Dave Barry

'Dave Barry' (qv) (known initially as Dave Siegel and then changing to 'Dave Barry' (qv) in the early 1940's), began his comedy, acting and voice-over career in the at the age of sixteen. The son of a furniture store owner in Brooklyn, in 1935 he made his debut on the radio talent show "Major 'Edward Bowes' (qv) and the Original Amateur Hour," a radio show that encouraged listeners to vote for their favorite act either by calling the station or sending in a postcard. The act that gained the most votes won the opportunity to go on a road tour with one of Major Bowes' touring "units," making $50 weekly plus meals.'Dave Barry' (qv) played his first professional comedy gig at New York's old Palace Theater in April of 1935. From there he cut his comedic chops touring with a Major Bowes vaudeville unit for six years, handling emcee chores and handled a featured comedy slot. Stints and constant work followed during which he was featured nationwide on vaudeville tours with 'Glen Gray' (qv), 'Jimmy Dorsey' (qv), and 'Charlie Barnet' (qv). It was around this same time that in September 1935 when a group from Hoboken, NJ called "The 3 Flashes" also decided to audition for the Major Bowes Amateur Hour, with an unknown singer by the name of 'Frank Sinatra' (qv). Sinatra and his band-mates began touring with Barry, doing 35 shows a week in 39 states. 'Dave Barry' (qv) was given a headline spot by Major Bowes in unit #1, opening in Houston, Texas and learning the showbiz ropes. It was on the road that he met a singer named Ginny Wayne (Ginger Seiden), who he married on the road in 1940.Barry built up a reputation as a dependable stand-up comedian and impersonator, entertaining troops during his military service in World War II at Camp Roberts (CA) and on radio (Command Performance). Attached to the army's Special Services Unit he spent the war doing what he did best - entertaining servicemen and women at home and overseas with luminaries such as 'Red Skelton' (qv), 'Eddie Cantor' (qv), 'Mary Pickford' (qv), 'Jimmy Durante' (qv), 'Frank Sinatra' (qv) and 'Bob Hope' (qv). Following discharge from the army as a sergeant in 1942, 'Dave Barry' (qv) came to Hollywood and landed at Billy Gray's band box, a small intimate and popular bistro. His drawl humor and smart impersonations scored immediately with the bandbox crowd, and he was held over for months. It was here that his work attracted the attention of local radio and film execs, bringing the lad plenty of radio appearances and finally a permanent birth on the 'Jimmy Durante' (qv) show.'Jimmy Durante' (qv) became a mentor, bringing Barry under his wings for his 1947-1948 radio broadcasts, with Barry regularly appearing in cameos as the underwater speaking "Mr Ripple," the Commissioner of Waterways. On many episodes, 'Dave Barry' (qv)'s six year old son Alan Barry would chime in as his youthful cherub "Trickle." Guest stars on Durante's popular show included 'Bob Hope' (qv), 'Van Johnson' (qv), 'Rose Marie' (qv), and 'Frank Morgan' (qv).Since Barry excelled at mimicry and mastered a variety of accents/dialects and wacky sound effects, he was sought after as a voice actor for animation in the late 1930's by Fleischer Studios/Famous Studios, Disney, Columbia pictures, and Warner Brothers as animation was coming of age. His in-demand talent was uncannily impersonating distinctive celebrities of the period including 'Groucho Marx' (qv), 'Humphrey Bogart' (qv), 'Cary Grant' (qv), 'James Cagney' (qv) and 'Clark Gable' (qv)), which he did with gusto in countless Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. Barry also provided the voice for Popeye's nemesis, Bluto, in a series short features between 1942 and 1944. He also voiced Elmer Fuddstone in _Pre-Hysterical Hare (1958)_ (qv), standing in for 'Arthur Q. Bryan' (qv) because he was ill at the time and couldn't voice him. For Looney Tunes, 'Dave Barry' (qv) is best known for numerous cameo appearances of 'Humphrey Bogart' (qv) and other classic celebrities in cartoons such as "_Bacall to Arms (1946)_ (qv)," "_8 Ball Bunny (1950)_ (qv)" and the star studded "_Hollywood Steps Out (1941)_ (qv)." He also voiced many nameless background characters.He was also heard in 'Roger Corman' (qv) film "_The Raven (1963)_ (qv)," making sounds for the title character and dubbing voices for 'Peter Lorre' (qv) and 'Vincent Price' (qv). Barry also did a series of famous voices for the famous "'Marilyn Monroe' (qv) Is Getting Married" radio episode on the Edgar Bergen show, aired October 26th 1952 with 'Marilyn Monroe' (qv) and his Bergen's ventriloquist dummy Charlie McCarthy.Barry's