Variety Gallery III

Variety-Vaudeville Gallery III
compiled by John Kenrick
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Bert Williams and George Walker, the vaudeville song and dance team who starred in several groundbreaking black musicals, including In Dahomey.

Vaudeville comedians Joseph Weber and Lew Fields turned their knockabout act into a popular series of Broadway musicals and revues. Fields saw his children (Herb, Dorothy & Joseph) succeed as lyricists and librettists in musical theatre and film.

When vaudevillians performed a new song, music publishers would add their photos to the sheet music covers. "Dinah" became a lasting classic, even though vocalist Perle J. Frank (whose head shot appears in the lower right hand corner) is forgotten today. Composer Harry Akst became the longtime friend and accompanist to Al Jolson.

When E.F. Albee crushed the real performers union, he took over their headquarters and turned it into the clubhouse for his puppet union, National Variety Artists. This is a postcard view of the grand lounge. The NVA was forced to abandon this building in the early 1930's.