The Leighton Brothers (alt. "Leighton and Leighton") was the name of a

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

performance team consisting of brothers Frank Leighton and Bert Leighton.. They also composed various songs, most notably "Steamboat Bill," the tune used in the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

animated short, Steamboat Willie.

Biography

Born to Irish immigrants, the Leighton Brothers grew up in

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Ce ...

during the latter part of the 19th century. Frank Leighton was the first of the brothers to enter show business, joining a Medicine Show in 1897 and then the Burt Sheppard Minstrel Show in 1898. Bert joined Milt G. Barlow's minstrel group in 1899. The brothers came together for the first time in 1900, joining Vogle and Deming Minstrels. The duo found success as both

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

performers and

performers for the next few years, culminating in their joining of the Lew Dockstader minstrel group in 1904. The Leighton Brothers were invited to perform on the Orpheum Circuit, highlighting their original music as well as their new compositions of popular songs. Frank Leighton died in 1927, after which Bert went into real estate. Bert died in 1964.

Music

The Leighton Brothers composed many

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

pieces for use in minstrel shows and vaudeville, including "There's A Dark Man Coming With A Bundle" (sung by

Bob Roberts ''Bob Roberts'' is a 1992 American Satire, satirical mockumentary film written, directed by, and starring Tim Robbins. It depicts the rise of Robert "Bob" Roberts Jr., a right-wing politician who is a candidate for an upcoming United States Senat ...

), "Far away in Honolulu (They've got the tango craze)" (sung by Van and Schenck), and an arrangement of " Frankie and Johnny" with

Ren Shields Ren Shields was an American folk musician born in 1868 in Chicago, Illinois. He died on 25 October 1913 in Massapequa, New York. He co-wrote the song with George "Honey Boy" Evans "In the Good Old Summer Time", (a part of which is sung by Laurel a ...

that would set the tone for all future versions of the song It was with Shields that the Leightons composed their most memorable and influential song, "Steamboat Bill," in 1910. The song was a parody of best-selling "

The Ballad of Casey Jones "The Ballad of Casey Jones", also known as "Casey Jones, the Brave Engineer" or simply "Casey Jones", is a traditional American folk song about railroad engineer Casey Jones and his death at the controls of the train he was driving. It tells o ...

," by Seibert and Newton, which had itself been based on a song from the Leightons' vaudeville routine. Steamboat Bill was recorded by Arthur Collins in 1911 and would go on to inspire Charles Reisner to write a movie for

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...

titled

Steamboat Bill, Jr. ''Steamboat Bill, Jr.'' is a 1928 silent comedy film starring Buster Keaton. Released by United Artists, the film is the final product of Keaton's independent production team and set of gag writers. It was not a box-office success and became th ...

, which released as a

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

in 1928. That same year,

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

found inspiration in the movie and in the song to create the first synchronized cartoon with sound, Steamboat Willie.

References

{{reflist Vaudeville performers 20th-century American comedians 20th-century American dancers American dance groups Blackface minstrel performers People from Decatur, Illinois