Joseph Levy Browning (July 28, 1880 – November 14, 1957) 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 ...

comedian.

Life and career

He was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, the son of

Russian Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest po ...

immigrants. By 1908, he was performing in vaudeville as part of a

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 ...

minstrel group that also included Willard Terre, Frank Carlton, and Al Lavan. When the group split up, he formed a duo with Lavan, performing parodies and sketches, and then partnered Henry Lewis from around 1910 to 1915 in an act called "The Explorers" featuring

crosstalk In electronics, crosstalk (XT) is a phenomenon by which a signal transmitted on one circuit or channel of a transmission system creates an undesired effect in another circuit or channel. Crosstalk is usually caused by undesired capacitive, ...

and songs.Trav S.D., "Joe Browning: Richard Benjamin’s Funny Vaudeville Uncle", ''Travalanche'', August 22, 2018
Retrieved 28 February 2024 For the rest of his career, Browning presented comic

monologue In theatre, a monologue (also known as monolog in North American English) (in , from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts ...

s and songs as a solo performer. In 1919, it was said that: "His material is bright and witty and is delivered with such telling effect that not one point went amiss. The songs and monologue are augmented with a smile that never failed and Browning worked a broad grin to perfection...". He appeared in a

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

, ''The Midnight Rounders of 1921'', at the Shubert Theatre on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

, and wrote sketches performed by others, such as "Seminary Mary" performed by

Henry Bergman Henry Bergman (February 23, 1868 – October 22, 1946) was an American actor of stage and film, known for his long association with Charlie Chaplin. Biography Born in San Francisco, California, Bergman acted in live theatre, appearing in ''Henri ...

and Gladys Clark in 1923. His best known performances were as a pompous and sanctimonious preacher. He recorded a

Vitaphone Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National Pictures, First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone is the last major analog sound-on-disc sys ...

short film, "The Reformer", in 1927, and re-recorded the sketch, along with "Hallelujah", for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

the following year. In 1935, he appeared in a film, ''Meet the Professor''. In the 1950 census, he described himself as an actor, working in television.1950 U.S. Census, New York 31-819 He died in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, in 1957, at the age of 77. His nephew is the actor

Richard Benjamin Richard Samuel Benjamin (born May 22, 1938) is an American actor and film director. He has starred in a number of well-known films, including '' Goodbye, Columbus'' (1969), '' Catch-22'' (1970), '' Portnoy's Complaint'' (1972), '' Westworld'', ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Browning, Joe 1880 births 1957 deaths American Jews American people of Russian-Jewish descent American vaudeville performers