Morton And Mayo
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Morton and Mayo were 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 ...
dance and comedy duo from approximately the 1920s to the 1940s who were predominantly known for an artificial horse act known as Pansy the Horse. "Mayo" was Andy Mayo and "Morton" was portrayed by both Al Morton from 1923 to 1931 and by Nonnie Morton from 1931 to 1942.


First Morton and Mayo (1918-1930)

Al Morton and
Andy Mayo Morton and Mayo were a Vaudeville dance and comedy duo from approximately the 1920s to the 1940s who were predominantly known for an artificial horse act known as Pansy the Horse. "Mayo" was Andy Mayo and "Morton" was portrayed by both Al Morton fr ...
toured the United States on a variety of Vaudeville stages including the Orpheum Circuit in various singing, dancing and comedy shows. These shows would typically include a feature film presentation and several other live
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 ...
acts including dancing girls and a band. In 1925 they were featured in
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's Frolics cafe's Frivolous Frolics and toured the US as ''Two Nuts left over from xma''s. In 1926 they traveled to Hawaii as the featured act in Maurice Kusel's ''Melody Maid Revue'' at
Hawaii Theatre The Hawaii Theatre is a historic 1922 theatre in downtown Honolulu, Hawaii, located at 1130 Bethel Street, between Hotel and Pauahi Streets, on the edge of Chinatown. It is listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places. History ...
in
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. In 1930 they began acting as a three-person act with Al Morton (front) and Andy Mayo (rear) performing in a two-person artificial horse costume and a third female performer acting as the horse's trainer. The peak of the first Morton and Mayo's career was a Paramount Publix Theaters production that was devised and directed by Boris Petroff modeled after Noah's Ark called Noah's Lark. Noah's Lark toured the United States for the last half of 1930 beginning in
New York, NY New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. In New York, a rising
Ethel Merman Ethel Merman (born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann, January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was an American actress and singer, known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and for leading roles in musical theatre.Obituary ''Variety'', February 22, 1984. ...
performed with the show in
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at the
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. After Noah's Lark, it appears Morton and Mayo appeared together as Pansy into early 1931 travelling to various US cities as a single act. The Pansy the horse act earned as much as $550/week in 1931.


Second Morton and Mayo (1931-1942)

In 1931
Andy Mayo Morton and Mayo were a Vaudeville dance and comedy duo from approximately the 1920s to the 1940s who were predominantly known for an artificial horse act known as Pansy the Horse. "Mayo" was Andy Mayo and "Morton" was portrayed by both Al Morton fr ...
recruited Nonnie Morton out of high school to continue the Pansy the Horse act with him and his wife, Florence Mayo. Nonnie took the place of Al Morton in the front of the horse and Florence acted as the horse's trainer. Morton and Mayo toured Europe in 1937 and in 1942 starred in Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe club in
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. In 1943 Nonnie joined the army and continued his Vaudeville career raising money for war bonds.


Andy Mayo

Andy Mayo was born Andrew C Guariglia on 1 August 1901 in Italy to Emil and Columbia Guariglia. In 1903 the family emigrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they lived at 1330 Moore St in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mayo was the oldest of began his Vaudeville career in 1918 and took his stage name from his mother's maiden name, DiMaio. Andy became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1918 and he toured on the Vaudeville stage circuit most of his life. He married and was divorced 1927, remarried to Florence Mayo on 7 January 1932 who performed with him throughout the remainder of his career. In 1938 while Florence was attending to the birth of their first child, Mayo discovered
Virginia Mayo Virginia Mayo (born Virginia Clara Jones; November 30, 1920 – January 17, 2005) was an American actress and dancer. She was in a series of comedy films with Danny Kaye and was Warner Brothers' biggest box-office money-maker in the late 1940s. ...
in St Louis to take Florence's place as the female horse trainer. In 1939 Florence. Andy and Virginia Mayo were featured in the musical short ''Gallons and Guys.'' In 1943 Virginia Mayo's movie career started to gather attention and Andy left the Pansy the Horse act to manage the blossoming actress's career and leaving Pansy to his brother Allen and Frances Englebrecht in the horse costume and Dorthy Carlson as the trainer. In 1944 Andy and Florence were featured as Pansy in the feature film ''Take it Big'', costarring
Jack Haley John Joseph Haley Jr. (August 10, 1897 – June 6, 1979) was an American actor, comedian, dancer, radio host, singer and vaudevillian. He was best known for his portrayal of the Tin Man and his farmhand counterpart Hickory in the 1939 Metro-G ...
and
Ozzie Nelson Oswald George Nelson (March 20, 1906 – June 3, 1975) was an American actor, director, producer, screenwriter, musician, composer, conductor and bandleader. He originated and starred in ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'', a radio and tel ...
. Also in 1944, Pansy (with Connie Haas as the trainer) was part of the short ''Jazz on the Screen''. This short film was released into the public domain. Mayo died in
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on 11 September 1983 at age 82.


Al Morton

Al Morton was born Dominic Colafrancessco on 30 January 1899 as the 4th of 5 children born to Italian Immigrants named Joseph and Filomena (née DeCarlo) Colafrancesso of 602 League St,
Philadelphia, PA Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. He toured throughout the United States from the early 1920s as a singer, actor and dancer. In 1927 he married Antoinette Gelone and starred in the Morton and Stanley Revue. In 1930 Al became the front half of the dancing horse act known as Pansy the Horse. After Morton and Mayo split up in 1931, Morton continued in a similar act known as Sparkplug the horse. In 1933 Al's health became an issue and he slowly gave up his career in Vaudeville. He died suddenly on the
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in 1937 at age 38.


Nonnie Morton

Nonnie Morton was born Dominic Anthony Rebecca in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, on 5 July 1913 to Anthony and Rachel (Rae) (née Westle) Rebecca. Nonnie enlisted in the US Army on 23 January 1943 and was released on 9 March 1946 after spending 28 April 1945 to 2 March 1946 overseas. In the Army, Nonnie raised money for war bonds with various Vaudeville shows including ''Pennsylvania on Parade''. Nonnie died on 26 April 2003 in
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.


Vaudeville shows


References

Vaudeville performers Male actors from Philadelphia {{US-theat-actor-stub