OVERVIEW
American-born Hebrew comic, musical comedy actor, singer, revusical producer, and film actor.
Bert Le Blanc established his early career in the USA as an actor and variety performer. He first toured Australia in 1913 as a member of the American Burlesque Company, and remained in the country permanently thereafter. In 1914, Le Blanc accepted an engagement with Fullers' Theatres Ltd and at the end of the year appeared in George Willoughby's Babes in the Wood pantomime, touring Australia with that production for Willoughby, later for George Marlowe, and eventually for the Fullers. In 1915, he began touring his own Travesty Stars Revue Company with box-office-breaking success. Each Le Blanc revusical revolved around the characters Ike Cohen (Le Blanc) and Morris Levy (played by Jake Mack). Although Le Blanc was associated at various times in his career with William Anderson, George Willoughby, Harry Clay, Birch and Carroll, and George Marlowe, among others, much of his career was undertaken on the Fullers' Australian and New Zealand circuits. His high profile during the war years was such that the Fullers engaged his company to open two Sydney theatres for them: the Majestic Theatre in 1917 and the National Theatre in 1919.
Le Blanc temporarily disbanded the Travesty Stars in 1920, working initially with Jack Mack (and later with Ted Stanley). He reformed his revusical company for a brief period of time, beginning October 1921 with an engagement at the Lyric Theatre, St Kilda (Melbourne) under William Anderson's management. He later returned to the Fullers as a solo comedian and pantomime actor. Between 1925 and 1928, he teamed up with George H. Ward to present revusicals on the Fullers' circuit. Although much of Le Blanc's career after 1929 remains unclear, he is known to have been one of the principal attractions in the Town Topics Company (Gaiety Theatre, Sydney) around 1929/1930. Le Blanc also appeared in Roy Rene's film Strike Me Lucky (1934), and toured a variety company around Sydney in the mid-1930s. Married to fellow vaudevillian Winifred Knight (from 1916), he became a naturalised Australian in the late 1950s.
DETAILED BIOGRAPHY
1889-1912: Born in Downieville, Sierra County (California), and raised in San Francisco, Bert Le Blanc began his show business career in America at an early age. After starting out in Bothwell Browne's Juvenile Opera Company sometime around 1905, he made rapid advancement and at one stage travelled to England with a vaudeville act called 'Cleopatra'. On returning to America, Le Blanc joined several New York-based theatrical companies, appearing at one stage in Jessie L. Lasky's production of Birdland. He later undertook a minor role in the original American production of the musical comedy The Girl in the Taxi (1910). By the beginning of the second decade, Le Blanc had also begun to establish himself as a Hebrew comic on the American minstrel circuit, and claims to have once worked with Al Jolson.
Described in the Brisbane Courier as an 'expert baseball player' who was at one time a member of the Camden (New Jersey) baseball team (6 September 1913, p.12), Le Blanc was also married and divorced prior to arriving in Australia (New South Wales Marriage Certificate, 1916/005096). In a 1913 Theatre Magazine interview, he recalls that the marriage break-up was given some publicity in San Francisco when he was appearing there for a season of musical comedy and burlesque under the management of W. R. Hughes. At one stage during The Grafters (a burlesque later staged in Australia), Le Blanc's character is asked if he is a married man, to which he replies, 'Well I used to be; but my wife and I don't live in harmony'. Le Blanc recalls that while the line ordinarily gets a laugh, 'when given in 'Frisco at the time I speak of, it brought the biggest shriek I was ever responsible for' (July 1913, p.20).
In late 1912, having spent most of the previous three years under contract to Hughes, Le Blanc was offered one of the principal performing roles in a company that the entrepreneur planned to send on tour overseas. Operating as the Oriental Amusement Company of America Pty Ltd, but billed as the American Burlesque Company, the sixty-odd member troupe departed San Francisco on 23 November 1912 for a tour of the Pacific circuit, which included China, Japan, the Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand.
1913-1915: The American Burlesque Company arrived in Australia in March 1913. Among the other leading members of the troupe were several performers who remained more or less permanently in the country thereafter: Le Blanc, Paul Stanhope, Carlton Chase, and Harry Burgess. The Australian tour opened in Melbourne on 15 March, and was accorded such an enthusiastic reception that the company was subsequently taken over by William Anderson for the remainder of its stay in the country. Under Anderson's management, the company played an equally successful season in Sydney beginning 14 June, and later undertook engagements in Newcastle and Brisbane, followed by a hurried tour of New Zealand. The company then returned to Australia to play Melbourne and Sydney again. Although some critics found the repertoire too American in its flavour and decidedly low in its content, most regarded the musical aspects as being the strength of the company. Among the comedians, Harry Burgess, Dave Nowlin, Frank Vack, and Eugenie La Blanc (no relation) were routinely singled out, but none received the amount of attention that Bert Le Blanc was accorded. As one of the troupe's principals, Le Blanc very quickly established a considerable reputation with local audiences. Australian Variety reports, for example, that 'There is no mistaking the fact that Bert Le Blanc is an exceptionally fine Hebrew comedian. His work in the present production of A Day at the Races is particularly funny, thanks to the doleful yet expressive manner in which he utilises his face. For all-round success, Le Blanc has put up the best performance of any Jewish comedian we have yet seen' (24 December 1913, p.1).
