New York Clipper (Jul 1923)

30 THE NEW YORK CLIPPER July 4. 1923 DEATHS BERT SAVOY BmdwftT was bowed in tormr last week over the antimelr death of Bert Savoj, female im- penonator and- member of the vaadeviUe team of SsLYOT and Braman* who was struck hy a K gkt^^ g bolt and instantlT killed last TneadxT- acodent occnrrrd at Loog Beach where the comedian bad gone for a dip in. the sorf. Savoy* acoomponied by Jack Vincent and sevcTal other friends had tieo in bathing:'' wha the storm broke loose. They were rna&ng to 'oorer when the bolt hit Savey and Vincent. Idllinc both in- slutly. Tbe others in the party escaped injniT bat were badly stnnned. Bert Savoy was a muqoe ngnic on the Amer- ican scue. He had a leaiOB of friends on both sides of the lights in the theatre. With his partner Jay Biennan, Savoy bad giadoany come np from obtcniity to the position of a high sal- aried dnwing card in vandeviile and mosical ooinedy. Last season he was featoRd in the foorth annnai edition of "Gieoiwich Villa^ Follies" and had recently been appearing m ▼aadeviDe until that prodnctiOD wtraJd be readr to take to the road in the aatnmn- Eightecn years go. Savor madff his dcfant m omaU time vandeviile as a "sinale," doinB "Insh Biddy" atnff. Lata* he teamed op with Junmy PM«*n of the Russell Bnithcza. ESght years later he met Brcnnan and formed a vatideviDe partnarsliip that had exitted nnU the lime of death, lliey appeared in vaudeville. Stage fame came in its typical way. Over- night. Savoy and Broman became famous. On evervbody's lip one heard "Yoo most come over* anil "xou don't know Ac half of it, dearie" the lines that made Bert Savoy famous. Since then the team has appeared in any npm- her of musical shows indndmit "Ziegteld Follies and for an entire season were featnzed in one of the Ztegfeld Roof sbc;ws. . . _ The news of Savoy's death was telesiapliea, to Brennan. who waa m French lick, recupeialmK from a breakdown. He immediately came to New York. . _ Beaidea the busmess agreemoit betwen oavor and Brennan. there was a deep anection. ■ Toey had a life airccnicnt to work together. f^rtf VINCENT, killed by the same bolt of liehtning that struck Bert Savoy, was 33 y«rs old and a resident of Calunbos, Ohro. He had appeared'in the chonu of aeveraj Jebo Murny Andenoo productions and more recently had been secretary to the prodocer. Prior to that he W been the dancing partner of Cynthia PetoL Uls name in private life was Jack Cnnnnan. The remains were shipped to lelauves id. Ohio. CUAXLES CAY, an actor, who (or the post tluceTCars had been with Mini m the Henry W. Savage show "IJdy Billy" died on TuevUy of last week in the Kings County Hospital. Me had for a long time been in poor health and on Monday previous to his death was moved trom his home at 8W Jefferson avenue. Brooklyn, to the hosnilal, where he died. Mr. Cay was 55 years of age and leaves a widow, Florence Gay. who was with him when he died. He had dur- ing his career been- copnected with many. shows, a few of the best known engagements bcmg with -The Common Law." "Too Many Cooks."' with May Irwin in "CcttmB a Polish'^ and with Georae Faweett in Ibsen's "Ghosts. WILLIAM a1 WHITECAK. seventy vears old; in actor of No. LS West 48lh Street, was found dead in the East River off Thirty-fourth Street. Twenty years ago he. was the leading man m "Her' Marriage Vow" and prior to that took ■tellar nles in a nnmber of otHcp plays. aURLES FELTON PIDCIN,^ author of QnincT Adams Sawyer, died June.ZId in Mel- nse, Mass: Besides Qnincy Ad;ims Sawyer Mr. Ftdgin was the author of several popular novels. KENNETH -BUCK" BAILEY, expert horse- man and' bucking horie rider and* once a' mem- ber of the Buffalo Bai WUd West Shows, died in Cleveland bst week of shock sustained when the car in which he vas ridini^ struck a tnick- Kiitey had more lately been in the moving' pic- tures and was an intimate'friend of Tom Mix and well Imown in Cleveland and Buffalo. Bailev was bora in Rondo. Canada, about forty- &vc years ago. his father being a provincial surgeon. He is. survived by his wife. Mrs. Reaneth Bailey, also an expert hoisewoinan and at one time holder of the 