Bert Lahr

Bert Lahr (1895 – 1967)

Biography and Movie Career

Bert Lahr: A Life in Laughter and Legacy

Bert Lahr, best remembered by generations as the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz, was far more than a single iconic role. He was a vaudeville veteran, Broadway headliner, and a complex man whose life blended comedy and quiet intensity. Born into modest beginnings, Lahr became one of the most memorable comic actors of the 20th century—an artist who brought dignity to the absurd and heart to the ridiculous.

Early Years and Background

Bert Lahr was born Irving Lahrheim on August 13, 1895, in the Yorkville section of Manhattan, New York City, to German-Jewish immigrant parents, Augusta and Jacob Lahrheim. His father was a tailor, and his mother managed the household. Irving grew up in a working-class neighborhood where Yiddish was commonly spoken, and humor was often a tool for survival and community bonding.

School did not appeal to him, and he dropped out in the eighth grade to help support his family. But more than economic necessity, it was the world of entertainment that called to him. By the time he was a teenager, he had joined a vaudeville act, first as a boy soprano, and later developing a knack for comedy and impersonation. He soon began performing in burlesque houses, where he cultivated his wild facial expressions, high-energy antics, and exaggerated voice.

Path Toward Stardom

Lahr’s ascent through the ranks of American entertainment was not immediate, but it was steady. He started on the burlesque circuit, moving to vaudeville, and eventually caught the attention of Broadway producers in the 1920s. By the time he starred in “Hold Everything!” in 1928, Lahr had developed a distinctive persona: an expressive clown with a nervous energy and a raspy, neurotic delivery.

The 1930s solidified his status as a leading comic actor on the Broadway stage, with a series of successful musical comedies, including Flying High (1930), Life Begins at 8:40 (1934), and The Show Is On (1936), where he performed alongside such legends as Beatrice Lillie and Ethel Merman.

Lahr’s work stood out not just for its broad comedy, but for its pathos—there was often something slightly tragic behind his humor, a quality that gave depth to his performances.

Hollywood and The Wizard of Oz

In 1939, Bert Lahr reached a cultural zenith when he was cast as the Cowardly Lion in MGM’s The Wizard of Oz. The film was not an immediate hit upon its release, but Lahr’s performance became legendary over time. His lion was comic and vulnerable, bombastic and timid—a living contradiction that children and adults alike found both hilarious and strangely moving.

Filming was grueling. The lion costume, made from real lion pelts, weighed nearly 100 pounds and was stifling under the hot studio lights. Lahr reportedly sweated so much that the costume had to be dried nightly. But despite the discomfort, he delivered one of the most enduring performances in movie history.

Although The Wizard of Oz was the highlight of his film career, Lahr never fully transitioned into Hollywood stardom. He preferred the immediacy and energy of the theater, where he could play to a live audience.

Later Work and Expanding Horizons

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Lahr returned to his roots: Broadway and television. He became a fixture on early television variety shows, and continued to act on stage. One of the most surprising and rewarding chapters of his later career came in 1956 when he starred as Estragon in the American premiere of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. Directed by Herbert Berghof, the production was initially greeted with confusion, but critics were unanimous in praising Lahr’s tragicomic portrayal. The performance revealed his depth and versatility, earning him renewed respect in artistic circles.

Lahr also appeared in Burlesque (1946), Hotel Paradiso (1957), and starred in a 1964 Broadway revival of Foxy, for which he won a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical.

Personal Life and Character

In 1929, Lahr married Mercedes Delpino, a former Ziegfeld Follies dancer. The marriage endured until his death, despite personal struggles. Mercedes suffered from mental health issues later in life, spending periods of time in institutions. Through it all, Lahr remained devoted to her.

The couple had two children: a daughter, Jane, and a son, John Lahr, who would go on to become a renowned drama critic and biographer, writing a revealing and compassionate memoir of his father, Notes on a Cowardly Lion (1969).

Lahr was known to be intensely private, even shy offstage. He had a serious, reflective side that often surprised those who only knew him from his exuberant performances. He was also an avid reader and loved to talk about philosophy, history, and literature. His passion for acting was matched by a commitment to craft, not fame.

Death and Legacy

While filming The Night They Raided Minsky’s in 1967, Lahr collapsed on set. He died on December 4, 1967, in New York City, from pneumonia resulting from cancer-related complications (undisclosed to the public at the time). He was 72 years old.

He is buried at Union Field Cemetery in Queens, New York, a resting place for many members of the New York Jewish community.

Final Thoughts

Bert Lahr’s career spanned the evolution of American entertainment—from vaudeville stages to Technicolor dreams. Though immortalized as the Cowardly Lion, his talent reached far beyond Oz. He was a comic master, a skilled actor, and a man whose own insecurities gave richness to the characters he played. In many ways, Bert Lahr’s gift was his ability to reveal the tenderness in comedy and the sadness in laughter—a performer who reminded us that behind every clown is a deeply human heart.

