| 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.Early life
Dropping out of school at the age of fifteen to join a juvenile vaudeville act, Lahr worked his way up to top billing on the Columbia Burlesque Circuit.In 1927 he debuted in on Broadway in Harry Delmar's Revels.Career
Lahr made his feature film debut in 1931's Flying High, playing the part of the oddball aviator he had previously played on stage.Aside from The Wizard of Oz (1939), his movie career was limited.His later life was troubled, although he made the transition to straight theatre.Lahr thought of himself as the "top banana" in the production, telling Ewell "not to crowd him."When Beckett learned of this, he complained that the play was being taken away from his "major character," Vladimir.Among other Broadway roles, Lahr played Queen Victoria in a sketch from the musical Two on the Aisle.Vision process developed for Todd's feature film Scent of Mystery (1960).Later life and career
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?""Betcha can't eat just one" campaign (Lahr appeared as "Aunt Tillie").In 1967, Lahr died of pneumonia in New York City in the middle of filming The Night They Raided Minsky's, forcing producers to use a double in several scenes.Lahr is buried in Union Field Cemetery, Ridgewood, Queens.His son, New Yorker theater critic John Lahr, wrote a biography of his father's life titled Notes on a Cowardly Lion.Filmography
Features:
Flying High (1931)
Mr.Broadway (1933)
Merry Go Round of 1938(1937)
Love and Hisses (1937)
Josette (1938)
Just Around the Corner (1938)
Zaza (1939)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Sing Your Worries Away (1942)
Ship Ahoy (1942)
Meet the People (1944)
Always Leave Them Laughing (1949)
Mr.Universe (1951)
Rose Marie (1954)
The Second Greatest Sex (1955)
The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968)
Short Subjects:
Faint Heart (1929)
Hizzoner (1933)
Henry the Ache (1934)
No More West (1934)
Gold Bricks (1936)
Boy, Oh Boy (1936)
Whose Baby Are You?Bert Lahr by Don Swaim at Wired for Books.This page was last modified 19:07, 4 December 2007.All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.See Copyrights for details.We've cooked up some fun dynamic images for you to put on your homepage.Mini Biography
Fittingly known to be a "Leo" for his horoscope, Bert Lahr is always remembered as the Cowardly Lion in (and the farmer "Zeke") The Wizard of Oz (1939).Dropped out of high school at the age of fifteen for a juvenile vaudeville act, Lahr worked his way up to the top billing of the Columbia Burlesque Circuit.When in Broadway, Lahr usually plays a comic actor in plays which he starred in such as the classic routine The Song of the Woodman, which he would later perform in Merry Go Round of 1938 (1937).Aside from The Wizard of Oz (1939), Lahr's movie career never caught on because his gestures and reactions were too broad.Lahr died in 1967.Trivia
Best known as the cowardly lion in The Wizard of Oz (1939).Bert Lahr's son, John Lahr, is now a drama critic with The New Yorker.He also had a Tony nomination the previous year (1963) as Best Actor (Dramatic) for "The Beauty Part."Mildred left her first husband by the end of 1936 and went back to Lahr, who obtained a divorce from his first wife a year later.His son Herbert Lahr was born in 1929.His son John was born July 12, 1941.Judy Garland heard of Lahr's death as she was about to go on stage in Las Vegas.At her performance that night, she dedicated "Over the Rainbow" to the memory of Lahr, or, as she referred to him on that occasion, "my beloved Cowardly Lion.".Father of Jane Lahr.Actor Tommy Bond who was also "Butch" in the "Little Rascals" and "Jimmy Olsen" in the original Atom Man vs.Superman (1950) serials, was a regular on Lahr's radio show in the 1930's, and played his son.Personal Quotes
"After The Wizard of Oz (1939), I was typecast as a lion, and there aren't all that many parts for lions.""If you want to be a success in Hollywood, be sure and go to New York.""Mildred, why aren't my clothes laid out?Like several other stage stars (e.Friendly" link at the top of your results page.Freiburg HotelsBook your hotel in FreiburgOnline.Special offers and photos.User assumes all risk of use.MapQuest and its suppliers assume no responsibility for any loss or delay resulting from such use.Encyclopedia of World Biography on Bert Lahr
