. Martian Coming Back" on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's medical drama
Medical drama
A medical drama is a television program, in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment.In the United States, most medical episodes are one hour long and, more often than not, are set in a hospital. Most current medical Dramatic programming go beyond the...
The Eleventh Hour
The Eleventh Hour (1962 TV series)
The Eleventh Hour is an American medical drama about psychiatry starring Wendell Corey, Jack Ging, and Ralph Bellamy, which aired sixty-two new episodes plus selected rebroadcasts on NBC from October 3, 1962, to September 9, 1964.-Series premise:...
. In 1964 he won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his role in the musical Foxy
Foxy (musical)
Foxy is a musical with a book by Ian McLellan Hunter and Ring Lardner, Jr., lyrics by Johnny Mercer, and music by Robert Emmett Dolan.Based on Ben Jonson's Volpone, it transports the original play's setting of early-17th century Renaissance Venice to the Yukon during the gold rush of 1898...
.
Later life
Lahr occasionally appeared on television, including NBC's live version of the Cole PorterCole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
musical Let's Face It (1954), the 1964 Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011...
production of The Fantasticks
The Fantasticks
The Fantasticks is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones. It was produced by Lore Noto. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play "The Romancers" by Edmond Rostand, concerning two neighboring fathers who trick their children, Luisa and Matt, into...
, and an appearance as the mystery guest on What's My Line?
What's My Line?
What's My Line? is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasked celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations....
He also performed in commercials, including a memorable series for Lay's
Frito-Lay
Frito-Lay North America is the division of PepsiCo that manufactures, markets and sells corn chips, potato chips and other snack foods. The primary snack food brands produced under the Frito-Lay name include Fritos corn chips, Cheetos cheese-flavored snacks, Doritos and Tostitos tortilla chips,...
potato chips during its long-running "Betcha can't eat just one" campaign with Lahr as "Aunt Tillie." He was not afraid to take on the classics in television performances of Androcles and the Lion
Androcles and the Lion (play)
Androcles and the Lion is a 1912 play written by George Bernard Shaw.Androcles and the Lion is Shaw's retelling of the tale of Androcles, a slave who is saved by the requited mercy of a lion. In the play, Shaw portrays Androcles to be one of the many Christians being led to the Colosseum for torture...
and the School for Wives (1956). At the American Shakespeare Festival he played Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
(1960), for which he received the Best Shakespearean Actor of the Year Award.
"Laughter is never too far away from tears," he reflected on his comedy. "You will cry at a peddler much easier than you would cry at a woman dressed in ermine who had just lost her whole family."
Death
Lahr was filming The Night They Raided Minsky'sThe Night They Raided Minsky's
The Night They Raided Minsky's is a 1968 musical comedy film directed by William Friedkin and produced by Norman Lear. It is a fictional account of the invention of the striptease at Minsky's Burlesque in 1925...
when he died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
on December 4, 1967. While the official cause of death was listed as pneumonia, it was later revealed that Lahr, unknown to all, had suffered from cancer for some time. His untimely passing forced the film's producers
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
to use a double in several scenes. Lahr is buried at Union Field Cemetery in Ridgewood, Queens
Ridgewood, Queens
Ridgewood is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It borders the neighborhoods of Maspeth, Middle Village and Glendale, as well as the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick. Historically, the neighborhood straddled the Queens-Brooklyn boundary. The neighborhood is part of Queens...
.
His son, New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
theater critic John Lahr
John Lahr
John Lahr is an American theater critic, and the son of actor Bert Lahr. Since 1992, he has been the senior drama critic at The New Yorker magazine.-Biography:...
, wrote a biography
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
of his father's life titled Notes on a Cowardly Lion-The Biography of Bert Lahr. His daughter Jane Lahr
Jane Lahr
Jane Lahr is an American author.Lahr is the daughter of actor Bert Lahr, and sister of the New Yorker drama critic John Lahr.Lahr's career began at Harry N. Abrams, Inc., where she pioneered the area of Special Sales and became Director of Advertising Publicity and Promotion...
was in the documentary Memories of Oz on the television network Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...
in 2001.
Filmography
- Faint Heart (1929)
- Flying HighFlying High (1931 film)Flying High , also known as George White's Flying High, is a musical film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by George White with lyrics by B. G. DeSylva and Lew Brown, music by Ray Henderson, with additional songs by Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh .The film opened on November 14, 1931...
(1931) - HizzonerHizzonerHizzoner is a corruption of the title "His Honour", used in particular to refer to the mayor of larger North American cities.The term can further refer to:*Hizzoner, a 1933 short film directed by Ray McCarey...
(1933) - Mr. BroadwayMr. BroadwayMr. Broadway is a 13-episode CBS adventure and drama television series starring Craig Stevens , formerly of Peter Gunn, as New York City public relations specialist Mike Bell. The program aired at 9 p.m. Eastern time Saturdays from September 26 to December 26, 1964...
(1933) - Henry the Ache (1934)
- No More West (1934)
- Gold Bricks (1936)
- Boy, Oh Boy (1936)
- Whose Baby Are You? (1936)
- Off the Horses (1937)
- Montague the Magnificent (1937)
- Merry Go Round of 1938 (1937)
- Love and Hisses (1937)
- Josette (1938)
- Just Around the CornerJust Around the CornerJust Around the Corner is a 1938 American musical film directed by Irving Cummings. The screenplay by Ethel Hill, Darrell Ware, and J. P. McEvoy was based on the novel Lucky Penny by Paul Girard Smith. The film focuses on the tribulations of little Penny Hale and her architect father after he is...