Physical Characteristics

• Height: Approximately 5 feet 9 inches (175 cm)
• Weight: Varied, but generally estimated around 160–170 lbs (73–77 kg) during his adult career
• Build: Average, slightly stocky; his stage presence often made him appear larger than life due to exaggerated movement and costume
• Hair: Brown (later gray)
• Eyes: Brown
• Face: Very expressive, with a broad forehead, droopy cheeks, and a wide, malleable mouth—ideal for physical comedy
• Voice: Raspy, nasal, and highly animated; a defining element of his performances

 

Net Worth Bert Lahr

Likely between $500,000 and $1 million (equivalent to about $4–8 million today, adjusted for inflation)

What Contributed to His Wealth:

• Broadway success: Lahr was a top-billed performer in the 1930s–1960s and earned well from long-running shows like Flying High and Foxy.
• Film work: His role in The Wizard of Oz paid well for the time (about $2,500 per week), but like most actors of the studio era, he didn’t earn residuals.
• Television appearances: He worked consistently in early TV variety shows and commercials in the 1950s–60s.
• Stage revivals and tours provided steady income later in life.

 

Despite consistent work, Lahr was not a high-living celebrity, and much of his earnings likely went toward family support, including his wife’s long-term medical care.

Commercial with Bert Lahr

 

Bert Lahr’s Acting Style: The Poetry of Panic and Clowning

Bert Lahr’s acting was a fusion of vaudeville exuberance, physical dexterity, neurotic charm, and genuine emotional vulnerability. His style cannot be confined to a single school or tradition—it was a personalized blend, forged in the raucous fires of burlesque and refined on the Broadway stage. His performances were not just comic acts; they were tightrope walks between hilarity and heartbreak.

Physicality as Language

At the core of Lahr’s acting was his remarkable control over his body. He could contort his face with cartoon-like elasticity, producing fear, frustration, or befuddlement in a blink. His hands flailed, his shoulders slumped, his knees buckled—every part of him could be recruited into the service of a gag or an emotion.

He was a master of kinetic comedy, but unlike silent film comedians such as Chaplin or Keaton, Lahr's movement was more chaotic, almost deliberately clumsy. He exaggerated motion until it became absurd, and then humanized it with a flicker of sincerity. He didn’t move with grace—he moved with panic, as if the world was collapsing just out of frame.

The Voice: A Nervous Instrument

Lahr’s distinctive voice—raspy, wavering, pitched high in moments of crisis—was central to his comic signature. He could shift from grumbling mutters to full-throated howls in a matter of seconds. His delivery was rapid, nervous, and layered with a kind of Yiddish-inflected urban rhythm, which added authenticity and humor to even the simplest lines.

He often stammered or repeated himself, not from forgetfulness, but to underline a character’s confusion or anxiety. This gave his performances an improvisational texture, even when heavily scripted.

Character Type: The Coward, the Clown, the Worry-Wart

Lahr specialized in characters who were big talkers and soft hearts—cowards who wished they were brave, fools who wished they were wise. His archetype was not the scheming clown or the wisecracker; he played the man at the mercy of his environment, the one always three seconds from collapse.

In The Wizard of Oz, for example, his Cowardly Lion wasn’t just funny because he was afraid; he was funny because he desperately wanted not to be. This inner conflict—the tug-of-war between boldness and fear—was a core theme in Lahr’s work. It created sympathy beneath the slapstick.

Vaudeville Timing and Burlesque Technique

Lahr’s sense of comic timing was peerless. He knew exactly how long to hold a face, when to wait for a laugh, when to interrupt himself, when to break rhythm. Much of this came from his early years in burlesque and vaudeville, where actors had to earn every laugh in front of often hostile, unpredictable audiences.

He brought those rhythms to the stage and screen, which sometimes clashed with Hollywood’s more restrained style. Directors didn’t always know how to use him, especially in film, where his stage-sized expressiveness could seem too large for the frame. Yet when given the right role—like in The Wizard of Oz or Waiting for Godot—he could strike the perfect balance.

Pathos Beneath the Performance

What made Lahr more than a comic was his capacity to project pathos. Even in his wildest performances, there was a sense that his characters were deeply human—yearning, confused, insecure. In Waiting for Godot, his Estragon was a small man adrift in an uncaring world, finding solace in absurdity. The performance was haunting because he didn’t reach for tragedy—it found him anyway.

Lahr understood that the clown, at his best, is a mirror of human fragility. His comedy was never smug or mean-spirited. It was about survival, about finding laughter at the edge of despair.

