Lou Holtz (actor)

Lou Holtz (April 11, 1893 – September 22, 1980, Beverly Hills, California) was an American vaudevillian, comic actor, and theatrical producer.

He was discovered by vaudevillian Elsie Janis in San Francisco while still in his teens, and came to New York. He appeared in his first Broadway show in 1913, World of Pleasure. He appeared on Broadway in other shows with small parts, then became a star in George White's Scandals of 1919. He reappeared in the Scandals in 1920 and 1921. Holtz became a close good friend of George Gershwin while appearing in the Scandals, which Gershwin wrote the music for. Gershwin later wrote a musical for Holtz in 1925, Tell Me More, which was not received favorably and was short-lived on Broadway.

Several years later, Holtz had a big hit on Broadway in 1931 when he hired his pianist to write a show for him. The pianist, Harold Arlen, would go on to write the music for The Wizard of Oz in 1939. Holtz produced You Said It. In the 1920s, Holtz became the highest paid entertainer on Broadway, with articles touting his salary as an unheard of $6,000 per week. Unfortunately for Holtz, all of that money was invested in the stock market. He later told friends that he came out of the 1929 crash with $500, while he had been worth more than a million dollars the year before.

In the 1920s, Holtz' career alternated between musical comedies and vaudeville shows where he was the headliner. He reached one of his career milestones in 1925 when he played the Palace Theater as the headliner. The Palace was the most prestigious theatre in the country, and Holtz broke all records there by playing for 10 weeks. In 1931-1932, Holtz repeated this feat at the Palace a second time. He also starred in and produced a similar show at the competing Hollywood Theater that even outgrossed the Palace Show. In vaudeville shows and radio, Holtz' comedy was based in telling long, character stories, usually with at least one character having a strong Jewish dialect. His most famous character, Sam Lapidus, stayed with Holtz for his entire career, including Holtz' guest stints on the Merv Griffin Show in the 1970s.

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