Sam Bernard (born Samuel Barnett, 5 June 1863 – 16 May 1927) was an English-born 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 who also performed in

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

and

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

and appeared in a few

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

Life and career

Bernard was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England, and moved to the United States as a child. He began performing a song and dance act with his brother Dick in variety houses in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, changing their stage name from Barnett as they considered the name Bernard more "ethnic". Sam went solo in 1884, and joined B. F. Keith's theatre company in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

. After a brief tour in England, he returned to the U.S., performed in the Night Owls comedy troupe, and then became the part-owner and leading comedy actor in the French Folly Company. He was friendly with Joe Weber and

Lew Fields Lew Fields (born Moses Schoenfeld, January 1867 – July 20, 1941) was an American actor, comedian, vaudeville star, theatre manager, and producer. He was part of a comedy duo with Joe Weber. He also produced shows on his own and starred in com ...

, and in 1890 agreed to manage their troupes, the Russell Brothers Comedians and then the Vaudeville Club touring company, in which Bernard also starred. Frank Cullen, ''Vaudeville old & new: an encyclopedia of variety performances in America'', Psychology Press, pp.100–101
/ref> Harvard Theatre Collection - Sam Bernard and Hattie Williams TCS 1

Harvard Theatre Collection - Sam Bernard and Hattie Williams TCS 1

In 1896, Bernard became the star performer in the newly formed

Weber and Fields' Broadway Music Hall Weber and Fields' Broadway Music Hall, sometimes simplified to Weber and Fields' Music Hall, was a Broadway theatre located in Manhattan on 29th Street near the corner of 29th and Broadway going towards Sixth Avenue.Henderson, p. 133 It was the r ...

company, and appeared in many of their classic theatre sketches, often performing with Weber and Fields. He remained with the company until 1902, except for a period in 1899–1900 when he starred with

Marie Dressler Leila Marie Koerber (November 9, 1868 – July 28, 1934), known professionally as Marie Dressler, was a Canadian-born stage- and screen-actress and comedian, popular in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood in early silent film, silent an ...

in the

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

''The Man in the Moon''. After 1902, he worked primarily in

Broadway musical Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), many of the extant or closed Broadway venues use or used the spelling ''Theatr ...

s, including '' The Girl from Kays'' (1903), in which he created his character Mr Hoggenheimer and starred with

Hattie Williams Hattie Williams (March 17, 1870 - August 17, 1942) was an American stage actress, comedian and vocalist from Boston. She was a popular player in vaudeville and with Charles Frohman's theatrical company at the turn of the twentieth century and ap ...

. His later successes included ''

The Rollicking Girl Sydney Rosenfeld (1855–1931) was an American playwright who wrote numerous plays, and adapted many foreign plays. Close to fifty of his creations played on Broadway. Some of his better known plays (though none achieved long-lasting popularit ...

'' (1905), ''The Rich Mr Hoggenheimer'' (1906), ''The Girl and the Wizard'' (1909), ''He Came From Milwaukee'' (1910); '' All for the Ladies'' (1912); ''The Belle of Bond Street'' (1914); and ''The Century Girl'' (1916). He began to explore acting in motion pictures in 1915, after he was signed to the

Triangle Film Corporation Triangle Film Corporation (also known as Triangle Motion Picture Company) was a major American motion-picture studio, founded in July 1915 in Culver City, California and terminated 7 years later in 1922. History The studio was founded in Jul ...

. His movies included ''Fatty and the Broadway Stars'' (1915, with

Fatty Arbuckle Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle (; March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) was an American silent film actor, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked with Mabel ...

), ''

Poor Schmaltz ''Poor Schmaltz'' is a lost 1915 American comedy silent film directed by Hugh Ford and written by Mark Swan. The film stars Sam Bernard, Robert Broderick, Conway Tearle, Dick Bernard, Ruby Hoffman and Leonore Thompson. The film was released o ...

'' (1915), ''The Great Pearl Tangle'' (1916), and ''Because He Loved Her'' (1916). He returned to stage

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 ...

s in ''Friendly Enemies'' (1918), ''As You Were'' (1920), and

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Isidore Beilin; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Berlin received numerous honors including an Acade ...

's ''

Music Box Revue ''Music Box Revue'' was a series of four musical theatre revues by Irving Berlin, presented from 1921 to 1924 at the Music Box Theatre in New York City. Berlin wrote the book, music, and lyrics to all four editions. "The Waltzes of Irving Berlin ...

'' (1921), and wrote and starred in ''Nifties of 1923''. Sam Bernard died of

apoplexy Apoplexy () refers to the rupture of an internal organ and the associated symptoms. Informally or metaphorically, the term ''apoplexy'' is associated with being furious, especially as "apoplectic". Historically, it described what is now known as a ...

while aboard the after its departure from New York en route to Europe.Sam Bernard Dies On Atlantic Liner
'' The Gazette, Montreal'', 19 May 1927 via Google News Archive. Retrieved 2011-01-22.

Acting credits

Theatre

Selected plays: * ''

The Man in the Moon In many cultures, several pareidolic images of a human face, head or body are recognized in the disc of the full moon; they are generally known as the Man in the Moon. The images are based on the appearance of the dark areas (known as lunar m ...

'' (1899) * ''

The Belle of Bohemia ''The Belle of Bohemia'' is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts with music by Ludwig Engländer and Harry Truman MacConnell and lyrics and musical book by Harry B. Smith. The musical opened on Broadway theatre, Broadway in 1900 before having ...

'' (1900) * ''Hoity Toity'' (1901) * '' The Girl from Kays'' (1904) * ''

'' (1905) * ''The Rich Mr. Hoggenheimer'' (1906) * ''Nearly a Hero'' (1908) * ''The Girl and the Wizard'' (1909) * ''He Came from Milwaukee'' (1910) * ''All for the Ladies'' (1912) * ''The Belle of Bond Street'' (1914) * ''The Century Girl'' (1916) * '' Friendly Enemies'' (1918) * ''As You Were'' (1920) * ''Music Box Revue'' (1923)

Films

Some of the movies in which he was featured include: * ''

A Janitor's Wife's Temptation A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient G ...

'' (1915) * ''Because He Loved Her'' (1915) * ''

Fatty And The Broadway Stars ''Fatty and the Broadway Stars'' is a 1915 American Short film, short comedy film directed by and starring Roscoe Arbuckle, Fatty Arbuckle. Cast * Roscoe Arbuckle, Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle * Ivy Crosthwaite * Mack Sennett * Joe Weber * Lew Fiel ...

'' (1915) * ''

'' (1915) * '' The Great Pearl Tangle'' (1916) * ''Call A Cop'' (1921)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard, Sam 1863 births 1927 deaths Comedians from Birmingham, West Midlands English emigrants to the United States English male stage actors People who died at sea British vaudeville performers