- Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were a popular team of sibling comedians who appeared in vaudeville, stage plays, film, and television. - Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE (May 29 1903 - July 27 2003), was an English-born American entertainer who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, on radio and television, in movies, and in performing tours for U.S. Military personnel, well known for his good natured humor and career longevity. - Tom Waits
Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by one critic as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months and then taken outside and run over with a car." With this trademark growl, his incorporation of pre-rock styles such as blues, jazz, and Vaudeville, and experimental tendencies verging on industrial music, … - Jack Benny
Jack Benny (February 14 1894 in Chicago, Illinois - December 26 1974 in Beverly Hills, California), born Benjamin Kubelsky, was an American comedian, vaudeville performer, and radio, television, and film actor. He was one of the biggest stars in classic American radio and was also a major television personality. Benny was renowned for his flawless comic timing and (especially) his ability to get laughs with either a pregnant pause or a single expression, … - Will Rogers
William Penn Adair "Will" Rogers (November 4, 1879 - August 15, 1935) was an American comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, and actor. He has been named Oklahoma's favorite son. - George Burns
George Burns, born Nathan Birnbaum (January 20 1896 - March 9 1996) to a Jewish family, was an American comedian and actor. His career spanned vaudeville, film, radio, and television, with and without his equally legendary wife, Gracie Allen. His arched eyebrow and cigar smoke punctuation became familiar trademarks for over three quarters of a century. Enjoying a remarkable career resurrection that began at age 79, … - Mae West
Mae West (August 17, 1893 - November 22, 1980) was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter, and sex symbol. Famous for her bawdy double entendres, West made a name for herself in vaudeville and on the legitimate stage in New York before moving to Hollywood to become renowned as a comedienne, actress and writer in the motion picture industry. One of the most controversial stars of her day, West encountered many problems including censorship. - Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948), is a rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans four decades. With a stage show that featured guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood and boa constrictors, Cooper drew equally from heavy metal, horror movies and vaudeville to create a theatrical brand of rock music that would come to be known as Shock rock. - Red Skelton
Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton (July 18 1913 - September 17 1997) was an American comedian who was best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971. Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown and went on to vaudeville, Broadway, films, radio, TV, clubs and casinos, while pursuing another career as a painter. - Jimmy Durante
James Francis Durante, better known as Jimmy Durante or Schnozzle (Snozzle) Durante, (February 10, 1893 - January 29, 1980) was an American singer, pianist, comedian and actor, whose distinctive gravel delivery, comic language butchery, jazz-influenced songs, … - Gracie Allen
Gracie Allen was an American comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns. Burns himself phrased it perfectly in a gag that got laughs no matter how often he repeated it for the rest of his life: "One day, the audience realized I had a terrific talent. They were right. I did have a terrific talent. And I was married to her for 38 years." In a career spanning vaudeville through television, … - Bert Williams
Bert Williams (November 12, 1874 - March 4, 1922) was the pre-eminent Black entertainer of his era and one of the most popular comedians for all audiences of his time. He was by far the best-selling black recording artist before 1920. Williams was a key figure in the development of African-American music. In an age when racial inequality and stereotyping were an accepted part of life, he became the first black American to take a lead role on the Broadway stage, … - Ma Rainey
Gertrude Malissa Nix Pridgett Rainey, better known as Ma Rainey, was one of the earliest known professional blues singers and one of the first generation of such singers to record. She was billed as The Mother of the Blues. She did much to develop and popularize the form and was an important influence on younger blues women, such as Bessie Smith, and their careers. Born in Georgia or Alabama, there remains debate. - Donald O'Connor
Donald David Dixon Ronald O’Connor was an American dancer, singer, and actor who came to fame in a series of movies in which he co-starred alternately with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule. Movie fans know him best for his bravura performance in the musical "Singin’ in the Rain" (1952), in which he performed the vaudeville-inspired comedy number "Make 'Em Laugh", … - Harpo Marx
