George Lovejoy "Doc" Rockwell (March 19, 1889March 2, 1978) was an American

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 ...

performer and radio personality.

Life and career

Rockwell was born in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

, the son of Julia (Holden) and George Lyton Rockwell. Rockwell was a fast-talking "nut comic" who developed an act as a lecturing doctor. One sign of Rockwell's success was his appearances as the headline act at the Palace Theater in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, the single most coveted booking in vaudeville. Rockwell headlined at the Palace six times, the first in April 1925, the last in May 1932. In the 1930s, he also appeared on the inaugural bill at Radio City Music Hall (on December 27, 1932), at the

Ziegfeld Theater The Ziegfeld Theatre was a single-screen movie theater located at 141 West 54th Street in midtown Manhattan in New York City. It opened in 1969 and closed in 2016. The theater was named in honor of the original Ziegfeld Theatre (1927–1966) ...

, and in a single film, the 1937

musical comedy Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

, ''

The Singing Marine ''The Singing Marine'' is a 1937 American musical film directed by Ray Enright and Busby Berkeley and starring Dick Powell. It was the last of Powell's trio of service-related Warners films: 1934's ''Flirtation Walk'' paid tribute, of sorts, to ...

''. In 1939 Rockwell had his own short-lived national radio show on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, and through the 1940s he was a frequent guest on the radio show of his friend

Fred Allen John Florence Sullivan (May 31, 1894 – March 17, 1956), known professionally as Fred Allen, was an American comedian. His absurdist, topically pointed radio program ''The Fred Allen Show'' (1932–1949) made him one of the most popular and for ...

. He married fellow performer Claire Schade in 1915 in Bloomington, Illinois. Rockwell's first son was

George Lincoln Rockwell George Lincoln Rockwell (March 9, 1918 – August 25, 1967) was an American far-right political activist and founder of the American Nazi Party. He later became a major figure in the neo-Nazi movement in the United States, and his beliefs, st ...

, the founder of the

American Nazi Party The American Nazi Party (ANP) is an American far-right and neo-Nazi political party founded by George Lincoln Rockwell and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. The organization was originally named the World Union of Free Enterprise Nation ...

. For many years after his retirement from performing, Doc Rockwell contributed a humor column to ''

Down East, The Magazine of Maine ''Down East: The Magazine of Maine'' is the principal general interest monthly magazine covering the U.S. state of Maine. Ulrich's Periodical Directory It is based in Rockport, Maine with a second office in Yarmouth, Maine. ''Down East'' was foun ...

''. He had the last page from shortly after the magazine's founding in 1954 to his death. Doc always ended his column with "Maker of fine cigar ashes since 1889."

References

External links

photograph of Doc Rockwell
* *

* ttp://www.mainememory.net/bin/SwishSearch?person=George%20Lovejoy%20Rockwell A collection of Doc Rockwell postersfrom the

Maine Historical Society The Maine Historical Society is the official state historical society of Maine. It is located at 489 Congress Street in downtown Portland. The Society currently operates the Wadsworth-Longfellow House, a National Historic Landmark, Longfellow ...

1889 births 1978 deaths American radio personalities People from Providence, Rhode Island Vaudeville performers {{US-radio-bio-stub