Bert Lahr | |
|---|---|
 Lahrc. 1936 | |
| Born | Irving Lahrheim (1895-08-13)August 13, 1895 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | December 4, 1967(1967-12-04) (aged 72) New York City, U.S. |
| Resting place | Union Field Cemetery,Ridgewood, New York |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1909–1967 |
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3, includingJohn andJane |
| Relatives | Martin Gottfried (former-son-in-law),Connie Booth (daughter-in-law) |
| Signature | |
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Irving Lahrheim (August 13, 1895 – December 4, 1967), known professionally asBert Lahr, was an American actor and comedian. He was best known for his role as theCowardly Lion, as well as his counterpart Kansas farmworker "Zeke", in theMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer adaptation ofThe Wizard of Oz (1939). He was well known for his quick-witted humor and his work inburlesque andvaudeville and onBroadway.
Lahr was born as Irving Lahrheim on August 13, 1895, at First Avenue and 81st Street,[1] in theYorkville section ofUpper East Side ofManhattan, New York City.[2] He was the son of Jacob Lahrheim (1870–1947), an upholsterer,[3] and Augusta Bessen (1871–1932), daughter of Mildred Bessen (1844–1911) and Edward H. Bessen (1841–1902). His parents wereGerman-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 theU.S. Navy duringWorld War I as aseaman second class.[1]
Lahr began performing in minor parts on vaudeville stages at age 14.[2] He quit school at age 15 to join a juvenile vaudeville act. He eventually receivedtop billing, working for theColumbia Amusement Company. In 1927, he debuted onBroadway inHarry Delmar's Revels on November 28, 1927.[1] He played to packed houses, performing classic routines such as "The Song of the Woodman" (which he reprised in the filmMerry-Go-Round of 1938). Lahr's first major success in a stage musical was playing theprizefighter hero ofHold Everything![1] (1928–29). Other musicals followed, notablyFlying High (1930),Florenz Ziegfeld'sHot-Cha! (1932), andThe Show is On (1936) in which he co-starred withBeatrice Lillie. In 1939, he co-starred as Louis Blore alongsideEthel Merman in the Broadway production ofDuBarry Was a Lady, receiving acclaim.[2]
Later performances includedBurlesque andHotel Paradiso on Broadway andA Midsummer Night's Dream with a touring company in the 1950s. In 1962 he returned to Broadway, inS. J. Perelman'sThe Beauty Part,[1] and won the 1965 Tony for Best Actor in a musical forFoxy, an adaption ofVolpone.
Lahr made his feature film debut in 1931'sFlying High, playing the oddball aviator he had played on stage. He signed with New York-basedEducational Pictures for a series of two-reel comedies. When that series ended, he went to Hollywood to work in feature films. Aside fromThe Wizard of Oz (1939), his movie career was limited.
Lahr's most famous role was that of theCowardly Lion inMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer's 1939 adaptation ofThe 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'sTechnicolor 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, could not 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.)
An original Cowardly Lion costume worn by Lahr inThe 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 forThe Wizard of Oz, bequeathed to his great-grandson, was appraised with an insurance value of $150,000 onPBS'sAntiques Roadshow in an episode filmed in Detroit, Michigan.[6][7]
Lahr later made the transition to straight theater. He got a script ofWaiting for Godot, and was greatly impressed but unsure of how the revolutionary play would be received in the United States. It was performed in Europe to great acclaim but was somewhat obscure and intellectual. He co-starred in the US premiere ofWaiting for Godot in 1956 at theCoconut Grove Playhouse in Miami, Florida, playingEstragon[2] toTom Ewell'sVladimir. The performance bombed, with audience members walking out in large numbers, and the critics did not treat it kindly. In his bookNotes on a Cowardly Lion, Lahr's son John states that the problems were caused partly by the choices of the director, including the decision to limit Bert's movement on stage; filling the stage with platforms; and a misguided description of the play as a light comedy, along with other difficulties.[8]
Lahr reprised his role in a short-livedBroadway run, co-starring withE. G. Marshall as Vladimir. This time, it was with a new director,Herbert Berghof, who had met withSamuel Beckett, the playwright, in Europe and discussed the play. The set was cleared, and Lahr 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. Lahr was praised and though he claimed he did not understand the play, others would disagree and say he understood it a great deal.[8]
Lahr occasionally appeared on television, includingNBC's live version of theCole Porter musicalLet's Face It (1954), the 1964Hallmark Hall of Fame production ofThe Fantasticks, and occasional appearances as the mystery guest onWhat's My Line? (for example, December 30, 1956).[9]
He performed in commercials, including a memorable series forLay'spotato chips during its long running "Betcha can't eat just one" campaign with Lahr appearing in different costumes. He performed in classical works on television adaptations ofAndrocles and the Lion and theSchool for Wives (1956). He played Moonface Martin in a television version ofAnything Goes, withEthel Merman reprising her role as Reno Sweeney andFrank Sinatra appearing as Billy Crocker. In 1959, he playedMr. O'Malley in an adaptation ofBarnaby for the anthology seriesGeneral Electric Theater. In 1963, he appeared as Go-Go Garrity in the episode "Is Mr. Martian Coming Back" onNBC'smedical dramaThe Eleventh Hour.
Among his numerous Broadway roles, Lahr starred as Skid in the Broadway revival ofBurlesque from 1946 to 1948 and played several roles, including Queen Victoria, in the original Broadway musicalTwo 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 byMike Todd which featured the olfactorySmell-O-Vision process developed for Todd's feature filmScent of Mystery (1960).
In 1964, Lahr won theTony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his role in the musicalFoxy. At theAmerican Shakespeare Festival he played Bottom inA Midsummer Night's Dream (1960), for which he received the Best Shakespearean Actor of the Year Award.
"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]
Lahr's first wife, dancer and comedienneMercedes 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 someone else and married him. Lahr was heartbroken, but eventually won her back.[8] Lahr had three children: a son, Herbert Edward (1928–2002), with Delpino, and a sonJohn (b. 1941) and daughterJane (b. 1943) with Schroeder.[1] John Lahr is a London-based drama critic who married the actress and comedian turned psychotherapistConnie Booth (Fawlty Towers) in 2000; she was previously married to British actor/comedianJohn Cleese.[10] Jane Lahr is an author and literary editor who was married to drama criticMartin Gottfried.[11]
Lahr was an avid golfer and anembroidery enthusiast.[1] He was also partial tofunambulism and referred toslacklining as "the art of flipping off gravity".[12] He was considered a serious personality offstage, prone tomelancholy and, like his mother,hypochondria.[1] Lahr's son John has written, "While we were growing up, there was not one Oz image or memento of any kind in the apartment". He also describes his father as living in "habitual solitude" and plagued by "morbid worry", "moroseness" and "the thick fog of some ontological anxiety, which seemed to have settled permanently around [him] and was palpable, impenetrable".[13]
Lahr died on December 4, 1967, at the age of 72. Around the time of his death, he was filmingThe Night They Raided Minsky's.[1] The official cause of death was listed aspneumonia. Lahr had been hospitalized on November 21 for what was reported as a back ailment. However, his son John explained that although two weeks earlier, Bert "had returned home at 2 a.m., chilled and feverish, from the damp studio whereThe 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] The 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/producerNorman Lear toldThe 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 actorJoey Faye, to complete Lahr's role.[8]
Lahr was buried at theUnion Field Cemetery inRidgewood, Queens, New York.
| Award | Year | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Tony Awards | Best Actor in a Play | The Beauty Part | Nominated | [14] |
| 1964 | Best Actor in a Musical | Foxy | Won |