St.Bert Lahr (Irving Lahrheim), born on August 13, 1895, in Yorkville, New York, was the son of Jacob Lahrheim, a German immigrant and third generation upholsterer, and his wife Augusta.He fled to the streets for escape and dropped out of school.Lahr also tried his hand at various jobs but did not hold any of them long.Although burlesque eventually developed into striptease shows, in that era it was similar to a variety show with a series of robust comic skits, singing, and dancing.Although the show was not successful, Lahr had determined his career.His talent was recognized by Blutch Cooper, a prominent producer, who put him in the popular vehicle, The Best Show in Town.Lahr continued developing his comic Dutchman, wearing pouches under his eyes, a mustache, and a fake, bulbous nose.Loud, acrobatic, and frivolous, this character was the basis for all of his future work.Lahr rose above his unhappy background with his desire to make people laugh.In that show he met Mercedes, a dancer who became his partner and wife.It was at this time that Lahr created his famous sketch "What's The Idea"," which he would use many times in his future work.It involved Mercedes, playing a beautiful Spanish dancer, meeting Lahr, the dumb cop.Lahr's true stardom came in 1927 when he began his highly successful Broadway career with Harry Delmar's Revels.In all of these shows Lahr played to great critical and audience acclaim.Lahr's ambition for growth and success led him to Hollywood in 1938.He made five films that year, including Just Around the Corner with Shirley Temple and Zaza in which Lahr played Cascart, a vaudeville performer.It was different from his other films in that it relied on fantasy rather than romance and it gave Lahr a chance to shine.He could finally be large and acrobatically comic on film.If Bert Lahr's popular success was The Wizard of Oz, the high point of his dramatic career was as Estragon in Samuel Beckett's existential classic, Waiting for Godot.Billed as a comedy, the play was a failure.Yet when the play was later directed by Herbert Berghof, a famous acting teacher, it was a tremendous New York success and Lahr, in particular, was lauded for his poignant performance.Bert Lahr was one of the greatest comedians of modern times.Androcles and the Lion and The School for Wives (1956).In 1964 he won the Tony Award for Best Musical Actor in Foxy, a musical adaptation of Ben Jonson's classic, Volpone.Lahr also made many appearances on television and in commercials.He fought hard to establish his career and he never quit.Bert Lahr had three children: Herbert, by his first wife; and John, a dramatic critic and author, and Jane, by his second wife, Mildred.It is therefore one of the great ironies of American entertainment that Lahr is best remembered for two roles outside his preferred medium.While these two roles helped make Lahr a household name, his greatest contributions were on the comic stage as a contemporary of Ed Wynn, Bobby Clark, Louis Mann, and the irascible W.He was born Irving Lahrheim on August 13, 1895, in the Yorkville section of Manhattan.At the age of fourteen, he began to appear in bit roles in vaudeville.Lahr capitalized on his bulbous nose and clown mouth to carve out a distinctive niche in a crowded comic market.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.Lahr gained widespread acclaim in Du Barry Was a Lady (1940) for his depiction of a washroom attendant who is drugged and while unconscious dreams he is King Louis XV of France.Lahr drew similar praise for reinventing the role of M.Lahr delivers one of the most celebrated comic soliloquies in cinematic history:
Courage!What makes a King out of a slave?What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk?What makes the Hottentot so hot?Godot offered Lahr another opportunity to test his range.Lahr himself believed it was his greatest performance.Lahr chose two of the greatest.Actors Talk About Acting.Common and Uncommon Masks.Notes on a Cowardly Lion: The Biography of Bert Lahr.Bert Lahr in the 1930's.Fittingly born a "Leo" 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.Dropping out of school at the age of fifteen to join a juvenile vaudeville act, Lahr worked his way up to top billing on the Columbia Burlesque Circuit.In 1927 he debuted in on Broadway in Harry Delmar's Revels.Lahr made his film debut in 1931's Flying High playing the part of the oddball inventor that he had previously played on stage.He appeared in a number of musical shorts in the years following.In 1938, he came back to Hollywood to work on a number of feature films including: Merry Go Round of 1938 (1937), Love and Hisses (1937), Josette (1938), Just Around the Corner (1938) and Zaza (1939).Lahr thought of himself as the "top banana" in the production, telling Ewell "not to crowd him" (when he learned of this, Beckett complained that the play was being taken away from his "major character", Vladimir).Among other Broadway roles, Lahr played Queen Victoria in a sketch from the musical "Two on the Aisle."Barbera cartoon character Snagglepuss.Lahr died in 1967 in the middle of filming The Night They Raided Minksy's, forcing producers to use a double in several scenes.His son, New Yorker theater critic John Lahr, wrote a biography of his father's life titled Notes on a Cowardly Lion.Bert Lahr from Encyclopedia of World Biography.Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation.James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture.The cookbook is a perfect gift for any occasion, over 300 recipes gathered from friends, family and the community.Many desserts, main meals, snacks.Swedish meatballs, Greek gyros, Chinese food, cajun, southwest and many, many more.The book also has help sections, what wine to serve, how to fold the napkins. |