Adolph Arthur Marx, popularly known as Harpo Marx, (November 23, 1888 - September 28, 1964) was one of the Marx Brothers, a group of Vaudeville and Broadway theatre entertainers who later achieved fame as comedians in the Motion Picture industry. He was well known by his trademarks: he played the harp; he never talked during performances, although he often blew a horn or whistled to communicate with people; and he frequently used props. - Edgar Bergen
Edgar John Bergen was an American actor and radio performer, best known as a ventriloquist. - Jimmy Dorsey
James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter and big band leader. Jimmy Dorsey was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the son of a music teacher and older brother of Tommy Dorsey who also became a prominent musician. He played trumpet in his youth, appearing on stage in a Vaudeville act as early as 1913. He switched to alto saxophone in 1915, and then learned to double on clarinet. - Bert Lahr
Bert Lahr, born Irving Lahrheim was a Tony Award-winning American comic actor. Born in New York City, he is best remembered today for his role as the Cowardly Lion (and the farmworker "Zeke") in the classic 1939 movie "The Wizard of Oz", but known during his life for a career in burlesque, vaudeville and Broadway. - Ted Healy
Ted Healy (October 1 1896 in Texas - December 21 1937 in California; real name: Clarence Ernst Nash) was an American vaudeville performer and actor. He is chiefly remembered today as the original employer of the Three Stooges, but had a successful career of his own. - Pearl Bailey
Pearl Mae Bailey (March 29, 1918 - August 17, 1990) was an American singer and actress. After appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in "St. Louis Woman " in 1946. She won a Tony Award for the title role in "Hello, Dolly!" in 1968. Her rendition of "Takes Two to Tango" hit the top ten in 1952. She was born in Southampton County, Virginia, to Rev. - Billy Murray
Billy Murray (25 May, 1877 - 17 August, 1954) was one of the most popular singers in the United States in the early decades of the 20th century. While he received star billings on Vaudeville, he was best known for his prolific work in the recording studio, making records for almost every record label of the era. He was probably the best selling recording artist of the first quarter of the 20th century. He was born as William Thomas Murray in Philadelphia, … - Chico Marx
Leonard Marx, known as Chico, (March 22, 1887 - October 11, 1961) was one of the Marx Brothers. He was originally nicknamed Chicko due to his reputation as a ladies man, or a "chicken chaser" in the popular slang of the day. A typesetter accidentally dropped the "k" in his name and it became Chico. It was still pronounced "Chick-o" although those who were unaware of its origin tended to pronounce it "Cheek-o". - Nicholas Brothers
Fayard Antonio Nicholas was born October 20 1914 born in Mobile, Alabama. Harold Nicholas was born March 27, 1921 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Nicholas Brothers grew up in Philadelphia, the sons of musicians who played in their own band at the old Standard Theater, their mother at the piano and father on drums. At the age of three, Fayard was always seated in the front row while his parents worked, and by the time he was ten, … - Jack Haley
Jack Haley --born John Joseph Haley, Jr.--was an American film actor best known for his portrayal of the Tin Man and farmworker Hickory in "The Wizard of Oz". Haley starred in vaudeville as a song-and-dance comedian. One of his closest friends was fellow vaudeville alumnus Fred Allen, who would frequently mention "Mr. Jacob Haley of Newton Highlands, Massachusetts" on the air. In the early 1930s Haley starred in comedy shorts for Vitaphone in Brooklyn, New York. - Arthur Freed
Arthur Freed (September 9, 1894 - April 12, 1973) was born Arthur Grossman in Charleston, South Carolina. He was an American lyricist and a Hollywood film producer of Jewish descent. Freed began his career in vaudeville, and he appeared with the Marx Brothers. He soon began to write songs, and was eventually hired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. For years, he wrote lyrics for numerous films, many set to music by Nacio Herb Brown. - Tony Pastor
Antonio Pastor (May 28, 1837-August 26, 1908) was a variety performer and theatre owner who became one of the founding forces behind American vaudeville in the mid-to-late nineteenth century. The strongest elements of his entertainments were an almost jingoistic brand of United States patriotism and a strong commitment to attracting a mixed-gender audience, the latter being something revolutionary in the male-oriented variety halls of the mid-century. - George S. Kaufman
George Kaufman (November 16, 1889 - June 2, 1961) was an American playwright, theatre director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. Born to a Jewish family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Kaufman added the middle initial to his name to lend it balance and rhythm. He was known as "The Great Collaborator" because he wrote very few plays alone. His most successful solo script was "The Butter and Egg Man" in 1925. - Mamie Smith
