Bert Lahr

Bert Lahr, born Irving Lahrheim (August 13, 1895 – December 4, 1967), was an American iconic actor, particularly of stage and film and comedian. Lahr is principally known for his role as the Cowardly Lion, as well as his counterpart Kansas farmworker Zeke, in The Wizard of Oz (1939). He was well known for his explosive humor, but also adapted well to dramatic roles and his work in burlesque, vaudeville, and on Broadway.

Early life

Lahr was born in New York City, the son of Augusta and Jacob Lahrheim. His parents were German Jewish immigrants. Lahr grew up in the Yorkville section of Manhattan. Dropping out of school at 15 to join a juvenile vaudeville act, Lahr worked up to top billing on the Columbia Burlesque Circuit. In 1927 he debuted on Broadway in Delmar's Revels. He played to packed houses, performing classic routines such as "The Song of the Woodman" (which he reprised in the film Merry-Go-Round of 1938). Lahr had his first major success in a stage musical playing the prize fighter hero of Hold Everything! (1928–29). Other musicals followed, notably Flying High (1930), Florenz Ziegfeld's Hot-Cha! (1932) and The Show is On (1936) in which he co-starred with Beatrice Lillie. In 1939, he co-starred as Louis Blore alongside Ethel Merman in the Broadway production of DuBarry Was a Lady.

The Sound of Laughter

The Sound of Laughter was British comedian Peter Kay's initial volume of autobiography, released on 5 October 2006. The book was a bestseller.

The Sound of Laughter was a success with 278,000 copies sold in its first day (including pre-orders). It went straight in at Number 1 on both the Play.com and Amazon.co.uk book charts and was the Number 1 highest selling autobiography in the UK.

Cover

The cover of the book features Kay's head on Julie Andrews' body from The Sound of Music. The raised effect on the head is supposed to look as if it has been cut out and stuck on, which ties in with the homely feel of the book.

Promotion

Kay has only done one promotional appearance for the book on The Paul O'Grady Show. On the show, Kay came on dressed as a nun, with a mask of his face over his ordinary face - a parody of the cover of the book. In the interview he criticised Billy Connolly's biography, Billy, as well as making numerous jokes about his education by nuns. He said he had many nuns teaching him:

List of The Little Mermaid episodes

Disney's The Little Mermaid is a 1992–1994 American 2D hand-drawn animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation, based on the 1989 Disney film of the same name and following the adventures of Ariel as a mermaid prior to the events of the film. Some of the voice actors of the film reprise their roles in the series, among them Jodi Benson as Ariel, Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian, Kenneth Mars as King Triton and Pat Carroll as Ursula. Other voice actors include Edan Gross and Bradley Pierce as Flounder, and Jeff Bennett as Prince Eric.

Series overview

Episodes

Season One (1992)

Season Two (1993)

Season Three (1994)

References