Bert Lahr Grave The Cowardly Lion The Wizard of Oz
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- Опубліковано 16 жов 2024
- Bert Lahr, The Cowardly Lion, one of the many famous graves in New York. Let's step back in time to The Wizard of Oz and pay a visit to the gravesite in Ridgewood, Queens, NYC of the lovable lion from the land of Oz. There is no narration this time as there was previously, this is the unedited visit to his final resting place with a backdrop of soft music laid over the natural sounds of the cemetery.
Irving Lahrheim (August 13, 1895 - December 4, 1967), known professionally as Bert Lahr, was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. He was best known for his role as the Cowardly Lion, as well as his counterpart Kansas farmworker "Zeke", in the MGM adaptation of The Wizard of Oz (1939). He was well known for his quick-witted humor and his work in burlesque, vaudeville, and on Broadway.
Lahr was born as Irving Lahrheim on August 13, 1895, in New York City, the son of Augusta (1871-1932) and Jacob Lahrheim (1870-1947).[1] His parents were German Jewish immigrants. Lahr grew up in the Yorkville section of Upper East Side of Manhattan. Dropping out of school at 15 to join a juvenile vaudeville act, Lahr worked up to top billing working for the Columbia Amusement Company. 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 prizefighter 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.
Lahr made his feature film debut in 1931's Flying High, playing the oddball aviator he had played on stage. He signed with New York-based Educational Pictures for a series of two-reel comedies. When that series ended, he went to Hollywood to work in feature films. Aside from The Wizard of Oz (1939), his movie career was limited. In the 1944 patriotic film Meet the People, Lahr uttered the phrase "Heavens to Murgatroyd!" later popularized by cartoon character Snagglepuss.
Lahr's most famous role was that of the Cowardly Lion in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's 1939 adaptation of The Wizard of Oz. Lahr was signed to play the role on July 25, 1938. Lahr's lion costume was composed of lion fur and, under the high-intensity lighting required for Oz's Technicolor scenes, the costume was unbearably hot. Lahr contributed ad-lib comedic lines for his character. Many of Lahr's scenes took several takes because other cast members, especially Judy Garland, couldn't complete the scenes without laughing. The Cowardly Lion is the only character who sings two solo song numbers-"If I Only Had the Nerve", performed after the initial meeting with Dorothy, The Scarecrow, and The Tin Man in the forest, and "If I Were King of the Forest", performed while he and the others are awaiting their audience with the Wizard.
The Wizard of Oz was Lahr's 17th movie. When warned that Hollywood had a habit of typecasting actors, Lahr replied, "Yeah, but how many parts are there for lions?"
An original Cowardly Lion costume worn by Lahr in The Wizard of Oz is in the holdings of The Comisar Collection, which is also the largest collection of television artifacts and memorabilia in the world.
In June 2013, Lahr's original reading script for The Wizard of Oz, bequeathed to his great-grandson, was appraised with an insurance value of $150,000 on PBS's Antiques Roadshow in an episode filmed in Detroit, Michigan.
Lahr was filming The Night They Raided Minsky's when he died on December 4, 1967, at the age of 72. The official cause of death was listed as pneumonia. Lahr had been hospitalized on November 21 for what was reported as a back ailment. In Notes on a Cowardly Lion: The Biography of Bert Lahr, John Lahr wrote: "Bert Lahr died in the early morning of December 4, 1967. Two weeks before, he had returned home at 2 a.m., chilled and feverish, from the damp studio where The Night They Raided Minsky's was being filmed. Ordinarily, a man of his age and reputation would not have had to perform that late into the night, but he had waived that proviso in his contract because of his trust in the producer and his need to work. The newspapers reported the cause of death as pneumonia; but he succumbed to cancer, a disease he feared but never knew he had."
At the time, most of Lahr's scenes had already been shot. Producer Norman Lear told The New York Times that "through judicious editing, we will be able to shoot the rest of the film so that his wonderful performance will remain intact." The producers used test footage of Lahr, plus an uncredited voice double and a body double, burlesque actor Joey Faye, to complete Lahr's role.
