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Edward M. Favor


Edward Addison Favor (August 29, 1856 – January 10, 1936), who was billed as Edward M. Favor or Ed. M. Favor, was an American vaudeville comedian, singer, musical theatre performer and pioneer recording artist, who was one of the most popular stars of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

He was born in New York City, the son of Franklin Cushman Favor and his wife Lydia, née Lowe. Suggestions that the family name was originally LeFevre have been proved to be incorrect, as the family bible states his last name as Favor.

He began working in vaudeville as a light comedian in about 1876, and in or before 1877 married Edith Sinclair (1857-1942), who had been a successful child actress. Billed as Favor and Sinclair, the couple worked together as a duo and in musical comedies. In 1887 they appeared together as members of the Edith Sinclair Comedy Company in A Box of Cash, in which he played an Irish-American character. Despite the popularity of his Irish character roles, there is no evidence that he had any Irish ancestry. In 1893 he and his wife appeared on Broadway in Edward E. Rice's long-running burlesque 1492 Up To Date.

He made one of his first recordings in 1893, of "The Commodore Song", taken from his previous show, Ship Ahoy. Among his other early successes were "Say Au Revoir, But Not Goodbye" (North American, 1894), "Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)" (Edison, 1894), and "My Best Girl's A New Yorker" (Columbia, 1895). By the late 1890s, Favor had recorded for most of the major recording companies, in between his vaudeville commitments. In 1899, he was one of the first to record on the Zonophone label, and in 1900 recorded for the first time for Eldridge R. Johnson's "Improved" record label, later to become Victor Records the next year. He continued to appear on stage and, in 1900, was described in Broadway magazine as "one of the best light comedians on the stage" and, with his wife, as "one of the big attractions in vaudeville."


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