(1938) - ZazaZaza (play)Zaza is a play, originally written by French playwrights Pierre Berton and Charles Simon, but probably best known in the English-speaking world in the 1898 adaptation by David Belasco. The title character is a prostitute who becomes a music hall entertainer and the mistress of a married...
(1939) - The Wizard of OzThe Wizard of Oz (1939 film)The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
(1939) - Sing Your Worries Away (1942)
- Ship AhoyShip AhoyShip Ahoy is the title of a 1942 musical-comedy film produced by MGM, starring Eleanor Powell and Red Skelton.-Background:This was the first of two films in which Powell and Skelton co-starred...
(1942) - Meet the PeopleMeet the PeopleMeet the People was a 1944 MGM patriotic film made during World War II with Lucille Ball and Dick Powell that took its title from a successful Los Angeles stage revue...
(1944) - Always Leave Them LaughingAlways Leave Them LaughingAlways Leave Them Laughing is a 1949 film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Milton Berle and Virginia Mayo.-Cast:*Milton Berle as Kipling Cooper*Virginia Mayo as Nancy Eagen*Ruth Roman as Fay Washburn*Bert Lahr as Eddie Eagen...
(1949) - Mr. Universe (1951)
- Rose MarieRose Marie (films)The 1924 Broadway musical Rose-Marie has been the basis of three MGM films of the same title. The best-known film adaptation was released in 1936; however, a silent version was released in 1928 and another film was released in 1954. All three versions are set in the Canadian wilderness...
(1954) - The Second Greatest SexThe Second Greatest SexThe Second Greatest Sex is a 1955 film directed by George Marshall. It stars Jeanne Crain and George Nader.-Cast:*Jeanne Crain as Liza McClure*George Nader as Matt Davis*Kitty Kallen as Katy Conors*Bert Lahr as Job McClure...
(1955) - The Night They Raided Minsky'sThe Night They Raided Minsky'sThe Night They Raided Minsky's is a 1968 musical comedy film directed by William Friedkin and produced by Norman Lear. It is a fictional account of the invention of the striptease at Minsky's Burlesque in 1925...
(1968)
Stage productions
- Harry Delmar's Revels (November 28, 1927 – March 1928)
- Hold Everything!Hold Everything!Hold Everything! is a musical comedy with book by John McGowan and B. G. de Sylva, lyrics by Lew Brown and B. G. de Sylva, and music by Ray Henderson....
(October 10, 1928 – October 5, 1929) - Flying HighFlying High (musical)Flying High is a musical comedy with book by B. G. DeSylva, Lew Brown, and John McGowan, lyrics by B. G. DeSylva and Lew Brown, music by Ray Henderson....
(March 3, 1930 – January 3, 1931) - George White's Music Hall Varieties (November 22 – December 31, 1932)
- Life Begins at 8:40Life Begins at 8:40Life Begins at 8:40 is a musical revue with music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and E.Y. Harburg, and sketches by Gershwin, Harburg, David Freedman, H.I...
(August 27, 1934 – March 16, 1935) - George White's Scandals of 1935 (December 25, 1935 – March 28, 1936)
- The Show is On (December 25, 1936 – July 17, 1937)
- DuBarry Was a LadyDuBarry Was a LadyDuBarry Was a Lady is a Broadway musical, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and the book by Herbert Fields and B.G. DeSylva. The musical starred Bert Lahr, Ethel Merman and Betty Grable, and the song "Friendship" was one of the highlights...
(December 6, 1939 – December 12, 1940) - Seven Lively ArtsSeven Lively ArtsThe Seven Lively Arts was a short-lived Sunday afternoon hour-long television anthology series produced in 1957 by CBS television and executive producer John Houseman. It was hosted by New York Herald Tribune critic John Crosby...
(December 7, 1944 – May 12, 1945) - BurlesqueAmerican burlesqueAmerican Burlesque is a genre of variety show. Derived from elements of Victorian burlesque, music hall and minstrel shows, burlesque shows in America became popular in the 1860s and evolved to feature ribald comedy and female striptease...
(December 25, 1946 – January 10, 1948) - Two on the AisleTwo on the AisleTwo on the Aisle is a musical revue with a book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Jule Styne.The project marked Comden and Green's return to Broadway following their successful reign at MGM and their first teaming with composer Styne...
(July 19, 1951 – March 15, 1952) - Waiting for GodotWaiting for GodotWaiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
(April 19 – June 9, 1956) - Hotel Paradiso (April 11 – July 13, 1957)
- The Girls Against the Boys (November 2–14, 1959)
- The Beauty Part (December 26, 1962 – March 9, 1963)
- FoxyFoxy (musical)Foxy is a musical with a book by Ian McLellan Hunter and Ring Lardner, Jr., lyrics by Johnny Mercer, and music by Robert Emmett Dolan.Based on Ben Jonson's Volpone, it transports the original play's setting of early-17th century Renaissance Venice to the Yukon during the gold rush of 1898...
(February 16 – April 18, 1964)