Robert North
| Robert North | |
|---|---|
Bobby North in 1908 from the sheet music for "He'd Have to Get Under – Get Out and Get Under (to Fix Up His Automobile)"
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| Born |
2 February 1884 New York City, USA |
| Died | 13 August 1976 (aged 92) Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Comedian, film producer |
Robert North (or Bobby North; February 2, 1884 – August 13, 1976) was an American vaudeville performer who became a success as a stand-up comedian. Later he became a prolific motion picture producer.
Bobby North was born in New York City. He joined a vaudeville company at the age of twelve as a boy balcony singer. As North explained, "... there was a vogue of a soubrette, as we called her, singing on the stage, and a kid would get up from the gallery and sing the chorus. The Gallery Gods, of course, thought he was one of them and applauded loudly. I was the kid in the gallery. I had the voice and I could sing." North traveled around the USA with the company playing in small town opera houses or theaters for one- or two-night stands. He developed a song and dance act.
In January 1909 North performed as a "Hebrew impersonator" at the Colonial Theatre in New York. In this act he told humorous stories with a Jewish accent and sang parodies of popular songs. He would continue to perform this act between other roles. These include a part in 1909 in the Emmerich Kálmán operetta The Gay Hussars, and a straight role in 1910 in the play Just a Wife.
North was a star of the Ziegfeld Follies of 1910. In one number he acted as a Jew in love with an Irish girl, and sang My Yiddisha Colleen to Shirley Kellogg. The song illustrates the common stereotypes and ethnic humor of the period, with verses like "I'll jig and Irish reel each morning, if you'll dance Kazotski ev'ry dawn ... And I'll even kiss the Blarney stone, if you'll change your name to Maggie Cohn." North closed the second act of the Follies of 1910 with a solo performance of the Gus Edwards song The Waltzing Lieutenant.Variety editor Sime Silverman praised North's performance. The 1910 Ziegfeld Follies played in over twenty theaters in major cities around the country, including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, Des Moines, Kansas City and San Francisco, where Bobby North was the local favorite. The company of over one hundred traveled in style in a special train, and stayed at the best hotels.
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