Marlin Hurt (May 27, 1904/1905 – March 21, 1946) was an American stage entertainer and radio actor who was best known for originating the

dialect comedy The term "Dialect comedy" was coined by David Marc in his essay, ''Origins of the genre''. Dialect comedies are a genre of radio (and later television) sitcoms that were popular between the 1920s and the 1950s. They relied on the exaggerated and hi ...

role of Beulah made famous on the ''

Fibber McGee and Molly ''Fibber McGee and Molly'' (1935–1959) was a longtime highly popular husband-and-wife team radio comedy program. The situation comedy was a staple of the NBC Red Network from 1936 on, after originating on NBC Blue in 1935. One of the most p ...

'' program and the first season of the ''Beulah'' radio series. A saxophone player and vocalist, born in

Du Quoin, Illinois Du Quoin ( ) is a city in Perry County, Illinois, Perry County, Illinois. It is best known for hosting the annual DuQuoin State Fair and the Street Machine Nationals. The population is estimated at 5,761 in the 2020 census. Geography Du Quoin is ...

, Hurt was a singer with the

Vincent Lopez Vincent Lopez (December 30, 1895 – September 20, 1975) was an American bandleader, actor, and pianist. Early life and career Vincent Lopez was born of Portuguese immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, Distinguished Am ...

band and on records with

Frank Trumbauer Orie Frank Trumbauer (May 30, 1901 – June 11, 1956) was an American jazz saxophonist of the 1920s and 1930s. His main instrument was the C-melody saxophone, a now-uncommon instrument between an alto and tenor saxophone in size and pitch. He al ...

's jazz group before becoming part of a vocal trio with Bud and Gordon Vandover billed as "Tom, Dick, and Harry". When the act was dissolved due to Bud Vandover's death in 1943, Hurt became a solo performer with a combination of saxophone and dialect humor.

''Beulah'' begins

Hurt's inspiration for the Beulah voice was an African-American woman named Mary who cooked for his family. While he was using this characterization on ''The Fred Brady Show'', the summer 1943 replacement for ''

The Bob Burns Show ''The Bob Burns Show'' (also known as ''The Arkansas Traveler'') was an American old-time radio comedy program that starred comedian Bob Burns. The program derived from a character Burns performed for five years on Bing Crosby's ''Kraft Music Hal ...

'' on NBC, ''Fibber McGee'' writer

Don Quinn Don Quinn (November 18, 1900 – December 30, 1967) was an American comedy writer who started out as a cartoonist based in Chicago. According to sources, Quinn's career as a cartoonist was short-lived but his career as a writer began after he rea ...

"discovered" Hurt for a widespread audience, and cast Hurt/Beulah as the McGees' maid on what was one of the highest-rated radio programs. The widespread popularity of the ''Fibber McGee and Molly'' version of Hurt's character, based as much on the novelty of a white man portraying a black woman as the humor written for the character, soon warranted a spin-off series. In 1945, Beulah was spun off into her own radio show, ''The Marlin Hurt and Beulah Show''; Hurt also played Beulah's boyfriend, Bill Jackson, in addition to his title roles. The series was nearing the end of its first year when Hurt suddenly died of a heart attack, aged 40, bringing an abrupt end to the initial run.Stumpf, Charles and Tom Price. ''Heavenly Days! The Story of Fibber McGee and Molly'', World of Yesterday Publications, 1987, ('' Beulah'' would continue, but after a brief stint with Bob Corley as the lead, actual black women starred in the title role from 1947 onward.) He has a star 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 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurt, Marlin 1900s births 1946 deaths American male radio actors American male saxophonists American male stage actors Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American singers 20th-century American saxophonists 20th-century American male singers People from Du Quoin, Illinois Musicians from Illinois