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| Actor and comedian Harry Delf, aged about twenty-three, wearing a bellhop costume for a vaudeville routine, posing outside a theatre in Detroit, Michigan. |
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Harry Delf (28 August 28 1892, New York City – 7 February 1964, New York City), American comedian and actor who performed in vaudeville and on Broadway. He was also a playwright, theatrical producer, screen writer and director of short films, and lyricist/composer for stage musicals. He is best remembered as the author of the 1925 play "The Family Upstairs" which was twice staged on Broadway and adapted into a film three times. Educated at Columbia University, he began his career as a comedian in vaudeville, specializing in Jewish humor - it is said that he taught Fanny Brice how to speak with a Yiddish accent - and he performed on all of the major vaudeville circuits during his career. He also appeared on Broadway, sometimes in plays and musicals that he had, himself, written. In addition, he wrote sketches for prominent revues and, beginning in the late Twenties, he wrote and directed several short films. For a time dean of the New York Friars Club, in 1957 he was instrumental in helping the organization to acquire their permanent headquarters, the historic Martin Erdmann House. (Sold in 2024.) He died of a heart attack at the age of seventy-two.
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I don't recall where I first came across these images, but the source of them is a blog by Delf's grandson, Harry Delf III. The specific post is
HERE, and there is more on Delf and his theatrical family
HERE.
Harry Delf’s story really brings vaudeville to life so much talent packed into one man, from comedy to writing and directing. That bellhop costume photo feels like a snapshot of a lively era, where theatre was everything. It’s great to see those family memories preserved like this.
ReplyDeleteThere were two distinct Yiddish sounds, depending on whether people lived in Russia-Lithuania-Latvia or they lived in Poland and surrounding territory. Where did Delf's parents live, before they lived to the U.S?
ReplyDeleteInteresting! Unfortunately, I don't know where his "people" were from, originally. And I can't find anything on his grandson's blog.
DeleteLe chasseur ou le mousse d'un hôtel ou d'un paquebot était autrefois un personnage de théâtre et de cinéma, idéal pour les comédies de salon.
ReplyDeleteDommage que des acteurs comme Harry Delf, un homme aux multiples talents, soient presque oubliés.
-Beau Mec à Deauville