Bert Wheeler

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Albert Jerome "Bert" Wheeler (born April 7, 1895 in Paterson , New Jersey , † January 18, 1968 in New York City ) was an American actor and comedian . Together with comedian Robert Woolsey , he formed a highly successful comedian duo from the late 1920s until Woolsey's death in 1938. Both shot over 20 comedies with music and dance for RKO Pictures .

life and career

Bert Wheeler grew up as a half orphan after his mother died shortly after his birth. Even as a little boy he dreamed of becoming an actor. At the age of 16 he left his parents' house and gained his first experience on vaudeville stages, where he specialized in comedic appearances and soon became a household name. In 1923 Wheeler made the leap to Broadway with an engagement with the legendary Ziegfeld Follies from theater producer Florenz Ziegfeld junior . In the following years he received lucrative film offers from Hollywood (including from Harold Lloyd ), which he turned down, however. During the production of the Ziegfeld play Rio Rita in 1927, Wheeler met comedian Robert Woolsey , seven years his senior . Both were paired as a comic duo in Rio Rita , which grew to be a huge hit. For Wheeler and Woosley it was the start of a long and fruitful collaboration. When RKO Pictures filmed Rio Rita in 1929 , the two comedians were also hired to Hollywood to play their roles again.

Following the success of Rio Rita , Wheeler and Woosley were used as a duo by RKO Pictures in comedies such as Hook Line and Sinker (1930), Caught Plastered (1931), Girl Crazy (1932), Diplomaniacs (1934) and The Nitwits (1936). The comedians' hallmarks were their quick puns, the sometimes surreal humor and many of the then unusually suggestive gags. While Woolsey mostly embodied the cigar-smoking, fatherly "idea man", Wheeler mostly played the lovable, romantic simpleton. In the 1930s, Wheeler and Woolsey were considered leading comedians in Hollywood and enjoyed similar popularity to their contemporaries Laurel and Hardy or the Marx Brothers . Accordingly, some very well-known stars such as Boris Karloff , Betty Grable and Thelma Todd also played by their side . For Half Shot at Sunrise has been specially Fatty Arbuckle hired as Gagman. Robert Woolsey fell seriously ill in 1937 and died in November 1938 at the age of 50.

Without his partner, Bert Wheeler made only a few films, instead he mainly worked as a theater actor. Among other things, he was on tour with his former film partner Dorothy Lee in the early 1940s . From the 1950s, Wheeler still had some television appearances, for example in a leading role as half-blood Smokey Joe in the western television series Great Eagle - Chief of the Cheyenne (1955-1956). Bert Wheeler died in 1968 at the age of 72 of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease . He was married five times and had one child. Despite their former popularity, Wheeler and Woolsey are largely forgotten today, which is probably due, among other things, to a lack of marketing or television broadcasts. All 23 Wheeler and Woolsey films have now been released on DVD in the US.

Filmography (selection)

  • 1929: Rio Rita
  • 1930: Dixiana
  • 1930: Hook Line and Sinker
  • 1930: Half Shot at Sunrise
  • 1931: Caught Plastered
  • 1931: cracked nuts
  • 1931: Jewel theft in Hollywood ( The Stolen Jools ; short film)
  • 1932: Girl Crazy
  • 1933: Diplomaniacs
  • 1934: Cockeyed Cavaliers
  • 1934: Hips, Hips, Hooray!
  • 1934: Kentucky Kernels
  • 1935: The Nitwirs
  • 1936: Mummy's Boys
  • 1941: Las Vegas Nights
  • 1955–1956: Great Eagle - Chief of the Cheyenne ( Brave Eagle ; TV series, 26 episodes)
  • 1962: Preston & Preston ( The Defenders ; television series, one episode)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Article about Wheeler and Woosley ( Memento of the original from May 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / users.wowway.com
  2. ↑ Article about Wheeler and Woosley ( Memento of the original from May 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / users.wowway.com
  3. ^ Obituary in the New York Times
personal data
SURNAME Wheeler, Bert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wheeler, Albert Jerome (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor and comedian
DATE OF BIRTH April 7, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Paterson (New Jersey) , New Jersey
DATE OF DEATH 18th January 1968
Place of death New York City