Edward Gallagher
| Edward Gallagher | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
1873 San Francisco, California |
| Died |
March 28, 1929 (aged 55) Astoria, Queens |
| Occupation | Stage actor |
Edward Gallagher (1873 – March 28, 1929[1]) was a vaudeville actor and half of the act Gallagher and Shean. Their story was told in an animated movie Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean (1931)[2] by Max Fleischer and Dave Fleischer who also created Koko the Clown and Betty Boop. Gallagher and Shean also reportedly made an early sound film at the Theodore Case studio in Auburn, New York in 1925.[3]
Born in San Francisco, he made a name for himself in vaudeville. For fifteen years, Gallagher partnered with Joe Barrett in a comedy act that was best known for military burlesques, particularly "The Battle of Too Soon".[4] Gallagher subsequently teamed with Al Shean to create the act Gallagher and Shean. While the act was successful, the men apparently did not like each other much.
Gallagher first performed with Shean in 1912 in the operetta The Rose Maid, which ran for 176 performances at the Globe Theatre in New York.[4] The duo broke up in 1914, not performing again until 1920. This latter time, they stayed together until 1925.[5] They had a featured part in the 1922 Ziegfeld Follies, earning a salary of US$1500 a week.
In the final years of his life, Gallagher was beset by problems with his fourth wife (actress Anna Luther), stress, and alcoholism. After the duo's partnership ended, Gallagher suffered a nervous breakdown and in 1927 entered the Rivercrest Sanitarium in Astoria, where he died on March 28, 1929.[6]
Helen Gallagher, his third wife, a former Ziegfeld girl and Jack Solomon launched what would become Gallagher's Steak House in November 1927. She would marry Solomon after Gallagher's death.
References
- ↑ New York Times obituary, "Ed Gallagher dies; Won Fame with Shean", May 29, 1929.
- ↑ Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean at the Internet Movie Database
- ↑ "Gallagher and Shean". CBX Media. 2003-11-19. Retrieved February 21, 2008.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Slide, Anthony (2012). The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 204. ISBN 1-61703-250-6
- ↑ Slide, Anthony (2012). The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville. Univ. Press of Mississippi. pp. 203. ISBN 1-61703-250-6
- ↑ Slide, Anthony (2012). The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville. Univ. Press of Mississippi. pp. 204–205. ISBN 1-61703-250-6
External links
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