When the American Burlesque Company folded in early 1914, Le Blanc decided to remain in the country in order to capitalise on the success he had established throughout the previous twelve months. During his first year in Australia, which saw him perform in Sydney and Melbourne for the Fullers while also being leased out temporarily to other managements such as Dix-Baker in Newcastle (ca. 1914), Le Blanc largely performed solo comedy routines. Although popularly received by audiences, the act was criticised in some quarters, with one reviewer suggesting that his projection still needed work. The consensus among critics, however, was that he 'would score better in vaudeville if he had a feeder' (Australian Variety 18 November 1914, p.3). The partnership he needed came about through his engagement by George Willoughby for the pantomime Babes in the Wood (Adelphi Theatre, Sydney). The debut 1914 production, which starred Daisy Jerome (q.v.) as Maid Marion and Dan Thomas (q.v.) as Dame Durden, saw Le Blanc cast as Weary Willie alongside Australian comedian Ted Stanley as Tired Tim. Following its Sydney season, which ended in early February 1915, Babes in the Wood went on tour through Queensland (including Brisbane) and to other interstate centres around Australia. Its Melbourne season was staged, however, by two other theatrical organisations. George Marlowe produced the pantomime at the Kings Theatre in late August/early September with much of the original cast still intact, before the production was briefly taken up by the Fullers at their Bijou Theatre. For the national tour, Stanley was replaced by American Hebrew comedian Jake Mack (born Jacob Snoek). This partnership was so successful for the pair that they went on to spend the next ten years working off each other in revusicals and in vaudeville.
In an interview with Australian Variety in 1916, Le Blanc recalls the highs and lows of his first few years in the country: 'After the [American Burlesque Company's] closing season I immediately went under the management of Ben J. Fuller, who put me in vaudeville, and later in [the] Babes in the Woods pantomime where I must candidly say I had the worst part I have ever had handed me in my theatrical career. At the close of the panto I was placed to produce the show now bearing my name, and which has been a record breaker everywhere. Within the past six months I have produced five shows and have thirty more on my list to turn out' (5 January 1916, p.17). The company he speaks of was Bert Le Blanc's Musical Travesty Company (later known as the Travesty Stars). Put together in mid-1915 with backing from the Fullers, the troupe began breaking box-office records for the organisation in every city they played. Much of the company's success can be put down to the partnership between Le Blanc and Mack, who together created Ike Cohen and Morris Levi, two Hebrew characters who also encapsulated the larrikin traits favoured by the contemporary Australians popular culture that packed the theatres wherever they played.
1916-1920: On 27 May 1916, Le Blanc married fellow vaudevillian Winnie Knight (born Winifred Adeline Walls) at the Registrar General's Office in Sydney. Both were aged twenty-six. Coverage of the wedding in Australian Variety indicates that the ceremony (which was private by personal request) was attended by members of Le Blanc's troupe (including best man Jake Mack) and close associates such as Ben Fuller and Variety editor Martin Brennan (31 May 1916, n. pag.).
Le Blanc's Travesty Stars Revue Company toured constantly throughout Australia and New Zealand between 1916 and 1920, providing them with the opportunity to rival Nat Phillips's Stiffy and Mo company as the Fullers' most popular revusical company operating during the war years. The level to which Le Blanc's popularity rose in Australia is demonstrated by the fact he appeared on the front cover of Australian Variety and Show World on four occasions during this period: once in 1916 and three times in 1917. He had also appeared on the front cover of the Theatre Magazine while touring with the American Burlesque Company (June 1913, p.1). Thoroughout the war years, Le Blanc and his company continued to receive considerable coverage in Australian Variety, the Theatre, and metropolitan and regional newspapers across the country. Indeed, such was the demand for Le Blanc's services that not even his publicised wedding allowed him a break: the couple spent their honeymoon in New Zealand while touring the Fullers' Dominion circuit. Sir Benjamin and John Fuller also thought highly enough of Le Blanc that they engaged his troupe to open two theatres for them, an honour not even accorded Stiffy and Mo during their career.
The only halt to the Travesty Stars' intense touring schedule occurred over April and May of 1919, when the New South Wales government forced all places of public entertainment to close down in an attempt to stop the spread of the Spanish influenza epidemic. When the restrictions were relaxed in mid May, Le Blanc and Mack put together a well-received 'Yiddisher' comedy/singing/patter double act at the Fullers Theatre for several weeks while biding time before the start of the troupe's year-long tour of New Zealand. On his return to Australia in 1920 following that tour, however, Le Blanc announced that he had disbanded the Travesty Stars and returned to presenting a vaudeville act with Jake Mack. After a brief engagement at the Princess Theatre, Sydney, under Harry Clay's management, Le Blanc and Mack undertook a regional Queensland tour for Birch and Carroll (ca. May-July). They then went back on Clay's Sydney circuit, performing at the manager's city and suburban theatres throughout the remainder of the year.