work in Las Vegas started in 1945, just as Vegas was becoming a magnet for entertainment. He became something of a fixture in Vegas for over 4 decades starting at the newly opened El Rancho and Dessert Inn Hotels around 1945. In these earliest days of Vegas before the strip, Barry performed with singers 'Marilyn Maxwell' (qv), 'Sunny Skylar' (qv), 'Betty Grable' (qv), 'Anna Maria Alberghetti' (qv), 'Peggy Lee' (qv) and 'Jane Powell' (qv). Later he performed his impressions and fast-paced gags at the El Cortez, which was rechristened as the Flamingo Hotel, owned by the infamous 'Bugsy Siegel' (qv) (no relation to Barry). While at The Flamingo Barry performed comedy with soprano singer 'Tony Martin' (qv) and headliner 'Rose Marie' (qv), who had worked often with Barry on the 'Jimmy Durante' (qv) radio show in the late 1940's.Voice-over work, inevitably, came second to his growing vocation as a busy Vegas comedian and entertainer of stage and screen. In the early 1950's Barry pivoted from stage and radio to the new medium of Television and garnered appearances during TV's golden age including _The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950)_ (qv), _The Jackie Gleason Show (1952)_ (qv), _Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall (1948)_ (qv) and appearing eight separate times on _The Ed Sullivan Show (1948)_ (qv) - including the third highly anticipated USA appearance by The Beatles in February 1964 in a prerecorded segment. He appeared in 1952 with 'Eddie Cantor' (qv) in "_The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950)_ (qv)" where he did a Maxie The Taxi skit with the immensely popular Cantor. From there he appeared as himself in numerous shows including "_All Star Revue (1950)_ (qv)," "_The Jackie Gleason Show (1952)_ (qv) and "_Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall (1948)_ (qv)."As Barry's reputation and confidence grew, he was offered film roles staring in the late 1940's. His first cameo role in 1949 was as the smartly dressed but odd voiced interior decorator "Mr. Ripple" on 'Marilyn Monroe' (qv)'s third feature film, _Ladies of the Chorus (1948)_ (qv) using his distinctive gurgle gag that he had been using on Durante's radio show. Other movies followed, including _Playgirl (1954)_ (qv) with 'Shelley Winters' (qv) where Barry played the sneezing Photographer Jonathan Hughes. In 1995 Barry took on hilarious role of pianist Señor Palumbo in the Bowery Boys _High Society (1955)_ (qv) in 1955. For this role Barry played a cross-eyed candelabra impression of 'Liberace' (qv), which he had been using already to great effect on stage. 'Dave Barry' (qv)'s most memorable movie role came in 1959 with Billy Wilder's classic comedy _Some Like It Hot (1959)_ (qv) where he played "Bienstock," the manager of the all-girl band with 'Marilyn Monroe' (qv), 'Tony Curtis' (qv), and 'Jack Lemmon' (qv). Barry also made an appearance with the legendary 'Elvis Presley' (qv) as his manager Harry in _Spinout (1966)_ (qv)."I'm the kind of comic who fits here," he told The New York Times about his decades in Vegas. "My jokes are short and punchy. I give the audience no time to think. They've been saturated with free drinks in the casino - to give them cerebral comedy would be deadly. I think the people from Keokuk Iowa want to hear something they don't hear there--something a little risque, a little salty but not too much."In 1966 Barry became the headliner for the Desert Inn's 'Donn Arden' (qv) musical revue "Hello America." Highlights of the lavish Vegas production included the sinking of the Titanic, a recreation of the San Francisco earthquake, and a mid-air butterfly ballet. At the time, one of the newly hired showgirls was a young unknown actress by the name of 'Goldie Hawn' (qv), who was apparently fired by Arden after only 3 weeks on the show. When "Hello America" closed at the Crystal Room in March of 1967, it had entertained over a million people.For nearly a decade in Vegas, 'Dave Barry' (qv) provided opening act laughs for legendary "Midnight Idol" 'Wayne Newton' (qv) working in the early 1970's at all of the Howard Hughes owned hotels including The Sands, The Desert Inn and The Frontier. He was also a longtime member of the Friars Club in Beverly Hills, and had personally roasted longtime friends like 'Phyllis Diller' (qv), 'Arnold Schwarzenegger' (qv) and the Los Angeles Raiders football team. Barry continued to do stand-up well into the 1990's, plying his craft in Las Vegas, on cruise ships and with The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies in California.::Brett Barry and I.S.Mowis