Bert Lahr

Bert Lahr 1895-1967, American comic actor, b. New York City, originally named Irving Lahrheim. Lahr first performed in burlesque and vaudeville, where he became known for his morose facial expression. After his Broadway debut in Harry Delmar's Revels (1927), he appeared in numerous Broadway shows, in films, and on television. His performance in Waiting for Godot in 1956 is considered the high point of his career, but he is probably best remembered as the Cowardly Lion in the film The Wizard of Oz (1939).

Bibliography: See biography by his son John Lahr (1969).

Lahr, Bert [né Irving Lahrheim] (1895–1967), comic actor. The rubber‐faced, caterwauling comedian, famous for his “gnong‐gnong” and “Some fun, eh kid?,” began his career in vaudeville and burlesque. His first Broadway assignment was in Delmar's Revels (1927), but it was his clowning as the punch‐drunk Gink Schiner in Hold Everything! (1928) that made him a star. Appearances followed in Flying High (1930), Hot‐Cha! (1932), George White's Music Hall Varieties (1932), Life Begins at 8:40 (1934), George White's Scandals of 1935, The Show Is On (1936), Du Barry Was a Lady (1939), and Seven Lively Arts (1944). In 1946 he was praised for his performance as Skid in a revival of Burlesque, then, after appearing in Two on the Aisle (1951), he won further laurels for his portrayal of Estragon in Waiting for Godot (1956), a role he claimed he never understood. Lahr's later performances included Boniface in the farce Hotel Paradiso (1957), the revue The Boys Against the Girls (1959), a number of quick‐change roles in The Beauty Part (1962), and, his last Broadway appearance, the sly miser Foxy (1964). His son is critic and author John LAHR (b. 1941) who was born in Los Angeles and educated at Yale and Oxford University. After working as a dramaturg for some regional theatres, he started writing reviews in Evergreen Review, the Village Voice, and later The New Yorker. Among his many books is a biography of his father, Notes on a Cowardly Lion, 1969.

Lahr, Bert [ Irving Lahrheim] (1895–1967), American vaudeville and burlesque player, who became a leading actor in both musical shows and straight plays. Basically a clown, he first played the vaudeville circuits at the age of 15, and within a few years had developed his own solo act. After serving in the Navy during the First World War he teamed up in a double act with Mercides Delpino, later his wife, and made his Broadway début in the revue Delmar's Revels (1927), his first outstanding success being the prizefighter Gink Schiner in the musical Hold Everything (1928). During the 1930s he was in a number of musical shows, including the revue Life Begins at 8.40 (1934) and the Cole Porter musical Du Barry was a Lady (1939). In 1939 he also became internationally famous for his performance as the Cowardly Lion in the film The Wizard of Oz. His subsequent stage career included Skid, a passéburlesque comic, in a revival of Burlesque in 1946, Gogo (Estragon) in Beckett's Waiting for Godot (1956), and Boniface in Hotel Paradiso (1957), based on a farce by Feydeau. He gave fine performances as Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream in the American Shakespeare Festival production of 1960, and in Foxy, a musical version of Jonson's Volpone, in 1964.