Joseph Hart (June 8, 1861 – October 3, 1921) was an American

vaudevillian 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 ...

entertainer, manager, producer and songwriter.

Early life

Joseph Hart Boudrow was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Massachusetts on June 8, 1861, to James H. and Sarah E. Boudrow. His father, a Boston area junk dealer, was from

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, the son of French immigrants who had settled there in the early 1800s.1880 U.S. Census Records, detail? Hart's mother was a native of Massachusetts. Joseph Hart took to the stage at an early age playing boy's roles at Boston's

Howard Athenaeum The Howard Athenæum (1845–1953), also known as Old Howard Theatre, in Boston, Massachusetts, was one of the most famous theaters in Boston history. Founded in 1845, it remained an institution of culture and learning for most of its years, final ...

, then managed by his uncle, Josh Hart.''Who's Who in Music and Drama - edited by Dixie Hines, Harry Prescott Hanaford – 1914''

Career

While still in his teens Hart began touring with I. W. Baird's Minstrel Show as an end man, the musician stationed at the end of a line of performers. Soon Hart became a crowd favorite for his

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

playing, singing and comedy routines that he often wrote himself. Later he joined other minstrel troupes such as Simmons and Slocomb and Tony Pastors Minstrels before entering vaudeville to play Ko-Ko in

W. S. Gilbert Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most f ...

and

Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...

's ''

The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...

'' and as a performer in ''

Princess Ida ''Princess Ida; or, Castle Adamant'' is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was their eighth operatic collaboration of fourteen. ''Princess Ida'' opened at the Savoy Theatre on 5 January 1884, for a ru ...

''. In 1888 Hart joined forces with

Frederick Hallen Frederick Hallen (1 January 1859 – 28 February 1920) was a Canadian-born vaudeville entertainer who found popularity on the North American stage. Biography Frederick "Fred" Hallen was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.The New York Times, 29 Feb ...

as Hallen and Hart, and toured for six years in ''Later On'', a musical comedy he wrote with H. Grattan Donnelly. This success was followed by a two-year run of '' The Idea'', written with

Herbert Hall Winslow Herbert Hall Winslow (November 23, 1865 – June 1, 1930) was an American stage actor and playwright. He acted in and directed the 1914 silent film ''Manon Lescaut''. Winslow was born in Keokuk, Iowa. More than 100 plays that Winslow wrote were ...

. Hart next struck out on his own touring with his play ''The Gay Old Boy'' (1894–95), ''A Tarrytown Widow'' (1897–98), by Charles T. Dazey, ''

Foxy Grandpa ''Foxy Grandpa'' was an American gag-a-day newspaper comic strip featuring an eponymous character, created by cartoonist Carl E. Schultze drawing under the name of "Bunny." The strip lasted from 1900 to circa 1918, and was at first hugely popul ...

'' (an adaptation from the Carl E. Schultze comic strip, 1901–05) and ''Girls Will Be Girls'' (1903–04), the latter two written in collaboration with

Melville Baker Melville Baker (April 24, 1901 – April 10, 1958) was an American screenwriter. Bakers was born in Massachusetts and died of a heart attack in Nice, France at the age of 56. Selected filmography * ''The Swan'' (1925) * ''The Circus Kid'' ...

. Hart and his wife,

Carrie DeMar Carrie De Mar (April 1, 1875/76 - February 23, 1963)''American and British Theatrical Biography'' page 300 by J. P. Wearing c.1979 ISBN 0-8108-1201-0''Silent Film Necrology'', p.130 2nd edition c.2001 by Eugene M. Vazzana ISBN 0-7864-1059-0 was a ...

, later reprised their Foxy Grandpa roles in two short films, ''The Boys Think They Have One on Foxy Grandpa'' and ''Foxy Grandpa and Polly in a Little Hilarity''. Hart's later years were primarily spent as a writer and producer of vaudeville shows.

Personal life

On August 1, 1894, Hart married his co- star Carrie De Mar, an actress, dancer and singer whom he had worked with for a number of years. Hart died suddenly on October 3, 1921, from a stroke he suffered at his New York residence on West 54th Street, with His wife was at his side.''The New York Times'', October 3, 1921

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Joseph 1861 births 1921 deaths Writers from Boston Vaudeville performers American male songwriters 19th-century American composers American theatre managers and producers