Al Shean
Al Shean | |
|---|---|
| File:Al Shean in The Blue Bird.JPG Shean in The Blue Bird (1940 film) | |
| Born | Abraham Elieser Adolph Schönberg May 12, 1868 |
| Died | August 12, 1949 (aged 81) Manhattan, New York City, NY, U.S. |
| Other names | Adolf Schönberg Alfred Schönberg Albert Schönberg |
| Occupations | Comedian, vaudevillian |
| Years active | 1912–1944 |
| Spouse | Johanna Davidson |
| Children | 1 |
| Relatives | Minnie Schönberg (sister) Marx Brothers (nephews) |
Abraham Elieser Adolph Schönberg[1][2][3][4][5] (May 12, 1868 – August 12, 1949), known as Al Shean, was a German-born American comedian and vaudeville performer. Other sources give his birth name variously as Adolf Schönberg, Albert Schönberg, or Alfred Schönberg.[6] He is most remembered for being half of the vaudeville team Gallagher and Shean, and as the uncle of the Marx Brothers (Leonard Joseph "Chico" Marx, Adolph (Arthur) "Harpo" Marx, Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx, Milton "Gummo" Marx and Herbert Manfred "Zeppo" Marx).[7]
Biography
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Shean was born in Dornum, Kingdom of Prussia on May 12, 1868, the son of Fanny and Levi or Louis Schoenberg. His father was a magician. His sister, Minnie, married Sam "Frenchie" Marx; their sons would become known as the Marx Brothers.
After making a name for himself in vaudeville, Shean teamed up with Edward Gallagher to create the act Gallagher and Shean. While the act was successful, the men apparently did not like each other much. After their act's final Ziegfeld Follies pairing, Shean went on to perform solo in eight Broadway shows, even playing the title character in Father Malachy's Miracle.
Shean had some solo film roles: as the piano player, known as "The Professor" in San Francisco (1936), as grandfather in The Blue Bird (1940), as a priest in Hitler's Madman (1943), and in some three dozen other films. He and Gallagher also made an early sound film at the Theodore Case studio in Auburn, New York, in 1925.[8]
He died on August 12, 1949.[9]
Legacy
[edit | edit source]Shean's son, also named Al Shean, worked on The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.[10]
Shean is reputed to have written the Marx Brothers' first (moderately) successful vaudeville sketch on butcher paper at Minnie and Frenchie's kitchen table one night while he was visiting.[citation needed]
Filmography
[edit | edit source]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | Music in the Air | Dr. Walter Lessing | Film debut |
| 1935 | Traveling Saleslady | Schmidt | |
| Page Miss Glory | Mr. Hamburgher | ||
| Sweet Music | Sigmund Selzer | ||
| 1936 | The King Steps Out | Ballet Master | Uncredited |
| San Francisco | The Professor | ||
| 1937 | The Road Back | Markheim | |
| Live, Love and Learn | Professor Fraum | ||
| 52nd Street | Klauber | ||
| The Prisoner of Zenda | Orchestra Leader | Uncredited | |
| Rosalie | Herman Schmidt | Uncredited | |
| 1938 | Too Hot to Handle | Gumpert | Uncredited |
| The Great Waltz | Cellist | Uncredited | |
| 1939 | Broadway Serenade | Herman | |
| 1940 | The Blue Bird | Grandpa Tyl | |
| 1941 | Ziegfeld Girl | Al | |
| 1943 | Hitler's Madman | Father Cemlanek | |
| Crime Doctor | Dave - Convict | Uncredited | |
| 1944 | Atlantic City | Himself | Final film |
See also
[edit | edit source]References
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External links
[edit | edit source]- Al Shean at the Internet Broadway DatabaseLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Al Shean at IMDb
- Gallagher and Shean (1925) experimental sound film made by Theodore Case Archived November 19, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- 1918 passport photo, Al Shean
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- 1868 births
- 1949 deaths
- People from Aurich (district)
- American male comedians
- Comedians from New York City
- Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States
- Emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States
- Jewish American male actors
- American vaudeville performers
- 20th-century American male actors
- Jewish American comedians
- 20th-century American comedians
- Comedians from Lower Saxony