150-mile endurance championship^ having ridden the distance in 'tS hours. - ARTHUR BUCHANAN, character actor. <Ued last week at the home of his father-tn-taw. H. U. Cble, Montrose, Penn. He had been ill (or several weeks Mlowing a nervous breakdoirn. Mr. Bncfaanan was. bora in England and turned to a stage eaieer when a younir nun. later ap- pearing in many prominent companies., CominfT to this country, he was seen in many important parts in sapped of well kirawn snrs- Some years ago he apporrd in Scranton, Pcnn., with the Poll stock organization and rlayril to both the Poll and Acntlemy thratres. ami bK been associated with local stock companies in that dty ever since- About six years ago he mar- rica Miss Mrra Oile of that city. One of his first appearances on the stage in this countrr was with the Princess Stock Company of Des Mtrines, Iowa. He was also a member of the Castle Square Stock Company of Boston- which was under the direction of nenrj W. Savage- Temporaiy burial was made at Montrose, Pa., ■ad arrangements win be made to ship the re- tD r"gt^"'^ GUSTAVE ADOLFH KERKER, composer and imwff* dinctscv died last we^ at hi* home. S6S Wcsb U9th itRCt following an attack of apoi^e^ on Wcdncsdaj night. Serv i c e s vere held at nooo, MoodAy, fram the Fnaenl Chnnh, Bnndway and Sixty-sixth street. . Kerker was bom on Febmaiy 28. Ifi57, in Her- ford, Westphalia, Germany. Both hi» parents and all four of his grandparents were musicians and he natnrally had the gift of mnstc bom in him. At the ase of seven be began fdaying the cello and at the age of serenteen, five yean after bis parents had taken up their residezice in Loaisvilieg Ky., he waa engaged as cellist for the German open season ther& Wfaile leader of the orchestra at Macanley's Theatre in Louisville in lfl79 he wrote his firvt opera, *'Cadets," which was presented for about fonr mooiha without financial success by the Herman Grav English Opera, Cumpany thrangh the South, the company finally diaboxiding m Detroit. Kerker then came to New York and secured an engageraeot with the H. V. B. Uann Opera Componyp later going to the Thalia Theatre for a year. Tn 1884 he became ooodnctor for £. E. Rice's production of "Orpbeus and Eucrdicc" at the Bijou Opera House. He again tiied com- posingp writing most of the music for 'The Pearl of Pekin." After this he went to the ■Casino Theatre where be remained for a. gpod many year«» writing the score of a light opera or musical comedy almost every year* until **Tfae Two Little Brides" in 1912. His most popular operetia was **Tbe Belle of New Yorkf* in which Edna Kay made snch a marked success singing "Follow On," and in which Harry Davenport and Phyllis Rankin sang "When We Are Married. What Wm You Do.' Other musical plays by which he is re- racmbcTcd »re "Tbc Lady Slavey," "In Gay New York," "The Whiri of the Town," 'The Tele- phone Giri," ■'Yankee Doodle Dand^." "The Man in the Moon." ''Winsome Winnie,*' "Tlie Girl From Up There" and "The Tourists." Mr. Kerker, who was twice married, is sur- vived by his second wife known to the stage as Mattie Rivenberiar, who was a show girl in "Neariy a Hero," and whom he married on June 5, 190B, while she was playing at the Casino The- atre She was thirty years yoonger than he. His first wife was Rose Kccne. known on the stage as Rose Leigbton. Kerker belonged to the Lambs Gub and the Green Room Qub and for the last thtrtv-five years had been a member of the Sc CecUe Lodges No. 568. F. & A. M. Ib Memovy MALCOLM°BRADLET [Ned Jidr 7, 1921 Braddic Dear, How, How We Miss You! Ed and Niiia' Lawrence.' CHARLES P. WHVTE. formerly for many .years a-prominent-actor in musical'comedy- and vaudeville, died yesterday at hi5 home. 525 ^yc•t Forty-seventh street. He returned a short time ago fn}m a tour 'of the Orpheum Circuit and was stricken with heart disease, which resulted in his death. Mr. \Vhyte was bora in Australia, sixty-one years ago and left Melbourne for the United States shortly after making his stage" debut and appeared in numerous musical comedy snceesses. More recently he played in vaudevilJe, appear- ing at one time with the American Comedy