Jack Pearl
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Jack Pearl, born Jack Perlman (born October 29, 1894 in New York City, died December 25, 1984 in New York City), was a vaudeville performer and a star of early radio.
He portrayed a character he created, Baron Munchausen, very loosely based on the Baron Munchausen literary character. As the Baron, Pearl would tell far-fetched stories with a comic German accent. When the straight man (originally Ben Bard, but later Cliff Hall) expressed skepticism, the Baron replied with his single tagline and punchline: "Vass you dere, Sharlie?" This catch phrase soon became part of the national lexicon.
Typical of the dialogue:
- Hall: You seem to be effervescent tonight.
- Munchausen: Haff you effer seen me ven I effer vasn't?
Pearl played this character and others in musical revues of the 1920s and 1930s: The Dancing Girl (1923), Topics of 1923 (1923-1924), A Night in Paris (1926), Artists and Models (1927-1928), Pleasure Bound (1929), International Review (1930), Ziegfeld Follies of 1931, Pardon My English (1923) and All for All (1943).
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[edit] Radio
Pearl's radio career included stints as the host of The Lucky Strike Hour from 1932-1934 and The Jack Pearl Show, sponsored by Raleigh and Kool Cigarettes, which ran from late 1936 through early 1937.
The success of his first radio series brought him to the attention of MGM. He starred as his character in one feature film, Meet the Baron (1933) with Jimmy Durante, Edna Mae Oliver, Zasu Pitts and the Three Stooges. He also appears in Ben Bard and Jack Pearl, a 1926 filming of their vaudevile act, and Hollywood Party (1934).
With the cancellation of his second radio series, Pearl found himself struggling for work. He continued in radio with shows like, Jack and Cliff (1948) and The Baron and the Bee (1952), a quiz show, but he never recaptured his mid-1930s fame.
In 1934 a book, Jack Pearl as Detective Baron Munchausen, was published as a juvenile novel based on his radio scripts. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his radio work.
He was an uncle to the agent and producer Bernie Brillstein.[1]
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[edit] References
- ^ Frank Rose, The Agency: William Morris and the Hidden History of Show Business, 1995, New York: Harper, p. 261.
