Bobby Van
Encyclopedia
Bobby Van was a musical
actor probably best known for his career on Broadway
in the 1950s and 1970s.
parents in The Bronx
, New York City
, and grew up backstage, witnessing many memorable Depression
-era acts. Originally, Van took King as his stage name (after his father's stage name, from the trio
"Gordon, Reed and King"). He finally opted for Van, supposedly after seeing a Van Johnson
poster hanging in his sister's bedroom.
Van began his career as a musician, playing trumpet
. When his band played a venue in the Catskills, Van was asked to fill in as a song and dance man for another act. His act drew rave reviews, and gave Van a thrill out of performing live as a solo act.
In the early 1950s, while Van was married to starlet Diane Garrett, he appeared in several film
s and television
shows including Shower of Stars
and the title role in The Affairs of Dobie Gillis
and roles in the MGM musicals Because You're Mine
and Kiss Me, Kate
. Van had a son named Peter Van.
In the 1960s, Van did comedy
work with Mickey Rooney
in films and television
. He appeared in three episodes of Rooney's Mickey
sitcom on ABC
in the role of a freeloading brother-in-law
. He also did some choreography
, as had his father years earlier.
In 1968, Van married Broadway actress Elaine Joyce
, and together they appeared on 1970s game show
s like Tattletales
and Match Game
. Van also hosted the game shows Showoffs
, The Fun Factory and Make Me Laugh
. They had one daughter, Taylor, who was born in 1977.
In 1973 he appeared in the musical remake of Lost Horizon
, the last occasion on which he took his traditional song-and-dance persona to the big screen. His novelty dance number from Small Town Girl
(1953) was featured in That's Entertainment, Part II
(1976). Van's last television appearance was as the host for the Mrs. America Pageant in 1980, which he had emceed for several years.
In 1979, Van was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor
. He survived the initial surgery, but after a year-long battle with cancer
, he died from the disease in Los Angeles in 1980 and was interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery
, a Jewish cemetery, in Los Angeles.
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
actor probably best known for his career 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...
in the 1950s and 1970s.
Life and career
Bobby Van was born Robert Jack Stein to vaudevilleVaudeville
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...
parents in The Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and grew up backstage, witnessing many memorable Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
-era acts. Originally, Van took King as his stage name (after his father's stage name, from the trio
Trio (music)
Trio is generally used in any of the following ways:* A group of three musicians playing the same or different musical instrument.* The performance of a piece of music by three people.* The contrasting section of a piece in ternary form...
"Gordon, Reed and King"). He finally opted for Van, supposedly after seeing a Van Johnson
Van Johnson
Van Johnson was an American film and television actor and dancer who was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios during and after World War II....
poster hanging in his sister's bedroom.
Van began his career as a musician, playing trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
. When his band played a venue in the Catskills, Van was asked to fill in as a song and dance man for another act. His act drew rave reviews, and gave Van a thrill out of performing live as a solo act.
In the early 1950s, while Van was married to starlet Diane Garrett, he appeared in several film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
shows including Shower of Stars
Shower of Stars
Shower of Stars is an American variety television series broadcast in the United States from 1954 to 1958 by CBS. The series was also known as Chrysler Shower of Stars. Unusually at the time for CBS, the series was telecast in color.-Overview:...
and the title role in The Affairs of Dobie Gillis
The Affairs of Dobie Gillis
The Affairs of Dobie Gillis is a black and white 1953 comedy musical film. The film is based on the same writings by Max Shulman as the subsequent television series, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis...
and roles in the MGM musicals Because You're Mine
Because You're Mine
This article is about the 1952 musical comedy film. For other uses see Because You're Mine .Because You're Mine is a 1952 musical comedy film starring Mario Lanza. Directed by Alexander Hall, the film also stars Doretta Morrow, James Whitmore, and Dean Miller.-Plot:Opera singer superstar Renato...
and Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate (film)
Kiss Me Kate is the 1953 MGM film adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name.Inspired by The Taming of the Shrew, it tells the tale of musical theater actors, Fred Graham and Lilli Vanessi, who were once married and are now performing opposite each other in the roles of Petruchio and...
. Van had a son named Peter Van.
In the 1960s, Van did comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
work with Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
in films and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
. He appeared in three episodes of Rooney's Mickey
Mickey (TV series)
Mickey is an American situation comedy that aired on ABC from September 1964 to January 1965. Created and produced by Bob Fisher and Arthur Marx, the series stars Mickey Rooney.-Synopsis:...
sitcom on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in the role of a freeloading brother-in-law
Brother-in-law
A brother-in-law is the brother of one's spouse, the husband of one's sibling, or the husband of one's spouse's sibling.-See also:*Affinity *Sister-in-law*Brothers in Law , a 1955 British comedy novel...
