Jack Pearl (born Jack Perlman; October 29, 1894 – December 25, 1982) was a vaudeville performer and a star of early radio. He was best known for his character Baron Munchausen.

Vaudeville and early films

Born in New York, Pearl debuted as an entertainer in ''School Days'', Gus Edwards's vaudeville act. He made the transition from vaudeville to broadcasting when he introduced his character Baron Munchausen on ''

The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air'' was a program broadcast on CBS Radio during the 1930s which attempted to bring the success of Florenz Ziegfeld's stage shows to the new medium of radio. Eddie Dowling hosted the musical variety format. Spon ...

'' in 1932. His creation was loosely based on the

Baron Munchausen Baron Munchausen (; ) is a fictional German nobleman created by the German writer Rudolf Erich Raspe in his 1785 book '' Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia''. The character is loosely based on a real ...

literary character. As the Baron, Pearl would tell far-fetched stories with a comic German accent. When the straight man (originally

Ben Bard Ben Bard (January 26, 1893 – May 17, 1974) was an American movie actor, stage actor, and acting teacher. With comedian Jack Pearl, Bard worked in a comedy duo in vaudeville. In 1926, Bard, Pearl, and Sascha Beaumont appeared in a short fil ...

, but later Cliff Hall) expressed skepticism, the Baron replied with his familiar tagline and punchline: "Vass you dere, Sharlie?" ("Was you there, Charlie?"). This

catch phrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

soon became part of the national lexicon. Typical of the dialogue: :Hall: You seem to be effervescent tonight. :Munchausen: Haff you effer seen me ven I effer vasn't? Pearl played this character and others in Broadway musical revues of the 1920s and 1930s: ''The Dancing Girl'' (1923), ''Topics of 1923'' (1923–1924), ''A Night in Paris'' (1926), ''Artists and Models'' (1927–1928), ''Pleasure Bound'' (1929), ''International Review'' (1930), ''Ziegfeld Follies of 1931'', ''Pardon My English'' (1933) and ''All for All'' (1943). In 1923, Pearl and

Wilkie Bard Wilkie Bard (born William August Smith) (19 March 1874 – 5 May 1944) was a popular British vaudeville and music hall entertainer and recording artist at the beginning of the 20th century. He is best known for his songs "I Want to Sing in Opera" ...

appeared in early tests of the

Lee DeForest Lee de Forest (August 26, 1873 – June 30, 1961) was an American inventor and a fundamentally important early pioneer in electronics. He invented the first electronic device for controlling current flow; the three-element " Audion" triode v ...

sound-on-film process

Phonofilm Phonofilm is an optical sound-on-film system developed by inventors Lee de Forest and Theodore Case in the early 1920s. Introduction In 1919 and 1920, Lee De Forest, inventor of the audion tube, filed his first patents on a sound-on-film process, ...

which are now in the

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the archiv ...

Radio

Pearl's radio career included stints as the host of '' The Lucky Strike Hour'' (1932–34) and ''The Jack Pearl Show'', which ran from late 1936 through early 1937, sponsored by Raleigh and Kool Cigarettes. The success of his first radio series brought him to the attention of

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

. He starred as his character in one feature film, ''

Meet the Baron ''Meet the Baron'' is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy film starring Jack Pearl, Jimmy Durante, Edna May Oliver, ZaSu Pitts, Ted Healy and His Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). The title of the film refers to Pearl's character ...

'' (1933) with

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, vaudevillian, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced song ...

Edna May Oliver Edna May Oliver (born Edna May Nutter, November 9, 1883 – November 9, 1942) was an American stage and film actress. During the 1930s, she was one of the better-known character actresses in American films, often playing tart-tongued spinsters. ...

ZaSu Pitts Zasu Pitts (; January 3, 1894 – June 7, 1963) was an American actress who starred in many silent dramas, including Erich von Stroheim's epic 1924 silent film ''Greed'', and comedies, transitioning successfully to mostly comedy films with the ...

and the

Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appeared ...

. He also appears in ''Ben Bard and Jack Pearl'' (1926), a film of their vaudeville act made in the DeForest

sound-on-film process, and '' Hollywood Party'' (1934). With the cancellation of his second radio series, Pearl found himself struggling to find work. He continued in radio with shows like, ''Jack and Cliff'' (1948), ''

The Pet Milk Show ''Saturday Night Serenade'' is an American old-time radio program that featured popular music. The 30-minute program was broadcast on CBS on Saturday nights from October 3, 1936, until September 25, 1948, sponsored by Pet Milk. In 1948, the show ...

'' (1950), and ''The Baron and the Bee'' (1952), a quiz show, but he never recaptured his mid-1930s fame. In 1934, a juvenile novel, ''Jack Pearl as Detective Baron Munchausen'', was based on his radio scripts. On February 8, 1960, he received a star at 1680 Vine Street on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...

for his radio work. Pearl died in New York in 1982. He was an uncle to the agent and producer

Bernie Brillstein Bernard Jules Brillstein (April 26, 1931 – August 7, 2008) was an American film and television producer, executive producer, and talent agent. He began his career in the 1950s at the William Morris Agency before founding his own company in 1 ...

.Frank Rose, ''The Agency: William Morris and the Hidden History of Show Business, 1995, New York: Harper, p. 261.

Personal life

Pearl was married to Winifred Desborough.

Filmography

Listen to

Jack Pearl "R-r-r-r-revolver" sketch

References

External links

*
Jack Pearl Papers, 1899-1973
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

OTRRpedia: Jack Pearl
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearl, Jack 1894 births 1982 deaths Jewish American male actors American male radio actors Male actors from New York City Vaudeville performers 20th-century American male actors Burials at Mount Hebron Cemetery (New York City) 20th-century American Jews