Four, and then, with Whyle, PcUer and Whyte. Re- 'turning from a tour of England, he joined the Minstrel Monarplis, the first of the "old timer** minstirl acts in. vaudeville-and continued with the act until it. closed last season. Sarviving. are his wife and a son Gordon Wbytc, diaroatie editor of The Billboard. JULfS RUBY; well known theatrical mana- ger, died last Sunday at his home, 257 Grand Avenue. Brooklyn. N. Y. Mr. Ruby at one time was general booking representative of the F. F. Proctor circuit of theatres. FROST ORCHESTRA. IN NEW YORK Chester E. Frost, of Frost's Boston- !ans, is in New York with his orchestra making phonograph records. This combi- nation has been offered, recording dates with all the leading record makers. They closed at the Jack-O-Lantcm at Portland, Me., a week ago and have been playing about the city for the radio stations, tlie Talking Machine Men's Convention Ban- quet at the Pennsylvania and other en- gagements. The orchestra will open soon at one of Broadway's large cafes. Frost and his orchestra have played together for the past five years. In the organization are Arthur E. Smith, pianist; Kenneth E. Saunders, violinist; Victor Mondello, banjo; Joseph J. Holmes, saxophone; 'Frank Titani. saxophone: Charles Wolke, trombone: Felix J. Catino, trumpet; Chester E. Frost, traps. ISABEL laCHTOS WRITES PLAY Isabel Leighton, who recently appeared in "Why Men Leave Home^" has written a comedy entitled "The Morning After," and has placed it with a new prodacing fimi that will bring the piece out in the autumn. FUND FOR FOSTER HOME Louisviux, Ky., July 2.—Through the efforts of Gov. Edwin P. Morrow, and the appointment of a State Commission, a fund was raised and "The Old Kentuclqr Home Association" was incorporated to buy the old home of Stephen Collins Foster, and maintain it for the benefit of future genera- tions. "The Old Kentucky Home" is situ- ated near Bardstown, about thirty miles from here, and the house where Foster -wrote his world femous songs, -will be dedi- cated on Wednesday, July 4, as a memorial to the author and composer. Foster was not bom in Kentucky, as is popularly believed, but first saw the h'gfat of day in Pittsburg^, 97 years ago. Like many popular song writers of the present day, Foster wrote about things down south before he had ever been there, and according to bis brother and biographer Morrison Foster, Stephen wrote "Old Uncle Ned" in 1845 for a young men's club. The song contained the line "His fingers were long, like de cane in dc brake," but at that time Stephen bad never seen a cane brake and had never been south of the Ohio river. nGHTING PULLMAN SURCHARGE Chicago, June 25.—The Interstate Com- merce Commission started an attadk against the railroads of the country in an effort to do away with the 50 per cent surcharge on Pullman fares which, according to one authority, amotmted to nearly $32,000,000 in 1922. Technically the Pullman Com- pany is the defendant, but the surcharge goes to the railroads and it is their interest that is under fire. The drive on the extra fare is being backed bjr several traveling men's organ- izations including the International Fed- eration of Commercial Travelers' Associa- tion and many others. The Pullman' surcharge was authorized in 1920 by the Interstate Commerce Com- mission and IS, ac<»irding to coimsel for the carriers, merely a perpetuation of the "ad- ditional passage charge" instituted in 1918 as a war-time measure while the roads were under Federal control. Those who arc against the measure declare that the emergency which brought it into effect has long passed. HOLLOWAY AT CASTLE George Hollbway, manager of the Broadway Theatre, has been assigned in- deHnitely to manage the new Castle Thea- tre at Long Beach. This is in addition tn liis work at the Broadway. Hblloway, who would other\vise spend most of his time on the train travelling between the city and the summer resort, is having a three-room housekeeping apartment built on top of the theatre and will live there on the nights that he has to stay down. RECORDING DEPARTMENT CLOSES The Okch Record Company's recording laboratory in West 45th street closed last Saturday for three weeks during which time all of the members of the recording Staff and office under Fred Hager will take a \-acation- The Okeh laboratory has been closed at this time of the summer for sev- eral years, as all of the lists until the fall have been recorded and new numbers for fall plugging by music publishers have not been dt^itdy decided upon. WHITEHEAD CO. CLOSES Chica(», June 30.