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Very beautiful place sharing thank you so much
Thanks for visiting
So nice of you sharing this to us Sir.. enjoyed this much..
Glad you enjoyed it
very nice sharing. Love to see more of your videos. Huge like from a new friend. Have a nice day friend
Thank you so much 😃
Nice sharing. Big like for you
Big thanks
(This is Tom, not Sandra.)
Thank you for posting Mr. Lahr's gravesite!!!! What a wonderful actor and comedian he was. (He died when l was around 9 years old.) He is surely missed!!! He, as The Cowardly Lion, is my favorite actor/character from that movie, ever!!!! Thank You for posting this wonderful video tribute to this late, great actor!!!! We all miss him and his great body of work!!!! THANK YOU, MR. LAHR!!!!
You are well-loved and admired.
Hi Tom, thanks for watching. This was one of my earlier videos which at the time I didn't have a stabilizer for the camera, hence why the footage is shaky. Now that I have a stabilizer I do plan to go back to the cemetery and make a better film of the grave. My next cemetery trip is going to be paying a visit to the grave of Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson. While they are each buried in separate cemeteries, all of the cemeteries are joined together, so Bert Lahr is buried within easy walking distance of the graves of Harry Houdini and the Jewish mafia figure, Arnold Rothstein (Mr. Big). That's some elite company there, eh?
Always find interesting topics, Bert Lahr the cowardly lion……nice walk through time Richard…….great video!
When I checked the stats on a big compilation video I have, people seem to search for Bert Lahr, so why not delete the narration, trim it down and play a little classical music. The hope being that in the future people will enjoy the video.
A lovely quiet walk and tribute to Lahr. Enjoyed the Beethoven piano accompanying. Very nice.
Just repackaging some old material ;) "Famous graves New York" will be a feature title, I have a few already.
Walking tour on cemetery brother
Nice sunday
Thank you very much
Soo touching sharing… The content in incredible… Wishing you lots of love , happiness and success…
Thank you so much 😊
L8 amazing cementery its clean.
Thanks
I've seen the graveyard of Bert Lahr, who played the cowardly lion in The Wizard of Oz, in a previous video. Have all the main characters in the movie passed away? The two lion dolls on the tombstone are impressive. Listening to the moonlight sonata? as background music makes me solemn and sad. I want to watch the Wizard of Oz again after a long time.
Yes, you are one of the few people who I have been friends with for a long time on UA-cam. I had noticed that people were searching for Bert Lahr on the other video, so I felt like it would make sense to make a separate video out of the footage. Already it is getting UA-cam search hits so I think that it is a wise choice. Plus I expect to visit more individual graves this year.
Hi Richard ! Good one, 🦁 BERT LAHR 🦁 thanks for putting this up 👍. Nice friendly bit of graveyard 🪦. Also, thanks for all the information ℹ️ in the ‘description’. Cheers, Don 👋
This was part of a narrated compilation of graves, but as that video gets many people searching for "Bert Lahr", I decided to use the raw footage and give him his own place on UA-cam :) This Autumn and Winter I hope to visit many individual graves, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Mae West, Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson etc. It will be nice to have a playlist for fans to take a virtual tour of their gravesite. This was a learning curve as well, I know for the future how to film a gravesite moving forward.
The site is kept neat and tidy and the little lions there are a nice unobtrusive addition
Yeah, I wasn't sure if I should even move them. When I moved the one and saw that it was sat in a big hole, I was a bit apprehensive because it had obviously been in the same position for a long time. However, it does also show that someone stopped by and paid their respects! The lions have been there forever, and I am going to guess that a fan put the stickers on the grave because Jewish practice is that it forbids images fashioned in the human form. However, Houdini was Jewish and his grave has a head in his own image on top of it. With that said, technically the head is not on the grave, it is a separate memorial about ten foot away from his grave.
I didn’t know that- yes if it’s not technically connected I suppose it’s allowed. All I remember reading about Houdini was that he vowed to his wife that if possible he would somehow manifest himself to her once he had died but it never happened. Just had the Red Arrows fly directly overhead en route to an air show- that certainly wakes you up- noisy doesn’t’ describe it haha😀
Is this the man from the film the Wizard of Oz. What a great film. Thanks for showing us the grave yard. Great story and have a great weekend my fren Richard.
