Frick and Frack were a comedic ice skating duo of Swiss skaters who went to the United States in 1937 and joined the original

Ice Follies The Ice Follies, formerly known as the Shipstads & Johnson Ice Follies, is a touring ice show featuring elaborate production numbers, similar in concept to Ice Capades. It was founded in 1936 by Eddie and Roy Shipstad, and Oscar Johnson. In later ...

show. "Frick" was Werner Groebli (April 21, 1915 – April 14, 2008), born in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

. "Frack" was Hans Rudolf "Hansruedi" Mauch (May 2, 1919 – June 4, 1979), also born in Basel. Frick and Frack were known for skating in Alpine ''

Lederhosen Lederhosen (; , ; singular in German usage: ''Lederhose'') are short or knee-length leather breeches that are worn as traditional garments in some regions of German-speaking countries. The longer ones are generally called ''Bundhosen'' or ''Kn ...

'' and performing eccentric tricks on ice, including the "cantilever spread-eagle", created by Groebli; and Mauch's "rubber legs", twisting and bending his legs while skating in a spread eagle position. Only a few skaters have successfully performed the duo's routines since. Michael Mauch, the son of Hans, described the origin of their names: "Frick took his name from a small village in Switzerland; Frack is a Swiss-German word for a frock coat, which my father used to wear in the early days of their skating act. They put the words together as a typical Swiss joke."

History

Frick and Frack found fame with the

, a revue promoted by Eddie Shipstad and his brother Roy, which began in 1936 and ran for almost 50 years. They also reached a worldwide audience when they began appearing in films, including the Monogram Pictures production '' Lady, Let's Dance'' in

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

. Their association lasted so long, and they were at one time so well known, that their names became a household term in many languages. Frick and Frack skated in the Ice Follies for many years until Hans Mauch (Frack) contracted

osteomyelitis Osteomyelitis (OM) is an infection of bone. Symptoms may include pain in a specific bone with overlying redness, fever, and weakness. The long bones of the arms and legs are most commonly involved in children e.g. the femur and humerus, while the ...

. He retired in 1953, and died on June 4, 1979 in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

at the age of 60. He had been married to Mary M. Elchlepp of

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, one of the original Ice Folliettes. Performing well into his late years, Werner Groebli continued on as "Mr. Frick" until an accident forced him to retire in 1980. He appeared as a contestant on TV's original ''Match Game'' on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

in the 1960s. Groebli lived in the Palm Springs, California area for over 10 years until the death of his wife, the former Yvonne Baumgartner, in 2002. He was featured on a PBS TV special in 1999. Groebli died on April 14, 2008 in Zurich at the age of 92. David Thomas, one of his skating partners after Mauch retired, announced his death from complications after breaking a leg at a nursing home outside of Zurich.Werner Groebli, Ice Skating's Frick, Dies at 92
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', April 23, 2008. Accessed April 23, 2008.

In popular culture

"Frick and Frack" has become an English

slang Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-g ...

term used to refer to two people so closely associated as to be indistinguishable.World Wide Words: Frick and Frack
/ref> Comic radio mechanics

Tom and Ray Magliozzi Thomas Louis Magliozzi (June 28, 1937 – November 3, 2014) and his brother Raymond Francis Magliozzi (born March 30, 1949) were the co-hosts of NPR's weekly radio show ''Car Talk'', where they were known as "Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothe ...

performed for years under the name

Click and Clack ''Car Talk'' is a radio talk show that was broadcast weekly on National Public Radio (NPR) stations and elsewhere. Its subjects were automobiles and automotive repair, often discussed humorously. It was hosted by brothers Tom and Ray Maglioz ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Werner Groebli Interview (“Mr. Frick”)

'Frick' performing a cantilever spread-eagle
Swiss comedy duos Theatre characters introduced in 1936 Comedy theatre characters Comedy film characters Fictional Swiss people People from Basel-Stadt Swiss figure skaters