Lew Brice (October 26, 1893 – June 16, 1966) was an American actor, dancer and comedian.
Biography
editHe was born Louis Borach on October 26, 1893, in Manhattan, New York City, the brother of Fannie Brice. He was the youngest of four children born to Rose Stern, a Hungarian Jewish woman who emigrated to America at age ten; and Alsatian immigrant Charles Borach. Charles and Rose were saloon owners and had four children, Philip (born 1887), Carrie (born 1889), Fania, and Louis.[1][2]
Brice married actress Mae Clarke on February 26, 1928; the union ended in divorce in 1930.[3] The Public Enemy, released in 1931, would contain one of cinema's more famous (and frequently parodied) scenes, in which James Cagney pushes a half grapefruit into Clarke's face, then goes out to pick up Jean Harlow.[4]
The film was so popular that it ran 24 hours per day at a movie theatre in Times Square upon its initial release; four months after the premiere, The Hollywood Reporter informed readers that Brice claimed to have seen the film more than 20 times (and at least twice per week) and that Brice "says he goes to see the scene wherein Mae Clarke gets hit in the eye with a grapefruit—and that it's a plazure!"[5][a]
He died June 16, 1966, in Hollywood, California, aged 72.
Stage performances
editFilm
edit- The Income Tax Collector (1923)[14]
- Partners Again (1926) Pazinsky[15]
- Lew Tyler's Wives (1926) Buzzy Mandelbush[15]
- Happy Days (1929) Minstrel Show Performer[15]
- The Window Cleaners (1930), one-reel Vitaphone comedy short featuring the song of the same name, adapted from their vaudeville routine[16]
- Two Seconds (1932) uncredited reporter[15]
External links
edit- Lew Brice at the Internet Broadway Database
- Lew Brice at IMDb
Notes
edit- ^ In an article published in Variety more than two years after the film's release, Brice's total number of claimed viewings had somehow dwindled to eight.[6] In James Cagney's 1976 autobiography, he claims that Clarke's disgruntled ex—mistakenly dubbed Monte Brice—soon had the grapefruit scene timed so as to arrive shortly beforehand and depart immediately thereafter.[7]
References
edit- ^ Goldman, Herbert G. (1992). Fanny Brice. Oxford University Press. pp. 7–10. ISBN 978-0-19-535901-5.
- ^ "Fanny Brice Dies at the Age of 59". New York Times. May 30, 1951. Retrieved 2014-10-26.
- ^ Clarke, Mae (January 1, 1996). Featured Player: An Oral Autobiography of Mae Clarke. Scarecrow Press, Incorporated. pp. 30–40. ISBN 978-0-8108-3044-8.
- ^ Clarke 1996, p. back cover.
- ^ "Chivalry". The Hollywood Reporter. August 26, 1931. p. 1. ProQuest 2297350426.
- ^ "Proxy Revenge". Variety. May 23, 1933. p. 7. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
- ^ Cagney 1976, p. 45.
- ^ "The Passing Show of 1913". IBDB. The Broadway League. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
- ^ "The Passing Show of 1914". IBDB. The Broadway League. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
- ^ "Maid in America". IBDB. The Broadway League. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
- ^ "Step This Way". IBDB. The Broadway League. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
- ^ "Americana". IBDB. The Broadway League. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
- ^ "Billy Rose's Crazy Quilt". IBDB. The Broadway League. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
- ^ Balducci, Anthony (17 July 2009). Lloyd Hamilton: Poor Boy Comedian of Silent Cinema. McFarland. p. 241. ISBN 978-0-7864-4159-4.
- ^ a b c d "Lew Brice". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
- ^ https://books.google.com/books?id=cbfwCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA432&dq=the+window+cleaners+1930&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj-4ejkyeqIAxU_TDABHeejDsAQ6AF6BAgEEAM
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