Bert Lahr

2009-11-03T21:52:24Z

Wikiwatcher1: Quick-adding category Jewish comedians (using HotCat)

{{Infobox actor
| name = Bert Lahr
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birthname = Irving Lahrheim
| birthdate = {{birth date|1895|8|13|mf=y}}
| birthplace = [[New York City]], [[United States|U.S.]]
| deathdate = {{death date and age|1967|12|4|1895|8|13|mf=y}}
| deathplace = [[New York City]], [[United States|U.S.]]
| yearsactive = 1929-1967
| spouse = Mildred Schroeder (1940-1967)<br>Mercedes Delpino (1929-1940)
}}
'''Bert Lahr''' ([[August 13]], [[1895]] – [[December 4]], [[1967]]) was a [[Tony Award]]-winning [[United States|American]] [[actor]] and [[comedian]]. Lahr is best remembered today for his role as the [[Cowardly Lion]] and the farmworker Zeke in the classic 1939 movie ''[[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz]]'', but was well known during his life for work in [[burlesque]], [[vaudeville]], and [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]].

==Early life==
Born '''Irving Lahrheim''' in [[New York City]], Lahr grew up in the [[Yorkville]] section of [[Manhattan]].<ref name="findarticles.com">Jacob Appel. St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, 2002. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_bio/ai_2419200675/pg_1 </ref> 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 ''Harry 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 (musical)|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]]''.

==Career==
Lahr made his feature film debut in 1931's ''[[Flying High (1931 film)|Flying High]]'', 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]].

His later life was troubled, although he made the transition to straight theatre. He costarred in a much-praised version of ''[[Waiting for Godot]]'' in 1956 at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in [[Miami, Florida]] in which he played [[Estragon]] to [[Tom Ewell]]'s [[Vladimir (character)|Vladimir]]. Lahr later played Estragon in the play's short-lived [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] run.

Among other Broadway roles, Lahr played Queen Victoria in a sketch from the musical ''[[Two on the Aisle]].'' 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 (1962 TV series)|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)|Foxy]]''.

==Later life==
Lahr occasionally appeared on television, including NBC's live version of the [[Cole Porter]] musical ''Let's Face It'' (1954) and an appearance as the mystery guest on ''[[What's My Line?]]'' He also performed in commercials, including a memorable series for [[Frito-Lay|Lay's]] [[potato chips]] during its long-running "Betcha can't eat just one" campaign with Lahr as "Aunt Tillie".

"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."<ref name="findarticles.com" />

In 1967, Lahr died of [[pneumonia]] in [[New York City]] in the middle of filming ''[[The Night They Raided Minsky's]]'', forcing [[Film producer|producers]] to use a double in several scenes. Lahr is buried at Union Field Cemetery in [[Ridgewood, Queens]].

His son, ''[[The New Yorker|New Yorker]]'' theater critic [[John Lahr]], wrote a [[biography]] of his father's life titled ''Notes on a Cowardly Lion''. His daughter [[Jane Lahr]] was in the documentary ''Memories of Oz'' on the television network [[Turner Classic Movies]] in 2001.

==Filmography==
{{col-begin}}

{{col-break}}

* ''[[Faint Heart]]'' (1929)
* ''[[Flying High (1931 film)]]'' (1931)
* ''[[Hizzoner]]'' (1933)
* ''[[Mr. Broadway]]'' (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)

{{col-break}}

* ''[[Josette (film)|Josette]]'' (1938)
* ''[[Just Around the Corner]]'' (1938)
* ''[[Zaza (play)]]'' (1939)
* ''[[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)]]'' (1939)
* ''[[Sing Your Worries Away]]'' (1942)
* ''[[Ship Ahoy]]'' (1942)
* ''[[Meet the People]]'' (1944)
* ''[[Always Leave Them Laughing]]'' (1949)
* ''[[Mr. Universe]]'' (1951)
* ''[[Rose Marie (films)|Rose Marie]]'' (1954)
* ''[[The Second Greatest Sex]]'' (1955)
* ''[[The Night They Raided Minsky's]]'' (1968)

{{col-end}}

==Stage productions==

* ''[[Harry Delmar's Revels]]'' (November 28, 1927 - March 1928)
* ''[[Hold Everything!]]'' (October 10, 1928 - October 5, 1929)
* ''[[Flying High (musical)]]'' (March 3, 1930 - January 3, 1931)
* ''[[George White's Music Hall Varieties]]'' (November 22 - December 31, 1932)
* ''[[Life Begins at 8:40]]'' (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 Lady]]'' (December 6, 1939 - December 12, 1940)
* ''[[Seven Lively Arts]]'' (December 7, 1944 - May 12, 1945)
* ''[[Burlesque]]'' (December 25, 1946 - January 10, 1948)
* ''[[Two on the Aisle]]'' (July 19, 1951 - March 15, 1952)
* ''[[Waiting for Godot]]'' (April 19 - June 9, 1956)
* ''[[Hotel Paradiso]]'' (April 11 - July 13, 1957)
* ''[[The Girls Against the Boys]]'' (November 2 - November 14, 1959)
* ''[[The Beauty Part]]'' (December 26, 1962 - March 9, 1963)
* ''[[Foxy (musical)]]'' (February 16 - April 18, 1964)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{findagrave|597}}
* {{ibdb|48732}}
* {{imdb|0481618}}
* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_bio/ai_2419200675/pg_1/ Bert Lahr]

{{TonyAward MusicalLeadActor 1947-1975}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lahr, Bert}}
[[Category:American actors]]
[[Category:Burlesque performers]]
[[Category:Deaths from pneumonia]]
[[Category:Infectious disease deaths in New York]]
[[Category:People from Manhattan]]
[[Category:Tony Award winners]]
[[Category:Vaudeville performers]]
[[Category:1895 births]]
[[Category:1967 deaths]]
[[Category:Jewish comedians]]

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Wikipedia - Benutzerbeiträge [de]

Bert Lahr