Mamie Smith (May 26, 1883 - September 16, 1946) was an American vaudeville singer, dancer, pianist and actress, and appeared in several motion pictures late in her career. As a vaudeville singer she performed a number of styles including jazz and blues. She entered blues history by being the first African American to make vocal blues recordings in 1920. Smith was born Mamie Robinson in Cincinnati, Ohio. - Nora Bayes
Nora Bayes (1880 - 19 June 1928) was a popular United States entertainer of the early 20th century. Born Leonora Goldberg to a Jewish family in Joliet, Illinois, Bayes was performing professionally in vaudeville in Chicago by age 18. She toured from San Francisco, California to New York City and became a star both on vaudeville and Broadway. She was an accomplished singer, comedian and actor. In 1908, she married singer/songwriter Jack Norworth. - Adolphe Menjou
Adolphe Jean Menjou (February 18, 1890 - October 29, 1963) was an American actor. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania of French and Irish descent, he was raised Roman Catholic, and attended the Culver Military Academy and graduated from Cornell University with a degree in engineering. Attracted to the vaudeville stage, he made his movie debut in 1916 in "The Blue Envelope Mystery". During World War I, he served as a captain in the ambulance service. - Edward Everett Horton
Edward Everett Horton (March 18, 1886-September 29, 1970) was an American character actor with a long career including motion pictures, theater, radio, television and voice work for animated cartoons. Horton was born in Brooklyn, New York to Isabella S. Diack and Edward Everett Horton. His mother was born in Matanzas, Cuba to Mary Orr and George Diack, immigrants from Scotland. - Gwen Verdon
Gwyneth Evelyn Verdon (January 13, 1925 - October 18, 2000) was an acclaimed Tony Award-winning American dancer and actress, known professionally as Gwen Verdon. - Bill Irwin
Bill Irwin (born April 11, 1950) is an American actor and clown noted for his contribution to the renaissance of American circus during the 1970s. He is known for his vaudeville-style stage acts, and has made a number of appearances on film and television. - Marie Dressler
Marie Dressler (born November 9, 1868; died July 28, 1934) was an Academy Award-winning Canadian actress. Born Leila Marie Koerber in Cobourg, Ontario to parents Alexander Rudolph Koerber (who was Austrian) and Anna Henderson. Being a rather overweight child, she spent a lot of time developing the defense mechanisms many overweight children become skilled at. The young Marie Dressler was able to hone her talents to make other people laugh, … - Dorothy Fields
Dorothy Fields (July 15, 1905 - March 28, 1974) was an American librettist and lyricist. She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films. Along with Ann Ronell, Dana Suesse, and Kay Swift, she was one of the first successful Hollywood and Tin Pan Alley female composers. Fields was born in Allenhurst, New Jersey and grew up in New York City. Her father, Lew Fields, an immigrant from Poland, was a well-known vaudeville comedian and later became a Broadway producer. - June Havoc
June Havoc (born November 8, 1916) is an American actress, dancer, writer, and theater director. She was born Ellen Evangeline Hovick in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Some sources indicate that her birth name was Ellen June Hovick, and that she was actually born in 1913. June was a child vaudeville performer under the tutelage of her mother. She later acted on Broadway and in Hollywood, and directed on- and off-Broadway. - John Payne
John Payne (May 23 1912 - December 6 1989) was an American movie actor who is mainly remembered as a singer in 20th Century Fox film musicals. Payne was born in Roanoke, Virginia. Payne's mother had been a successful opera singer and encouraged her son to sing. Payne enrolled at Columbia University in the fall of 1930. He studied drama at Columbia and voice at Juilliard. To support himself, he took on a variety of odd jobs, including wrestling and singing in vaudeville. - Ernie Kovacs
Ernest Edward Kovacs was a creative and innovative entertainer in the early days of television. His on-air antics would influence later TV shows such as "Laugh-In", "the Uncle Floyd Show", "Saturday Night Live" and TV hosts like David Letterman. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, the Hungarian-American Kovacs became a pioneer of television comedy as a distinct medium. Earlier television comedians had mainly continued the comedy styles of vaudeville, … - Clarence Williams
Clarence Williams (October 8, 1898 - November 6, 1965) was an American jazz pianist, composer, promoter, vocalist, theatrical producer, and publisher. Williams was born in Plaquemine, Louisiana, ran away from home at age 12 to join Billy Kersand's Traveling Minstrel Show, then moved to New Orleans. At first Williams worked shining shoes and doing odd jobs, but soon became known as a singer and master of ceremonies. - Keenan Wynn
Keenan Wynn was an American character actor and member of a well-known show-business family. His bristling mustache and expressive face were his stock in trade as an actor. He was born in New York, New York as Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn, the son of Jewish American vaudeville comedian Ed Wynn, and his Irish-American Catholic wife, the former Hilda Keenan, but took his stage name from his maternal grandfather, Frank Keenan, …
|
| |