Trivia

Was a middleweight prizefighter.

Briefly performed as a female impersonator.

Barry, his 13-year-old adopted son, committed suicide after being scolded by his grandmother for letting his pet parrot escape from its cage.

By his own account, he was working on stage in Louisville one night, when his straight man was taken ill. He pressed into service the Theatre Manager to substitute. That manager turned out to be Bud Abbott.

Was born in a dressing room at the Hopkins Opera House in Louisville, KY.

Worked often as a character actor in comedy shorts with comics like The Three Stooges, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, as did his contemporary, James C. Morton.

Hal Roach brought him to Hollywood to act, direct and write.

His father was a tenor, his mother a dancer for the Metropolitan Opera Company.

Known as a comedian, he also played a number of dramatic roles.

Versatile actor who performed on the legitimate stage, vaudeville, movies, radio, television and burlesque.

He was cremated and his ashes scattered in the rose garden of the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

He has appeared in six films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: The Music Box (1932), A Night at the Opera (1935), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Destry Rides Again (1939), His Girl Friday (1940) and The Great Dictator (1940).

In his youth he quit school to join a successful children's singing troupe.

Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith, pg. 178-179. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387

Had worked on Broadway as an actor, playwright, director and producer.

Replaced Frank Brownlee in the Laurel and Hardy film Pack up Your Troubles.

Bore a strong resemblance to character actor Gino Corrado.