Barto and Mann

Barto and Mann: Dewey Barto (né Stewart Steven Swoyer; June 10, 1896 – January 31, 1973) and George Mann (December 2, 1905 — November 22, 1977), known as the "laugh kings" of vaudeville, were a comedic dance act from the late 1920s to the early 1940s. Their acrobatic, somewhat risqué, performance played on their disparities in height; Barto was 4'11" and Mann was 6'6".

Initially dancing as singles in Fanchon and Marco's Variety Idea and Dancelogue Idea, Barto and Mann began dancing together as a comedic dance team in 1926 in Fanchon and Marco's Comic Supplement Idea, where they portrayed the International News Service comic strip characters, "Mutt and Jeff". By the end of 1926, they were well known throughout California as Barto and Mann.

Bypassing the lengthy path of seasoning on the vaudeville circuits usually required to “play the Palace” on Broadway (at 47th) in New York, William Morris of the William Morris Agency booked Barto and Mann “cold” into the Palace Theatre for March 14, 1927. Zit's Theatrical Newspaper reported of their performance, “Ten minutes before they went on at the Palace last Monday afternoon nobody thought very much about Barto and Mann; ten minutes after they came off stage, the whole Broadway world was talking about them ... Acts like these only come along once in a while”. They were an immediate sensation. The Keith-Albee Theatre Circuit, the Orpheum Circuit, the Pantages Theatre Circuit, Loew's Inc., all of the picture houses, and several productions made offers. They accepted a contract with the Orpheum Circuit.

Barto and Mann performed in New York, throughout the mid-West, and on the West Coast of the United States and Canada on the Orpheum Circuit until August 1928, when they joined the 7th edition of the Earl Carroll's Vanities in New York, which included W.C. Fields on the bill. After a successful season with Vanities, the duo started touring again in February 1929 and began headlining for Fanchon and Marco's Fantasma Idea in April 1929. They toured Europe in 1931 and 1934, were on the inaugural program of Radio City Music Hall in 1932, and appeared in the 1933 film, Broadway Through a Keyhole.

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