1921-1925: In 1921, the Le Blanc/Mack partnership also parted ways for a short period of time, with Le Blanc teaming up once again with Ted Stanley (then one of Harry Clay's leading comics) to present revusicals and comedy sketches. Everyone's indicates that Clay's audiences found the pair well up to expectations, writing, 'A rather clever travesty dealing with the mishaps of two woebegone sailors occupies the first half of the bill, the fun makers being Bert Le Blanc and Ted Stanley' (10 August 1921, p.15). In mid-October 1921, he temporarily re-formed the Travesty Stars beginning with a six-week season at St Kilda's Lyric Theatre (Melbourne) under William Anderson's management. The troupe was billed for much of that time, however, under the name The Who's Who Costume Revue Entertainers. Most of the performers were contracted to provide first-part entertainment along with the second-part revue. For this season, Le Blanc revived his most popular shows: Fuzzy Wuzzy, Then They Woke Up, What's the Use, The Gay Mrs Cohen, and In Old Seville, along with a new creation, High Life on Deck.
Sometime between August and October 1922, Le Blanc and Mack returned to America, where they are said to have obtained 'a big list of new revue scripts' that they intended to stage in Australia. After arriving back in Australia, the pair reformed the Travesty Revue Company with a 'specially selected supporting [ensemble] and a fine range of scenery and wardrobe' (Brisbane Courier 23 December 1922, p.16). After debuting with George Marlowe at the Grand Opera House (Sydney) on 7 October, the troupe returned to the Fullers circuit at Christmas and is believed to have remained together for some twelve to eighteen months. Le Blanc continued to tour the country over the next few years as a solo act for various managements and in 1924 was back on Fuller time. One of the year's highlights was his role as performer and co-writer of the pantomime Mother Goose, which was staged at the Majestic Theatre, Newtown. In early 1925, he joined forces with the pantomime's director/writer George H. Ward (aka 'Little Hermie') to present vaudeville and 'musical tabloids' on the circuit (Everyone's 14 January 1925, p.36). When Charles L. Sherman left the troupe, Le Blanc took over his roles, and later worked with Ward in the creation of a number of new revusicals. Among these was Cohen's Vacation, in which he reprised his old character Ike Cohen with new name 'Abe Cohen.' Among the other works believed to have been co-written or adapted by Ward and Le Blanc were The Lure of the Ring, Keeping Fit, The Suffragettes, Variety Isle, Hotel Topsy Turvey, and A Trip to Morocco.
1926-1935: Although Le Blanc remained a popular drawcard throughout the 1920s, particularly with the older variety audiences, it is clear that that even from 1921 onwards, his career did not match the success of his peak years (1913 to 1920), and certainly by the late 1920s his career had flattened out, as was the largely the case for many variety artists as they competed against the expanding film exhibition industry and Hollywood stars. Unfortunately, only a small number of details pertaining to Le Blanc's career after he left George Ward's Company (ca. 1928) are available from this point on, primarily due to vaudeville's decreasing presence in the print media of the day. Everyone's indicates that in 1929 that he was working with George Moon [see note below] at the Gaiety Theatre in Sydney under the direction of ex-Travesty Stars troupe member Durham Marcel. 'Comedy is the outstanding feature [of the show]', writes the critic, 'with Bert Le Blanc and George Moon running a neck and neck race and each with a sum total of laughs that assures favouritism' (18 December 1929, p.37). In 1931, Le Blanc and Jake Mack were engaged by George Marlowe to appear in his Christmas pantomime, Babes in the Wood (beginning19 December), and followed this in mid-January 1932 with feature appearances in a revue and pictures programme at the same theatre (beginning 18 January). Apart from these engagements, we know that he was cast by Ken G. Hall to play the role of Lowenstein in Roy Rene's 1934 film Strike Me Lucky, and that he toured a vaudeville company around a Sydney suburban circuit in 1935. One of the members of that troupe was a young Peter Finch, later to become an internationally successful stage and film actor.
As to Le Blanc's later years, John West records in Theatre in Australia that when he was old enough to qualify for a pension, 'he got himself naturalised and voted in his first election in his late sixties - a fact of which he was quietly proud' (p.121). This is believed to have occurred in the early to mid-1950s. Le Blanc's wife Winnie died in October 1970. Le Blanc's death notice, published in the Sydney Morning Herald, indicates that he died in hospital. His last known address was 171 The Horlsley Drive, Fairfield. The notice, which describes him as 'the fond stepfather of William and Brenda Knight, and fond uncle of Ken and Iris Howard', ends with the line 'So mote it be' (28 August 1974, p.56).