Yes, that is correct, this is the grave of the actor who played The Cowardly Lion.
Love me a bit Wizard of Oz, the lion was amazing! Nice to come pay my respects...
I have a big gravesite compilation video that I linked on Facebook yesterday, and when I looked at the stats I saw that UA-cam viewers found it by searching for Bert Lahr and Arnold Rothstein, so I figured why not extract those clips, delete the commentary and just set them both to music. Money for old rope as the saying goes :)
Was just talking to a friend the other day about The Wizard of Oz and was wondering about some of the actors...both of use mentioned being partial to the Cowardly Lion, but couldn't think of the actors name. We did Google it...but what a coincidence to have you feature him here. Great share indeed and looks like the area is in great shape. Take good care now...Bruce and Otis
It was really an accident that I discovered Bert's grave. I was doing a story on Houdini, so I searched through the other cemeteries that are attached to the one where Houdini is buried. The area is massive and encompasses many cemeteries. That is when I saw that the next cemetery over on the north east corner was where the cowardly lion was buried. Directly north of Houdini lies the famous Jewish gangster, Arnold Rothstein.
@@richardarthur-nycstories Such a great find!
Beautiful 💪❤️🌹❤️
Thank you!!
I'm touched that a loved one put 2 lion figurines on Lahr's grave. A beautiful remembrance of his past, indeed 'how many parts are there for lions' eh - I'm sure it was a life well-lived with utmost dedication to his craft!
The funny thing is, those lions have been there for years as well. In fact the one that I moved was probably brown at one point but it has faded over the years. Not too sure about the stickers on the grave though, I think that a fan put them there which I think was a bit too much as it defaced the headstone.
Whoa! Such an amazing upload as always, my dear friend. I appreciate your effort you put behind all the videos you have created, and this video is extraordinary! You have really done a good job in all of your videos , they are really superb, keep inspiring 💚 Fully watched!qq
Thank you very much!
Love this video SO much, Richard ! Done with grace & dignity. And the music is so lovely ! I remember going to the drive-in with my family as a teen & seeing Mr Lahr's last film, "The NIght They Raided Minskys". Not a big role but he was outstanding, as usual. It was one of the few American films that British comedic & musical star Norman Wisdom appeared in (though at the time I didn't know who he was). Kudos, as always, Richard ! CHEERS !! :-)
Norman Wisdom, now there is a name from the past!! As a kid I loved Norman Wisdom, I guess because he was so childlike he must have resonated well with kids. He was always on television everywhere you looked. I didn't know whether or not to move the lion, but I felt that he should be upright :)
@@richardarthur-nycstories Thanks for the speedy reply, Richard ! Kind of you to put that lion upright. I'm sure Bert would be grateful for your caring heart & respectful devotion ! Yeah, I've read that Norman Wisdom was a big star in the UK. What a talented chap. Hope all is well with you, Richard, & please keep up the good work !! :-)
Wow, i didnt know he was buried in NY. I thought most stars are usually buried in California. So cool to see that. He was one of my favorite in the movie. LIKE 19. 👍👍👍
Thanks for watching! We have our fair share of celebs buried in New York, especially Queens where I live. Harry Houdini is buried within walking distance of this grave :)
A nice cemetery 👍 Didn’t know the actor, but I have seen the Oz-movie of course 😊
I discovered his grave by accident. I was visiting Houdini's grave and before I left home I searched to see who else was buried nearby, and I couldn't believe that Bert Lahr was buried there as well :) A Jewish lady also reported me to the management 😂 Because I am a heavily tattooed man, clearly I am not Jewish, and as I refused to answer her questions as to why I was in the cemetery, she went and reported me to the office 😁
@@richardarthur-nycstories Really??? So you’re not supposed to be there if you are not Jewish?
God bless you 👍 😔🤲
Thanks
I always wonder if there are ashes under there or a body
I really don't know to be honest with you. Jewish tradition does not allow for cremation, but you never know.
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