The Washington times., 1937-02-02
THE VOICE OF
Broad WaY
By Louis SObOI-
Down Memory Lane!
with Baron Jack MunchduSen
PEARL

" tLI DUf OII OuCh NL uItS'hNNoCb
PEARL
Ever since I can remember,
wanted to be an actor. When
was a kid of 4, my mother uSec
to take me to see the Yiddish plays
1 loved them; to me they were
vital and real. I used to go home
afterward and act out the more
dramatic scenes as 1 had seer
them portrayed on the stage. Once
this almost proved disastrous.
1 had gone to see play in
which Boris ThomashefSky hanged
himself with a prayer shawl. When
got home, l made a bee-line for
my fathers shawl and tried tC
initiate ThomaShefSky'S act. Il
my mother hadn't walked into my
room at the precise moment when
she did, I wouldn't be writing this
today. My eyes were bulging out
of my head when my mother
frantically cut me down.
! I was born on Cannon Street
in the same building where Horatio
Alger, jr.. lived and wrote his
novels about tattered princelings
who rose from rags to riches. 1
didn't start with rags eXactly-my
. father was in the lace business.
When I was 49, the family
moved to Harlem. We used to get
our hairCutS there from Herman
Timberg's father, who was the
neighborhood barber. One day,
was sitting in the barber shop
! getting my hair trimmed, when
Herman walked in and asked me
| if I'd like to 60 into show business.
He offered me a job in Gus Ed
wards School Days" revue, the
revue which spawned George
Jessel Eddie Cantor and so many
other top-notch entertainers.
Still Has Lucky" Tie
In my Gus Edwards days, I
owned only one tie, a purple one
with little stripes. I wore that
continuously. 1 still have that
tie-I always put it on for a few
seconds before I give a perform
ance, one of my more nostalgia
superStitionS.
Like many another entertainer,
I wandered into burlesque. After
the novelty wore off, I became de-
pressed, fearing that I might
spend the rest Of my life in bur
lesque and never rise any higher.
My only consolation in those days
was a piece a critic had written
and which 1 read over and over.
Jack Pearl is going to be missing
from the burleSque stage one of
these days" the critic had writ
ten. and some producer Of national
or international Importance will
be sending out notices to the
newspapers Dragging about his
new discovery. He will put his
name in electric lights, adding one
more name to the long list of bur-
lesque actors who graduated into
So productions"
"Artists and Models"
I Joined the cast of Artists and
Models" a few years later, and
when I think back to those days,
it occurs to me that show business
is the craziest in the world. Condi-
tions certainly change fast. One of
the chorus girls in that show was
a cute kid named LeSieur. Five
years later, when I went to Holly
wood, I ran into her again-only
this time her name was Joan
Crawford.
My first meeting with Florenz
Ziegfeld in 1926 was one of the
dizziest interviews in the annals
of show business. He had called
me to his office, and was there,
standing beside his desk with a
pen in my hand ready to sign
a contract with him. Suddeny the
telephone rang. ziggy picked up
the receiver and handed it to me
saying, Its for you" The call was
from a rival producer, offering
me a better salary than the one
named h1, Ziepfeld
Quick Change!
I got together with ziegfeld
/ several years later though, and it
was one Of the most pleasant asso-
Citations in my life.
During the World War I had to
call my German accent Holland
Dutch" because feeling was pretty
acute in those days. I'll never
forget the time I was playing in
a burlesque house in Toronto.
was chirping away in German di,
alect, not knowing that the audi.
ence was filled with Canadian
soldiers. A few of them, under the
influence of little Scotch
worked up the rest Of the audi
ence, and I was almost lynched
What saved the day was a col
leagues fast thinking. He made
me change my makeup, gave me
different name onStage-and ]
finished the rest Of the show with