Al Herman (born Alexander Himan; February 25, 1885 or 1887 – July 2, 1967) was an American

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

performer and actor. He was born in Scotland to Joseph Himan, of Russian origin, and his English wife Mary. Official sources give both 1885 and 1887 as his birth year. The family emigrated to the United States when Alexander was a baby, and settled in

Jackson, Missouri Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, United States. It is a principal city of the Cape Girardeau-Jackson metropolitan area Area. The population of Jackson was 15,481 at the 2020 census. History In 1813, ...

. By the 1910s he was established on the vaudeville circuit and was billed as "The Assassin of Grief and Remorse". He regularly performed in

blackface Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...

, and used a cigar as a prop.Anthony Slide, "Al Herman", ''The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville'', University Press of Mississippi, 2012, p.238 In

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, in 1917, he was described as "a

monologist A monologist (), or interchangeably monologuist (), is a solo artist who recitation, recites or gives oral interpretation, dramatic readings from a monologue, soliloquy, poetry, or work of literature, for the entertainment of an audience. The te ...

of the impromptu sort and a talented singer. His material is extolled as being good, live, bright and breezy and he has a personality all his own making him a sure-fire applause-winner." In 1921, he appeared on stage in the ''

Greenwich Village Follies ''The Greenwich Village Follies'' was a musical revue that played for eight seasons in New York City from 1919 to 1927. Launched by John Murray Anderson, and opening on July 15, 1919, at the newly constructed Greenwich Village Theatre near Ch ...

''. He directed several silent

film short A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

s in the 1920s, including ''Little Red Riding Hood'' and ''Little Miss Hollywood'', both starring Baby Peggy. In 1926, he appeared in an early

Lee de Forest #REDIRECT Lee de Forest {{redirect category shell, {{R from move{{R from other capitalisation ...

Phonofilm Phonofilm is an optical sound-on-film system developed by inventors Lee de Forest and Theodore Case in the early 1920s. In 1919 and 1920, de Forest, inventor of the audion tube, filed his first patents on a sound-on-film process, DeForest Phonofi ...

. Carl Bennett, "Al Herman", ''Silent Era''
Retrieved November 20, 2023 From the early 1930s, he started a film career as an actor in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, often in uncredited

bit part In acting, a bit part is a role in which there is direct interaction with the principal actors and no more than five lines of dialogue, often referred to as a five-or-less or under-five in the United States, or under sixes in British televisio ...

s including a role as a reporter in ''

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town ''Mr. Deeds Goes to Town'' is a 1936 American comedy-drama romance film directed by Frank Capra and starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur in her first featured role. Based on the 1935 short story "Opera Hat" by Clarence Budington Kelland, whi ...

'' (1936). He had credited roles in '' Harmony Lane'' (1935), '' Hollywood Cowboy'' (1937), '' Studio Romance'' (1937), ''

Paid to Dance ''Paid to Dance'' (also known as ''Hard to Hold'') is a 1937 American drama film starring Don Terry, Jacqueline Wells and Rita Hayworth. Plot Government agents William Dennis and Joan Bradley are undercover, working to solve the disappearances ...

'' (1937), '' Oklahoma Renegades'' (1940), and the Broadway Brevities short ''Minstrel Days'' (1941). He continued to appear in Hollywood movies until the early 1950s. "Al Herman", ''Travalanche'', February 25, 2013
Retrieved November 20, 2023 He died in Los Angeles in 1967 at the age of about 80.

References

External links

* 1880s births 1967 deaths Year of birth uncertain American vaudeville performers American male film actors Blackface minstrel performers {{US-film-actor-stub