. He also did some choreography
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
, as had his father years earlier.
In 1968, Van married Broadway actress Elaine Joyce
Elaine Joyce
Elaine Joyce is an American actress.Joyce was born in Kansas City, Missouri. She made her film debut in 1961 as an extra in West Side Story and made uncredited appearances in several musical films, including The Music Man, Bye Bye Birdie, and Funny Girl before being cast in Such Good Friends in 1971...
, and together they appeared on 1970s game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
s like Tattletales
Tattletales
Tattletales is a game show which first aired on the CBS daytime schedule on February 18, 1974. It was hosted by Bert Convy, with several announcers, including Jack Clark, Gene Wood, Johnny Olson and John Harlan, providing the voiceover at various times...
and Match Game
Match Game
Match Game is an American television game show in which contestants attempted to match celebrities' answers to fill-in-the-blank questions...
. Van also hosted the game shows Showoffs
Showoffs
Showoffs is an American game show which ran on ABC from June 30 to December 26, 1975. Bobby Van was host, with Gene Wood as announcer. The Mark Goodson-Bill Todman production involved two teams competing in a game of charades.-Gameplay:...
, The Fun Factory and Make Me Laugh
Make Me Laugh
Make Me Laugh was an American game show in which contestants watched three stand-up comedians performing their acts, one at a time, earning one dollar for every second that they could make it through without laughing. Each comedian got sixty seconds to try to crack the contestant up...
. They had one daughter, Taylor, who was born in 1977.
In 1973 he appeared in the musical remake of Lost Horizon
Lost Horizon (1973 film)
Lost Horizon is a 1973 musical film directed by Charles Jarrott and starring Peter Finch, John Gielgud, Liv Ullmann, Michael York, Sally Kellerman, Bobby Van, George Kennedy, Olivia Hussey, James Shigeta and Charles Boyer....
, the last occasion on which he took his traditional song-and-dance persona to the big screen. His novelty dance number from Small Town Girl
Small Town Girl (1953 film)
Small Town Girl is a 1953 musical film directed by László Kardos and starring Jane Powell, Farley Granger, and Ann Miller. Busby Berkeley choreographed several dance numbers. Bobby Van performed the memorable "Street Dance", in which he hopped all around town. The film features song performances...
(1953) was featured in That's Entertainment, Part II
That's Entertainment, Part II
That's Entertainment, Part II is a 1976 motion picture by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and a sequel to the 1974 documentary That's Entertainment!. Like the previous film, That's Entertainment, Part II was a retrospective of famous films released by MGM from the 1930s to the 1950s...
(1976). Van's last television appearance was as the host for the Mrs. America Pageant in 1980, which he had emceed for several years.
In 1979, Van was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor
Brain tumor
A brain tumor is an intracranial solid neoplasm, a tumor within the brain or the central spinal canal.Brain tumors include all tumors inside the cranium or in the central spinal canal...
. He survived the initial surgery, but after a year-long battle with 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...
, he died from the disease in Los Angeles in 1980 and was interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery
Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery
Mount Sinai Memorial Parks and Mortuaries refers to two Jewish cemeteries in the Los Angeles, California metropolitan area. The original cemetery is located at 5950 Forest Lawn Drive in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. The cemetery was originally established in 1953 by the neighboring Forest...
, a Jewish cemetery, in Los Angeles.
Broadway credits
- Alive and KickingAlive and Kicking (musical)Alive and Kicking is a musical revue with sketches by Ray Golden, I.A.L. Diamond, Henry Morgan, Jerome Chodorov, Joseph Stein, Will Glickman, John Murray, and Michael Stuart; music by Hal Borne, Irma Jurist, Sammy Fain, Hoagy Carmichael, Harold Rome, Sonny Burke, Leo Schumer, and Ray Golden; and...
(1950) - On Your ToesOn Your ToesOn Your Toes is a musical with a book by Richard Rodgers, George Abbott, and Lorenz Hart, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. It was adapted into a film in 1939....
(1954) - No, No, NanetteNo, No, NanetteNo, No, Nanette is a musical comedy with lyrics by Irving Caesar and Otto Harbach, music by Vincent Youmans, and a book by Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel, based on Mandel's 1919 Broadway play My Lady Friends...
(1971; Tony AwardTony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nomination for Best Actor in a Musical) - Doctor JazzDoctor JazzDoctor Jazz is a popular tune and song written by Joe "King" Oliver in 1926.Publisher Walter Melrose got his name on it as co-composer, as was often his practice. It enjoyed its initial popularity in the 1920s. It continues to be played by Dixieland jazz groups...
(1975)