Edward Francis Gallagher (1873 – March 28, 1929) was a

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

actor and half of the act

Gallagher and Shean Gallagher & Shean was a highly successful musical comedy double act in vaudeville and on Broadway in the 1910s and 1920s, consisting of Ed Gallagher (1873–1929) and Al Shean (1868–1949); Shean was the maternal uncle of the Marx Brothers. C ...

. Their story was told in an animated movie ''Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean'' (1931) by

Max Fleischer Max Fleischer (born Majer Fleischer ; July 19, 1883 – September 25, 1972) was an American animator, inventor, film director and producer, and studio founder and owner. Born in Kraków, Fleischer immigrated to the United States where he became ...

and

Dave Fleischer Dave Fleischer (; July 14, 1894 – June 25, 1979) was an American film director and producer, best known as a co-owner of Fleischer Studios with his older brother Max Fleischer. He was a native of New York City. Biography Fleischer was the ...

, who also created

Koko the Clown Koko the Clown is an animated character created by Max Fleischer. He first appeared as the main protagonist in '' Out of the Inkwell'' (1918-1929), a major animated series of the silent era. Throughout the series, he goes on many adventures with ...

and Betty Boop. Gallagher and Shean also reportedly made an early sound film at the

Theodore Case Theodore Willard Case (December 12, 1888 – May 13, 1944) was an American chemist and inventor known for the invention of the Movietone sound-on-film system. Early life and education Theodore Willard Case was born in 1888 in Auburn, New Yo ...

studio in

Auburn, New York Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States. Located at the north end of Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in Central New York, the city had a population of 26,866 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city of Cayuga County, th ...

, in 1925.

Biography

Gallagher was born in 1873 in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. For fifteen years, Gallagher partnered with Joe Barrett in a comedy act that was best known for military burlesques, particularly "The Battle of Too Soon."Slide, Anthony (2012). ''The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville''. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 204. Gallagher subsequently teamed with

Al Shean Abraham Elieser Adolph Schönberg (May 12, 1868 – August 12, 1949), known as Al Shean, was a comedian and vaudeville performer. Other sources give his birth name variously as Adolf Schönberg, Albert Schönberg, or Alfred Schönberg. He is mos ...

to create the act Gallagher and Shean. While the act was successful, the men apparently did not like each other much. Gallagher first performed with Shean in 1912 in the operetta ''The Rose Maid'', which ran for 176 performances at the Globe Theatre in New York. The duo broke up in 1914, not performing again until 1920 and then stayed together until 1925. They had a featured part in the 1922

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Ai ...

, earning a salary of US$1500 a week (approximately $ today). His fourth wife was actress

Anne Luther Anna Luther (July 7, 1893 – December 16, 1960), sometimes credited as Ann Luther or Anne Luther, was an American actress. She was known as "the Poster Girl". Early life and career Anna Luther was born in Newark, New Jersey on July 7, 1893, a ...

. He had a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...

in 1925 and in 1927 was institutionalized at the

River Crest Sanitarium River Crest Sanitarium was a New York State licensed mental hospital located in Astoria, Queens. River Crest was founded in 1896 by John J. Kindred (1864-1937), a Virginia native who moved to Queens and was elected to the House of Representatives ...

in Astoria, New York, where he died on March 28, 1929.Slide, Anthony (2012). ''The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville''. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 204–205. He was buried in Kensico Cemetery.

Legacy

Helen Gallagher Helen Gallagher (born July 19, 1926) is an American actress, dancer, and singer. She is the recipient of three Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, and a Drama Desk Award. Early years Born in Brooklyn, she was raised in Scarsdale, New York, and the ...

, his third wife, a former Ziegfeld girl, and Jack Solomon launched what would become Gallagher's Steak House in November 1927. She married Solomon after Gallagher's death.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, Ed 1873 births 1929 deaths Vaudeville performers Burials at Kensico Cemetery