Legacy of Style

Bert Lahr was a transitional figure, bridging old-world showmanship with modern stagecraft. His influence can be felt in later comic performers who blend theatrical energy with emotional vulnerability—Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, and even Jim Carrey owe something to Lahr’s ability to swing from mania to tenderness within a single beat.

His style was not polished—it was alive. He wasn’t trying to be perfect; he was trying to be real through exaggeration, human through chaos. In that way, Bert Lahr didn’t just perform comedy. He embodied the human condition, one pratfall at a time.

Movie Quotes from Bert Lahr

From The Wizard of Oz (1939) – as the Cowardly Lion:

• "Put 'em up, put 'em up!"
  Bluffing a fight, he boxes the air with comic bravado before quickly retreating.
• "I do believe in spooks! I do believe in spooks!"
  Chanted in fear while trembling in the Wicked Witch’s castle.
• "If I were king of the fore-e-e-est..."
  Delivered in a mock-heroic musical number, full of bombast and insecurity.
• "What makes a king out of a slave? Courage!"
  A comic monologue on what it takes to be brave—both funny and oddly touching.
• "Read what my medal says: 'Courage.'"
  When the Wizard awards him a medal to affirm what he already possessed.

 

Personal Quotes by Bert Lahr

·  A clown is a person who is too unhappy to stay unhappy.”
A quiet and poignant insight into the paradox of the comic performer.

·  “The truth is, I’m not funny. What I am is brave.”
A reflection on the vulnerability of performing comedy.

·  “Vaudeville was school. If they didn’t laugh, you were out.”
On the tough and immediate lessons of early performance life.

·  "You don’t need a punchline if you’ve got a look."
Reflecting his belief in the power of physical comedy and expressive acting.

Awards and Recognition

Tony Award

• 1964 – Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical
  • Production: Foxy
  • Role: The title character in this musical adaptation of Volpone
  • This was Lahr’s most prestigious theatrical honor. He was praised for his comic precision and command of the stage in a role that combined humor and sly intelligence.

 

Primetime Emmy Nomination

• 1956 – Emmy Award Nominee
  • Category: Best Performance by an Actor
  • Production: The Second Greatest Sex (TV version) – though not widely remembered, this performance was among the early TV roles that brought Lahr’s stage skills to the screen.

 

Hollywood Walk of Fame

• Star awarded:
  • Category: Motion Pictures
  • Location: 6435 Hollywood Boulevard
  • Bert Lahr was honored with a star for his contributions to motion pictures, most notably his iconic performance in The Wizard of Oz.

 

Critical Acclaim for Waiting for Godot

• In 1956, Lahr starred as Estragon in the American premiere of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot.
  • Though audiences were initially puzzled, critics hailed Lahr’s performance as revelatory, showing that his comic persona could carry existential weight.
  • This role earned him serious attention in avant-garde and intellectual theater circles, marking a shift in his career from comic relief to respected actor.

 

Posthumous Praise and Legacy

• "Notes on a Cowardly Lion" (1969)
  • A memoir written by his son, John Lahr, provided one of the most intimate and literary assessments of Bert Lahr’s life and impact.
  • The book is regarded as a classic of theater biography, elevating Lahr’s legacy beyond mere nostalgia.

 

Enduring Legacy Through The Wizard of Oz

Though The Wizard of Oz did not win major acting awards for its cast in 1939, Bert Lahr’s portrayal of the Cowardly Lion has been universally recognized as:

• One of the greatest comic performances in cinema history
• A key part of the film’s induction into the National Film Registry (1989)
• A symbol of vulnerability and heart in popular culture

 

His performance was included in numerous retrospectives and rankings of the most memorable film characters of all time.

Institutions and Retrospectives

• Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and Library of Congress have included Lahr’s work in exhibitions and film preservation efforts.
• Turner Classic Movies (TCM) regularly features his films and interviews in programming blocks highlighting vaudeville and Broadway crossovers.

Bert Lahr Movies

1929

• Faint Heart (short) – Lahr stars as Rudolf in this comedic short about a timid character facing an absurd challenge early in his career.

 

1931

• Flying High – Lahr reprises his Broadway role as inventor Emil “Rusty” Krouse. The plot follows him and a waitress entering an Air Show with a homemade aircraft, navigating romantic and financial hurdles to win prize money.

 

1933

• Mr. Broadway – A comedy where Lahr plays himself, navigating life as a celebrity around Times Square theaters.
• Hizzoner (short) – Lahr portrays a cop in this two-reel comedy.

 

1934

• Henry the Ache (short) – A burlesque spoof on The Private Life of Henry VIII, with Lahr as the king in a playful take on royal excess.
• No More West (short) – Western-themed comedic short featuring “Gunpowder Bert.”

 

1935

• A Midsummer Night’s Dream – A film adaptation of Shakespeare’s play; details on Lahr’s role are limited, but his involvement reflects his early dramatic work.

