Bert Lahr
Bert Lahr | |
---|---|
vaudevillian | |
Years active | 1909–1967 |
Height | 5 ft 9 in (175cm) |
Spouses | |
Children | 3, including John and Jane |
Relatives | Martin Gottfried (former-son-in-law), Connie Booth (daughter-in-law) |
Signature | |
Irving Lahrheim (August 13, 1895 – December 4, 1967), known professionally as Bert Lahr, was an American stage and screen actor and comedian. He was best known for his role as the Cowardly Lion, as well as his counterpart Kansas farmworker "Zeke", in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer adaptation of The Wizard of Oz (1939). He was well known for his quick-witted humor and his work in burlesque and vaudeville and on Broadplace. His mother Augusta (1871–1932) was born to Mildred Bessen (1844–1911), and Edward H Bessen (1841–1902).
Early life, family and education
Lahr was born as Irving Lahrheim on August 13, 1895, at First Avenue and 81st Street,[1] in the Yorkville section of Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City.[2] He was the son of Augusta (1871–1932) and Jacob Lahrheim (1870–1947), an upholsterer.[3] His parents were German-Jewish immigrants.[citation needed]
He attended P.S. 77 and Morris High School,[1] although he left school at age 15.
Lahr later served in the U.S. Navy during World War I as a seaman second class.[1]
Stage career
Lahr began performing in minor parts on vaudeville stages at age 14.
Later performances included Hotel Paradiso on Broadway and A Midsummer Night's Dream with a touring company in the 1950s. In 1962 he returned to Broadway, in S. J. Perelman's The Beauty Part[1]
Film career
Lahr made his feature film debut in 1931's Flying High, playing the oddball aviator he had played on stage. He signed with New York-based Educational Pictures for a series of two-reel comedies. When that series ended, he went to Hollywood to work in feature films. Aside from The Wizard of Oz (1939), his movie career was limited. In the 1944 musical comedy film Meet the People, Lahr uttered the phrase "Heavens to Murgatroyd!" later popularized by Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Snagglepuss.
Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz
Lahr's most famous role was that of the Cowardly Lion in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's 1939 adaptation of The Wizard of Oz. Lahr was signed to play the role on July 25, 1938. The lion costume was composed of real lion fur and, under the high-intensity lighting required for Oz's Technicolor scenes, the costume was unbearably hot. Lahr contributed ad-lib comedic lines for his character. Many of Lahr's scenes took several takes because other cast members, especially Garland, couldn't complete the scenes without laughing. The Cowardly Lion is the only character who sings two solo song numbers-"If I Only Had the Nerve", performed after the 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.
The Wizard of Oz was Lahr's 17th movie. When warned that Hollywood had a habit of typecasting actors, Lahr replied, "Yeah, but how many parts are there for lions?"
An original Cowardly Lion costume worn by Lahr in The Wizard of Oz is in the holdings of The Comisar Collection,[4] which is also the largest collection of television artifacts and memorabilia in the world.[5]
In June 2013, Lahr's original reading script for The Wizard of Oz, bequeathed to his great-grandson, was appraised with an insurance value of $150,000 on PBS's Antiques Roadshow in an episode filmed in Detroit, Michigan.[6][7]
Waiting for Godot
Lahr later made the transition to straight theater. He got a script of
Lahr reprised his role in a short-lived Broadway run, co-starring with E. G. Marshall as Vladimir. This time, it was with a new director, Herbert Berghof, who had met with Samuel Beckett, the playwright, in Europe and discussed the play. The set was cleared, and Bert was allowed more freedom in his performance. Advertisements were taken out urging intellectuals to support the play, which 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.[8]
Television
Lahr occasionally appeared on television, including NBC's live version of the Cole Porter musical Let's Face It (1954), the 1964 Hallmark Hall of Fame production of The Fantasticks, and occasional appearances as the mystery guest on What's My Line? (for example, December 30, 1956).[9]
He performed in commercials, including a memorable series for
Lahr was sometimes mistaken for actor Allan Melvin by casual observers.[10]
Other work
Among his numerous Broadway roles, Lahr starred as Skid in the Broadway revival of Burlesque from 1946 to 1948 and played several roles, including Queen Victoria, in the original Broadway musical Two on the Aisle from 1951 to 1952. In the late 1950s, he supplied the voice of a 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 1964, Lahr won the
"Laughter is never too far away from tears," he reflected on his comedy. Lahr said: "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."[2]
Personal life
Lahr's first wife, Mercedes Delpino, developed mental health problems that left her hospitalized.[1] This complicated his relationship with his second wife, Mildred Schroeder, as he had legal problems with getting a divorce in New York. She grew tired of waiting, became involved with another man and married him. Lahr was heartbroken, but eventually won her back.[8] Lahr had three children: a son, Herbert (1928–2002), with Delpino, and a son John (b. 1941) and daughter Jane (b. 1943) with Schroeder.[1] John Lahr is a London-based drama critic who married the actress and comedian turned psychotherapist Connie Booth (Fawlty Towers) in 2000; she was previously married to British actor/comedian John Cleese.[11] Jane Lahr is an author and literary editor who was married to drama critic Martin Gottfried.[12]
Lahr was an avid
A staunch Democrat, he supported Adlai Stevenson's campaign in the 1952 presidential election.[14]
Death
Lahr died on December 4, 1967, at the age of 72. Around the time of his death, he was filming The Night They Raided Minsky's.[1] The official cause of death was listed as pneumonia. Lahr had been hospitalized on November 21 for what was reported as a back ailment. However, his son John Lahr explained that although two weeks earlier, Bert "had returned home at 2 a.m., chilled and feverish, from the damp studio where The Night They Raided Minsky's was being filmed," and although "newspapers reported the cause of death as pneumonia...he succumbed to cancer, a disease he feared but never knew he had." (Bert Lahr's father had also died of cancer.)[8] Official cause of death was reported as being massive intestinal hemorrhage.[1]
At the time, most of Lahr's scenes had already been shot. All in the Family creator/producer Norman Lear told The New York Times that "through judicious editing, we will be able to shoot the rest of the film so that his wonderful performance will remain intact." The producers used test footage of Lahr, plus an uncredited voice double and a body double, burlesque actor Joey Faye, to complete Lahr's role.[8]
Lahr was buried at the Union Field Cemetery in Ridgewood, Queens, New York.
