Van and Schenck

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Van and Schenck.
Van and Schenck.

Van and Schenck were popular United States entertainers in the 1910s and 1920s: Gus Van (born August Von Glahn, August 12, 1886 - March 12, 1968), baritone and Joe Schenck (pronounced "skenk" -- born Joseph Thuma Schenck, c. 1891 - June 28, 1930), tenor. They were vaudeville stars and made appearances in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1918, 1919, 1920 and 1921. They made numerous phonograph records for the Emerson, Victor, and Columbia record companies.

With Schenck on piano, the duo sang and performed comedy routines. Van was especially adept at dialect humor, and could imitate any number of regional and continental accents. One of the team's typical novelty hits was "Pastafazoola," in praise of Italian food and sung in the appropriate style. Van's hearty baritone and Schenck's high tenor harmonized well, and the team became known as "the pennant-winning battery of songland." They performed on radio shows and appeared in early talking motion pictures, including several musical shorts and one feature, They Learned About Women.

After Schenck's death, Van continued to perform as a solo artist on stage, screen, and radio. He appeared in many New York-produced Soundies in 1941.

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