—John W. White- head's Company, which was taken to' the Hippodrome' at Peoria, 111., f<}llowing a stock engagement at the Empress in Chicago, closed after two weeks at the down state point. WEEDEN IS DALEY SHOW MANAGER Jimmie Weeden will manage Eddie Daley's "Broadway Brevities" next season. Weeden last season managed the Empire Theatre, in Toronto. Previous to that he managed road shows for a number of years for Max Spiegel. •THROUGH THE MALE" COMEDY "Through the Male," a new comedy by Frank W. Beaston and William J. Rcilly 'will start rehearsals late next nKmth. It is a comedy based on the mail order tnisi- LETTER LIST LADIES Alofiod, Bsbs BsUiy. Uis. E.. Brtlkr, SrlTll Qotcllo, Iocs Deity, Usui Defsy, Geitnide Enns. Vlifliila Hslile. SuUe BopUm. Ida KeiiDcdy. Elesm iMt An^vy Uonne. Flo. Noilttte, Vana Bsppo Sbtm Bemolib, BUllB Weber, Jesn. Wlel. Floveoee Wllsoo, Jsoiue. eENTUIEII Csmptell, Bord CirlspB, Jick Dicker. Paid F>s2r, Gordon Hmdrll. B. Boean), Jim Keller, Geotn W. Keflutttcr, Balpb HcNsUr, Ben. Uorni, LoidaJ. NoroitjiiBi, Lnoy Bostov. A- P. Bpamll, J. B. 6tsill9, Fnd. SidllTSB, Ton. SEynoor, A. 0. Wcsicr, Edvla Votoo, Tid. WlhOD. IM. LUNA PARK INFRINGEMENT SUIT The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers were awarded a judgment last week in the United States District' Court, Eastern District of New York, against Lima Park, Conejr Island, for $370 as the result of an infringement -of copyright suit filed against the resort in the summer of 1922. A United States Marshall attached the box office and subse- quently collected the moiiey for the society. While some of the Coney Island resorts .have taken out licenses from the A. S. C. A. & P. there are still some that continue to infringe on the society's works and a campaign against all such places is an- nounced for the Summer. UNDER BOOKING PARK THEATRE Jack Linder, independent 'vaudeville agent, is now booking the Sewanee Beach Park Theatre, near Perth Amboy, N. J. ABOUT YOUI AND YOU! I Ben Tidwell, who has had charge of the "Michigan books" in the Carrell agency of Chicago for several years, is taking his annual month's vacation, which he is spending at his former home at Fort Smith, Ark. Before start- ing for the southwest he made a brief inspection tour of the Michigan houses booked by that agency. Frank Wilstach, press representative for Sam H. Harris, has turned over to the New York Public Library a collec- tion of several thousand mounted clip- pings, relating to the affairs of the stage and theatre, dating back to 1880. These clippings are bound in three volumes. Jean Vernon, who was with Frankie Kelcey in "A Brazilian Heiress" the t>ast season, joined the Frank L. Waker field Winter Garden revue at the Palace iii Minneapolis, Minn., Saturday, June 30) for a special four weeks' engage- ment. - Sam Hoffenstein, "adjective swinger" for A. H. Woods is unable to get a full two weeks' vacation this summer so is taking week-end vacations which last from Friday to Tuesday of each week. Madeline Spangler aiid Teller and North opened last week at the Hotel Lorraine, Philadelphia. Billy Curtis booked them. The Barr Twins, Three Little Maids and Beatrice Cannen openetl at the Palais Royal, Atlantic City, oii Saturday. Thomas and the Frederick Sisters have been booked at the Motor Square Cafe, Pittsburgh, by Billy Curtis. Thelma Carleton has been booked by Billy Curtis to open at Bongiovanni's, Wildwood, Pa., on July 9. Patricia Gridler, oriental dancer, opened last week at the Cafe des Beaux Arts, Atlantic City. The Motan Sisters were booked by Billy Curtis and opened last week at Healey's, Boston. Lyle and Virginia are spending a six- weeks' vacation at their home in Rum- ford, Maine.