Filmography
- Faint Heart (1929, Short) – Rudolf
- Flying High (1931) – Rusty
- Mr. Broadway(1933) – Himself
- Hizzoner (1933, Short) – Bert Lahr, Cop
- Henry the Ache (1934, Short) – King Henry VIII
- No More West (1934, Short) – Gunpowder Bert
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)
- Gold Bricks (1936, Short) – Bert
- Boy, Oh Boy (1936, Short) – The Butler
- Whose Baby Are You? (1936, Short) – Bert Halibut
- Off the Horses (1937, Short) – Chester Twitt
- Montague the Magnificent (1937, Short) – Egbert Bunting / Roland Montague
- Merry Go Round of 1938(1937) – Bert Lahr
- Love and Hisses (1937) – Sugar Boles
- Josette (1938) – Barney Barnaby
- Just Around the Corner (1938) – Gus
- Zaza (1939) – Cascart
- The Wizard of Oz (1939) – 'Zeke' / The Cowardly Lion
- Sing Your Worries Away (1942) – Clarence 'Chow' Brewster
- Ship Ahoy (1942) – 'Skip' Owens
- Meet the People (1944) – The Commander
- Always Leave Them Laughing (1949) – Eddie Eagen
- Mister Universe(1951) – Joe Pulaski
- Rose Marie (1954) – Barney McCorkle
- Anything Goes (1954) - "Moonface" Martin
- The Second Greatest Sex (1955) – Job McClure
- The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) – Professor Spats (final film role)
Stage productions
- Harry Delmar's Revels (1927)
- Hold Everything! (1928)
- Flying High (1930)
- George White's Music Hall Varieties (1932)
- Life Begins at 8:40 (1934)
- George White's Scandals of 1936 (1936)
- The Show is On (1936)
- DuBarry Was a Lady(1939)
- Seven Lively Arts (1944)
- Burlesque(1946)
- Two on the Aisle (1951)
- Waiting for Godot (1956)
- Hotel Paradiso(1957)
- The Girls Against the Boys (1959)
- The Beauty Part (1962)
- Foxy (1964)
- Never Too Late (1965)
- The Birds (1966)
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Whitman, Alden (December 5, 1967). "Bert Lahr, Comic Actor, Dies; Played Burlesque and Beckett; Bert Lahr, Comic Actor, Is Dead at 72 Child of Immigrants 'Boy Wonder' of Burlesque Broadway Debut". The New York Times.
- ^ a b c d e Appel, Jacob (2002). "Lahr, Bert (1895-1967)". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
- ISBN 9780195206357. Retrieved September 18, 2012 – via Google Books.
- ^ "LOT 128: Bert Lahr's Cowardly Lion Costume from The Wizard of Oz". Bonhams.com. 2014. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
- ^ Comisar, James. The Today Show. Interviewed by Ann Curry. Archived from the original on November 7, 2011.
{{cite AV media}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Bert Lahr's 'Wizard of Oz' Script". Antiques Roadshow. PBS. 2013. Retrieved October 7, 2017 – via PBS.org..
- ^ "Bert Lahr's 'Wizard of Oz' Script - Owner Interview - Detroit". Antiques Roadshow PBS. February 18, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2017 – via YouTube.com.
- ^ ISBN 9781453288740.
- ^ "What's My Line? - The Harlem Globetrotters; Bert Lahr; Stubby Kaye [panel] (Dec 30, 1956)". Archived from the original on December 12, 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ "What episode of the Andy griffth show was Bert lahr in?". Answers.com. 2014. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
- The Glasgow Herald. September 9, 1978. p. 5. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
- ^ "Gottfried, Martin 1933- ." Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series. . Retrieved November 15, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/gottfried-martin-1933
- ^ Lahr, John (November 16, 1998). "The Lion and Me". The New Yorker – via newyorker.com.
- ^ "Bert Lahr". Motion Picture and Television Magazine. Ideal Publishers. November 1952. p. 33.
External links
- Bert Lahr at the Internet Broadway Database
- Bert Lahr at IMDb
- Bert Lahr at the TCM Movie Database
- Bert Lahr at Find a Grave
- Bert Lahr at Virtual History