 

1936

• Gold Bricks (short) – A one-reel comedy starring Lahr as himself.
• Boy, Oh Boy (short) – Lahr appears as a butler in this comedy short.
• Whose Baby Are You? (short) – He features as Bert Halibut in this comedic two‑reeler.

 

1937

• Off the Horses (short) – Lahr plays Chester Twitt in another comedic short.
• Montague the Magnificent (short) – He performs dual roles as Egbert Bunting and Roland Montague.
• Merry‑Go‑Round of 1938 – A comedy revue where Lahr plays himself amid variety acts caring for a young girl; the film aimed to replicate Broadway style but didn’t succeed commercially.
• Love and Hisses – Lahr is Sugar Boles in this musical comedy featuring standard romantic entanglements.

 

1938

• Josette – Lahr portrays Barney Barnaby in this musical romantic comedy.
• Just Around the Corner – He plays Gus in this drama/comedy about aspiration during the Great Depression.

 

1939

• Zaza – Lahr appears as Cascart in this romantic drama starring Claudette Colbert.
• The Wizard of Oz – His most iconic role, playing both Zeke (the Kansas counterpart) and the Cowardly Lion. The film follows Dorothy’s journey through Oz, with Lahr’s lion delivering classic numbers and heartfelt cowardice.

 

1942

• Sing Your Worries Away – Lahr plays Clarence “Chow” Brewster in this musical comedy centered around Hollywood antics.
• Ship Ahoy – He portrays “Skip” Owens in this musical featuring a comedic twist aboard an ocean liner.

 

1944

• Meet the People – Lahr is The Commander in this musical comedy about a WWII-era radio show and American life.

 

1949

• Always Leave Them Laughing – Lahr stars as Eddie Eagen in this musical film about an entertainer balancing work and love.

 

1951

• Mister Universe – He plays Joe Pulaski in this light comedy about a man embroiled in beauty contests and showbiz.

 

1954

• Rose Marie – Lahr portrays Barney McCorkle in this musical Western romance set in the Canadian Rockies.
• Anything Goes – He appears as “Moonface” Martin, the comical gangster in this musical adaptation of the Gershwin classic.

 

1955

• The Second Greatest Sex – Lahr plays Job McClure in this gender-reversal comedy set in the Old West.

 

1968 (posthumous release)

• The Night They Raided Minsky’s – Released after his death, Lahr features as Professor Spats in this musical comedy set in 1920s burlesque theater.

 

Bert Lahr TV Shows

1954

• Let's Face It (NBC, live musical)
  • He starred in this live Cole Porter musical adaptation, showcasing his comic singing and theatrical prowess

 

1955

• The Second Greatest Sex (Omnibus / anthology adaptation)
  • Lahr played Job McClure in this TV version of a gender-reversal comedy set in the Old West

 

1956

• Omnibus (4 episodes)
  • Featured in diverse dramatic and comedic adaptations, including classical works like Androcles and the Lion and The School for Wives, displaying his range
• Washington Square (NBC musical-comedy series)
  • Guest-starred alongside Ray Bolger in this variety-format show set in Greenwich Village
• What’s My Line?
  • Appeared as a celebrity mystery guest on the popular panel game show

 

1957

• The Steve Allen Show
  • Made a comedic guest appearance on the popular variety talk show .

 

1959

• General Electric Theater (“Barnaby” episode)
  • Lahr had a dramatic turn as Mr. O’Malley in this anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan

 

1960

• A Tale of Old Whiff (short cartoon)
  • Lent his voice to an experimental olfactory “Smell-O-Vision” film produced by Mike Todd

 

1963

• The Eleventh Hour (“Is Mr. Martian Coming Back”)
  • Played Go‑Go Garrity in this NBC medical drama—one of his few dramatic television roles
• The Merv Griffin Show
  • Appeared as a humorous guest on this late-night talk show

 

1964

• Hallmark Hall of Fame (The Fantasticks)
  • Starred as Ben Hucklebee in this televised version of the long-running off-Broadway musical
• The Big Parade of Comedy (archival footage)
  • Featured segments of Lahr’s classic comic performances

 

1965

• Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
  • Guest-starred in an episode of this anthology drama series
• The Hollywood Palace
  • Made a comedy guest appearance on this variety series hosted by Jerry Lewis

 

1966

• Summer Fun (TV special)
  • Appeared in this entertainment special featuring summer-themed acts

 

1966–1967

• Thompson’s Ghost (1966 pilot/movie)
  • Starred as Henry Thompson in this comedy‑fantasy pilot about a ghost disrupting family life

 

1968 (posthumous airing)

• The Night They Raided Minsky’s (TV cut)
  • Featured posthumously in the TV edit of his final film role as Professor Spats