Bert Levy

Bert Levy – Australia's first global Vaudeville star

  • Bert Levy Bio Note #8

    In the mid 1890s Bert is now living in Sydney and starts free lancing with his sketch work. In his bio piece in 1911 from the Lone Hand Theatre Magazine he starts to make enough money to give away the scenic art work. Bert writes……..

    Bert’s break through with the Sydney Bulletin seems to take place in 1897. The Bulletin was possibly the most popular of all illustrated journals and was a strong advocate for Federation and certainly the White Australia Policy. In early January, he is mentioned here in Sydney’s ‘The Australian Workman’ newspaper, possibly owned by the Bulletin owner.

    In case you are wondering what ‘Letterpress’ is – Letterpress printing is a technique of relief printing. Using a printing press, the process allows many copies to be produced by repeated direct impression of an inked, raised surface against sheets or a continuous roll of paper.[1] 

    Bert makes it for a full page of possibly a new theatre production he is working on. Later on, his sketch of Governor Phillip’s statue being erected, sorry executed in the Domain gets the full satirical treatment by either a Bulletin journo or maybe Bert has contributed the tagline ?

  • Bert Levy Bio Note # 7

    In the last Bio note #6, we saw Bert is very happily apprenticed to Scenic artist George Gordon based at the Theatre Royale in Bourke Street. 1893, Gordon gets a commission for the Sydney Lyceum Theatre and it looks like he packs up the whole team for the job. Bert aged 22 gets a guernsey.

    Within 7 months we see the first newspaper clipping on young Bert informing, he is pulling up stumps to live permanently in Sydney. The article below references an exhibition held in Melbourne of 150 of Bert’s items prior to departure to Sydney. A scan of Trove and the newspapers in Melbourne of 1892/93 has no mention of any exhibition !!! Maybe Bert ‘gilded the lily’ or the Sydney Hebrew Times reporter misinterpreted what he said ?

  • Friar’s final – Bert’s involvement

    Final post on the Friar’s Club…..unless something good comes up

    Bert is editing Friar’s Club magazine 1918 – source Sydney Bulletin
    Bert on Friar’s program at benefit for ‘Underprivileged Boys Fund’ in 1919.
    Bert introduces another Aussie to the Frair’s. 1920 Bulletin
    Bert has a new assistant at the Friar’s club in 1921. Harriet’s nephew and Brunswick born Clive has arrived from Australia. Clive had served 4 years in the Great War with distinction (awarded Military Medal for bravery May 1918 ) returned home to Australia after the war but is eager to see the bright lights of the USA, especially as he has family there. His letter in the Melbourne Table Talk newspaper is well worth a read. Very funny description of his first night in an high rise building. Click on the link- https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/146717877?searchTerm=Bert%20Levy%20Friars%20club
    Now you know where that famous quote originated… Just think how sophisticated you’ll sound when you mention the name of the very club involved !!

  • Friar’s Club (con’t)

    Bert’s membership of this erstwhile club has certainly attracted some interest from members !! Great description below-

    “In the 1960s, the Friars Club, the Lambs Club, and the Players Club were often confused. The columnist Earl Wilson put it this way in 1964: “Long ago a New Yorker asked the difference between the Lambs, Friars, and Players, since the membership was, at the time, predominantly from Broadway.” It was left to “a wit believed to have been George S. Kaufman” to draw the distinction: “The Players are gentlemen trying to be actors, the Lambs are actors trying to be gentlemen, and the Friars are neither trying to be both.”[18]

    A good Sunday morning read is the ‘History of the Friar’s Club’ and how they handled or didn’t handle the inclusion of some very famous women into the brotherhood. Great to see the group photo of Bert and Will Rogers is prominent on their website. Click link below –

    https://web.archive.org/web/20150418054330/http://www.friarsclub.com/sample-page-2/

  • Friar’s Club

    Bert seems to have been a prominent member of the club established in 1904. Latin scholars among you will know the meaning of club logo. Still operating it is the venue for big name ‘celebrity roasts’.

