Ed Gallagher (actor)

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Edward Francis Gallagher (1873 – March 28, 1929) was a vaudeville actor and half of the comedy act Gallagher and Shean.[3] Their story was told in an animated movie Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean (1931)[4] by Max Fleischer and Dave Fleischer, who also created Koko the Clown and Betty Boop. Gallagher and Shean also reportedly made an early sound film at the Theodore Case studio in Auburn, New York, in 1925.[5]

Ed Gallagher
Born
Edward Francis Gallagher

1873
San Francisco, California, U.S.
DiedMarch 28, 1929 (aged 55-56)
OccupationStage actor
Spouse(s)Helen Gallagher (divorced)
(m. 1923⁠–⁠1924)
[1][2]

Biography

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Gallagher was born in 1873 in San Francisco, California.[6]

For fifteen years, Gallagher partnered with Joe Barrett in a comedy act that was best known for military burlesques, particularly "The Battle of Too Soon."[7] Gallagher subsequently teamed with Al Shean to create the act Gallagher and Shean. While the act was successful, the men apparently did not like each other much.

Gallagher first performed with Shean in 1912 in the operetta The Rose Maid, which ran for 176 performances at the Globe Theatre in New York.[7] The duo broke up in 1914, not performing again until 1920 and then stayed together until 1925.[8] They had a featured part in the 1922 Ziegfeld Follies, earning a salary of US$1500 a week (approximately $27,000 today).

His fourth wife was actress Anne Luther.

He had a nervous breakdown in 1925 and in 1927 was institutionalized at the River Crest Sanitarium in Astoria, New York, where he died on March 28, 1929.[3][9] He was buried in Kensico Cemetery.

Legacy

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Helen Gallagher, his third wife, a former Ziegfeld girl, and Jack Solomon launched what would become Gallagher's Steak House in November 1927. She married Solomon after Gallagher's death.

References

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  1. ^ "EDWARD GALLAGHER WEDS.; Shean Best Man at Partner's Marriage to Ann Luther". The New York Times. December 6, 1923.
  2. ^ "Time". 1924.
  3. ^ a b "Ed Gallagher Dies, Won Fame with Shean". The New York Times. May 29, 1929. Retrieved November 29, 2014. Member of Noted Vaudeville Team Never Recovered From Breakdown Four Years Ago.
  4. ^ Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean at IMDb
  5. ^ "Gallagher and Shean". CBX Media. November 19, 2003. Archived from the original on November 19, 2007. Retrieved February 21, 2008.
  6. ^ The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance uses San Leandro, California
  7. ^ a b Slide, Anthony (2012). The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 204. ISBN 1-61703-250-6
  8. ^ Slide, Anthony (2012). The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville. Univ. Press of Mississippi. pp. 203. ISBN 1-61703-250-6
  9. ^ Slide, Anthony (2012). The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 204–205. ISBN 1-61703-250-6
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