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Jack Pearl Papers, 1899-1973
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,
OTRRpedia: Jack Pearl
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearl, Jack 1894 births 1982 deaths Jewish American male actors American male radio actors Male actors from New York City American vaudeville performers 20th-century American male actors Burials at Mount Hebron Cemetery (New York City) 20th-century American Jews Comedians from New York City American male comedians Jewish American comedians Jewish male comedians
Jack Pearl (born Jack Perlman; October 29, 1894 – December 25, 1982) was an American
Born in New York, Pearl debuted as an entertainer in ''School Days'', Gus Edwards's vaudeville act.
He made the transition from vaudeville to broadcasting when he introduced his character Baron Munchausen on '' The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air'' in 1932. His creation was loosely based on the Baron Munchausen literary character. As the Baron, Pearl would tell far-fetched stories with a comic German accent. When the straight man (originally Ben Bard, but later Cliff Hall) expressed skepticism, the Baron replied with his familiar tagline and punchline: "Vass you dere, Sharlie?" ("Was you there, Charlie?"). This catch phrase soon became part of the national lexicon.
Typical of the dialogue:
:Hall: You seem to be effervescent tonight.
:Munchausen: Haff you effer seen me ven I effer vasn't?
Pearl played this character and others in Broadway musical revues of the 1920s and 1930s: ''The Dancing Girl'' (1923), ''Topics of 1923'' (1923–1924), ''A Night in Paris'' (1926), ''Artists and Models'' (1927–1928), ''Pleasure Bound'' (1929), ''International Review'' (1930), ''Ziegfeld Follies of 1931'', ''Pardon My English'' (1933) and ''All for All'' (1943).
In 1923, Pearl and
sound-on-film process 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 a star of early radio. He was best known for his character Baron Munchausen.
Vaudeville and early films
Born in New York, Pearl debuted as an entertainer in ''School Days'', Gus Edwards's vaudeville act.
He made the transition from vaudeville to broadcasting when he introduced his character Baron Munchausen on '' The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air'' in 1932. His creation was loosely based on the Baron Munchausen literary character. As the Baron, Pearl would tell far-fetched stories with a comic German accent. When the straight man (originally Ben Bard, but later Cliff Hall) expressed skepticism, the Baron replied with his familiar tagline and punchline: "Vass you dere, Sharlie?" ("Was you there, Charlie?"). This catch phrase soon became part of the national lexicon.
Typical of the dialogue:
:Hall: You seem to be effervescent tonight.
:Munchausen: Haff you effer seen me ven I effer vasn't?
Pearl played this character and others in Broadway musical revues of the 1920s and 1930s: ''The Dancing Girl'' (1923), ''Topics of 1923'' (1923–1924), ''A Night in Paris'' (1926), ''Artists and Models'' (1927–1928), ''Pleasure Bound'' (1929), ''International Review'' (1930), ''Ziegfeld Follies of 1931'', ''Pardon My English'' (1933) and ''All for All'' (1943).
In 1923, Pearl and Wilkie Bard
Wilkie Bard (born William August Smith; 19 March 1874 – 5 May 1944) was a popular British vaudeville and music hall entertainer and recording artist at the beginning of the 20th century. He is best known for his songs "I Want to Sing in Opera" an ...
appeared in early tests of the Lee DeForest #REDIRECT Lee de Forest #REDIRECT Lee de Forest
{{redirect category shell, {{R from move{{R from other capitalisation ...
{{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 ...
which are now in the UCLA Film and Television Archive.
Radio
Pearl's radio career included stints as the host of '' The Lucky Strike Hour'' (1932–34) and ''The Jack Pearl Show'', which ran from late 1936 through early 1937, sponsored by Raleigh and Kool Cigarettes. The success of his first radio series brought him to the attention ofMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
. He starred as his character in one feature film, '' Meet the Baron'' (1933) with Jimmy Durante
James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side New York accent, accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced son ...
, Edna May Oliver, ZaSu Pitts
ZaSu Pitts (; January 3, 1894 – June 7, 1963) was an American actress who, in a career spanning nearly five decades, starred in many silent film drama film, dramas, such as Erich von Stroheim's 1924 epic ''Greed (1924 film), Greed'', along wi ...
and the Three Stooges. He also appears in ''Ben Bard and Jack Pearl'' (1926), a film of their vaudeville act made in the DeForest 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 ...
sound-on-film process, and '' Hollywood Party'' (1934).
With the cancellation of his second radio series, Pearl found himself struggling to find work. He continued in radio with shows like, ''Jack and Cliff'' (1948), '' The Pet Milk Show'' (1950), and ''The Baron and the Bee'' (1952), a quiz show, but he never recaptured his mid-1930s fame.
In 1934, a juvenile novel, ''Jack Pearl as Detective Baron Munchausen'', was based on his radio scripts. On February 8, 1960, he received a star at 1680 Vine Street on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...
for his radio work. Pearl died in New York in 1982.
He was an uncle to the agent and producer Bernie Brillstein
Bernard Jules Brillstein (April 26, 1931 – August 7, 2008) was an American film and television producer, executive producer, and talent agent.
He began his career in the 1950s at the William Morris Agency before founding his own company in 196 ...
.Frank Rose, ''The Agency: William Morris and the Hidden History of Show Business'', 1995, New York: Harper, p. 261.
Personal life
Pearl was married to Winifred Desborough.Filmography
References
External links
*Jack Pearl Papers, 1899-1973
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, is located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, in the Lincoln Center complex on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, New York City. Situated between the Metropolitan O ...
OTRRpedia: Jack Pearl
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearl, Jack 1894 births 1982 deaths Jewish American male actors American male radio actors Male actors from New York City American vaudeville performers 20th-century American male actors Burials at Mount Hebron Cemetery (New York City) 20th-century American Jews Comedians from New York City American male comedians Jewish American comedians Jewish male comedians