    Bert proposes Louis Da Costa (Sydney Vaudeville agent and early Australian Film producer) for membership of the Friars Club in 1923.
    Source- Everyones.Vol.3 No.156 (28 February)

  • ‘another old Vaudeville mate’

    Bert had been losing his hearing even before 1918 (when aged 46) as he was knocked back on enlisting in the Canadian army. (more on that later)

    Here’s a photo of Will Rogers and Bert who were part of the entertainment for President Woodrow Wilson at the Friar’s Frolic in Baltimore May 1916.
    Photo from Roger’s book- Will Rogers at the Ziegfeld Follies – Cover below. The book seems to be a reproduction of all the one line jokes Rogers used in his shows.
    Will Roger’s father, Clement, was a leader in the Cherokee Nation. Will was born on Indian land in Oklahoma. He travelled to Argentina and South Africa in the early 1900’s to make a living as a cowboy. He got his start on Vaudeville around the same time as Bert 1905. According to Wikipedia this is how Will Rogers got his start – Click on the footnote below to go straight to wiki page on Will Rogers. (interesting story)

    On a trip to New York City, Rogers was at Madison Square Garden, on April 27, 1905, when a wild steer broke out of the arena and began to climb into the viewing stands. Rogers roped the steer to the delight of the crowd. The feat got front page attention from the newspapers, giving him valuable publicity and an audience eager to see more. Willie Hammerstein saw his vaudeville act, and signed Rogers to appear on the Victoria Roof—which was literally on a rooftop—with his pony. For the next decade, Rogers estimated he worked for 50 weeks a year at the Roof and at the city’s myriad vaudeville theaters.[13]

    Friar’s Frolic in Baltimore (above) and Friar’s Round Table in New York (below) – Sounds like an interesting club !


    Wiki says- ‘The Friars Club is a private club in New York City. Famous for its risqué roasts, the club’s membership is composed mostly of comedians and other celebrities. Founded in 1904, it is located at 57 East 55th Street, between Park Avenue and Madison Avenue, in the historic Martin Erdmann House (now known as the Monastery).[1][2]

  • Captive audience

    In addition to his free children shows which he locked into most contracts on his Vaudeville circuit, Bert was most generous to other causes…

    New York Dramatic Mirror 1915 Jul-Aug 1916

  • Bert Levy Bio Note #6

    Failing as an eyelet boy in his father’s boot making business and then in his brother in law Pawn broking business, Simon Levy (Bert’s father) took a course of action that would finally recognise his son’s creative talent. We pick up again in Bert’s own biographical account in the Lone Hand Theatre Magazine of February 1912. To the one follower sceptical of this being a genuine name for Theatre Magazine here is the front cover of that edition –

    George Gordon was born in Edinburgh and learnt his craft from his father also a scenic artist. He came to Australia with Garner’s London Comedy Company in June 1879. He would become Australia’s foremost scenic artist and be in demand in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide for all major productions. George Gordon died in June 1899 after injuries received when tragically falling getting off the Nicholson Street tram returning home from the Princess Theatre.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gordon_(scenic_artist)

    Postscript – Bert would name his only son Alwyn ‘Gordon’ Levy.

    Image of Splodgers at work. Theatre Heritage Australia website
    Scenic artist Back cloth depicting Black Brake Wharf, Rotherhithe (Act 4, Scene 3), The Silver King; painted by George Gordon for the 1892 revival Theatre Heritage Australia.

  • Bert’s return in 1911

    Bert and family returned to Australia in the October 1911. They had been gone nearly 8 years. He was booked by theatre manager Harry Rickards who owned the revamped Opera House theatre in Melbourne and the Tivoli Theatre in Sydney.

    Designed by William Pitt, the new Opera House theatre in Bourke Street opened in 1901 and was renamed the Tivoli in 1914. It closed in 1966. Bert wrote of his return engagement published in the Lone Hand Magazine –
    However, tragedy would strike Bert’s co-star just as he was leaving the country in March 1912.

    Punch Newspaper (Melbourne) March 7 1922

  • Always self -deprecating

    Throughout his career, many journalists commented that Bert’s fame had not gone to his head…. Here is one story told to a journalist of the Oakland Tribune. (Oakland is a port city now part of the greater San Francisco Bay area)

    If interested, Wikipedia (as always) provides a clue why money was being raised for Christopher (Matty) Matthewson. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christy_Mathewson