George Mann (vaudeville performer)

George Kline Mann
Self-portrait, circa 1940
Born	George Kline Mann December 2, 1905 (1905-12-02) Hollywood, California, U.S.
Died	23 November 1977(1977-11-23) (aged 71) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Occupation	Vaudevillian and Photographer

George Kline Mann (December 2, 1905 – November 23, 1977) was best known as the taller half of the comedic and acrobatic dance act, Barto and Mann.

Mann was born in Hollywood, California. His father, Mack Andrew Mann, moved to California from Cassopolis, Michigan in the late 1800s and worked as a construction superintendent of railroad bridges. His mother, Jean Kline Mann, was also from Cassopolis. Mack and Jean met and married in Los Angeles, California.

George Mann grew up in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles, moving to Santa Monica as a teenager with his parents. George was listed as the "Snaps Editor" as well as being responsible for all of the photography in the Athletic section of the Venice Union Polytechnic High High School 1925 Annual, The Gondolier. He was Vice President of the Junior A Class that would graduate in June 1926, but didn't graduate with his class. During his junior year, he was vice-president of the drama club and had a leading role in the play, "What Happened to Jones?" with Irene Hervey, then Irene Herwick. He played center on the varsity basketball team and was a member of the swimming team.

George studied dance with Roy Randolph of the Randolph's La Monica Dance School in Santa Monica, California. Shortly after turning 20, he developed a dance act - Mann & Clark - with his high school friend Lester Clark. Signing with the William Meiklejohn Agency, they performed together in Los Angeles for three or four months before George signed on as a single with Fanchon and Marco enterprises. George (6'6") was soon performing for comedic effect with a much shorter (4'11") Dewey Barto (father of the comedian Nancy Walker). Two days after George turned 21, George and Dewey signed a ten-year contract with Fanchon and Marco as the comedy team Barto and Mann.

During 1926, they performed up and down the west coast until William Morris of the William Morris Agency booked them “cold" (having never appeared on the east coast) into the Palace Theatre on March 14, 1927 during its celebration of vaudeville's 100th anniversary. They were a great success. With offers from all the major vaudeville circuits, they chose to sign with the Orpheum Circuit, with whom they toured across the U.S. until they signed with the Earl Carroll's Vanities from August 1928 to February 1929. They continued touring in the U.S. and Canada, with European tours in the summers of 1931 and 1934.