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Smith and Dale
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Smith and Dale
Smith and Dale were a famous American vaudeville comedy duo. They consisted of Joe Smith (born Joseph Sultzer on February 17, 1884 – February 22, 1981) and Charlie Dale (born Charles Marks on September 6, 1881 – November 16, 1971), who both grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan at the end of the 19th century. Beginning in their adolescence, their career spanned the majority of their lives, with the two performing together continuously for more than seventy years.
The duo were one of several famous comic performers of vaudeville, radio and movies that collectively originated from the same place and era. Other entertainers included Gallagher and Shean, George Burns, Eddie Cantor, George Jessel and the Marx Brothers.
Sultzer and Marks met as teenagers in the fall of 1898, when they accidentally ran into each other while cycling. Joe was cycling north on Eldridge Street on Manhattan's Lower East Side, while Charlie was cycling east on Delancey. As they argued over whose fault it was, the shopkeeper who rented the bikes said, "You two sound like Weber and Fields." Initially performing under the name Sultzer and Marks, they later renamed their act to Smith and Dale because a local printer gave them a good deal on business cards that read "Smith & Dale". These were initially intended for a team that had since decided on a different name – Moran and Mack, unrelated to the later group of the same name. Joe Sultzer became Joe Smith, and Charlie Marks became Charlie Dale.
Beginning in 1902, Smith and Dale partnered with singing comedians Will Lester and Jack Coleman to form a group called The Avon Comedy Four. Initially booked for a series of appearances in the Catskills region, the act was so successful that performances were continued in many other clubs for years after. Aside from Smith and Dale, membership of this group changed often over the years. Known performers included Irving Kaufman, Harry Goodwin, E. Rash, and Charles Adams. The act became one of the more successful comedy turns in vaudeville. For over 15 years, the group were top-of-the-bill performers on Broadway and appeared in the 1916 show Why Worry? The foursome made commercial recordings replicating their stage act, as in a 1917 restaurant sketch:
SMITH: One cheese sandwich! The cheese should be neutral.
DALE: One sandwich, with American cheese.
SMITH: Where's the manager?
DALE: He's not here. He went across the street to a good restaurant.
However, this would prove to be the group's peak. While they continued to perform throughout the 1920s, this only resulted in a single record being published during this decade, and they proved unable to secure many lucrative contracts or gigs. This was contrasted by Smith and Dale's popularity as a duo, which had continued to rise throughout the same period. By 1930, Smith and Dale had grown tired of the act, and so, after 28 years of performing, dissolved the Avon Comedy Four to focus exclusively on their career as a duo. Smith and Dale took up where the foursome left off, playing Broadway and vaudeville (including the Palace Theatre, considered the pinnacle of stage venues) while also beginning their movie career. Both used a heavy Jewish dialect, with Smith speaking in a deep, pessimistic voice and Dale in a high, wheedling tenor.
During the 1920s, Smith and Dale became famous for their signature sketch "Doctor Kronkheit and His Only Living Patient," which like "Who's on First?" for Abbott and Costello, became one of the famous comedy sketches of the 20th century. The name of the doctor is an inside joke: Smith and Dale, both being Jewish, named the physician Kronkheit, which is Yiddish and German [Krankheit] for "sickness". Thus we have a doctor named Dr. Sickness. Indeed, a hospital in German is called a Krankenhaus, or literally "house for the sick".
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Smith and Dale
Smith and Dale were a famous American vaudeville comedy duo. They consisted of Joe Smith (born Joseph Sultzer on February 17, 1884 – February 22, 1981) and Charlie Dale (born Charles Marks on September 6, 1881 – November 16, 1971), who both grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan at the end of the 19th century. Beginning in their adolescence, their career spanned the majority of their lives, with the two performing together continuously for more than seventy years.
The duo were one of several famous comic performers of vaudeville, radio and movies that collectively originated from the same place and era. Other entertainers included Gallagher and Shean, George Burns, Eddie Cantor, George Jessel and the Marx Brothers.
Sultzer and Marks met as teenagers in the fall of 1898, when they accidentally ran into each other while cycling. Joe was cycling north on Eldridge Street on Manhattan's Lower East Side, while Charlie was cycling east on Delancey. As they argued over whose fault it was, the shopkeeper who rented the bikes said, "You two sound like Weber and Fields." Initially performing under the name Sultzer and Marks, they later renamed their act to Smith and Dale because a local printer gave them a good deal on business cards that read "Smith & Dale". These were initially intended for a team that had since decided on a different name – Moran and Mack, unrelated to the later group of the same name. Joe Sultzer became Joe Smith, and Charlie Marks became Charlie Dale.
Beginning in 1902, Smith and Dale partnered with singing comedians Will Lester and Jack Coleman to form a group called The Avon Comedy Four. Initially booked for a series of appearances in the Catskills region, the act was so successful that performances were continued in many other clubs for years after. Aside from Smith and Dale, membership of this group changed often over the years. Known performers included Irving Kaufman, Harry Goodwin, E. Rash, and Charles Adams. The act became one of the more successful comedy turns in vaudeville. For over 15 years, the group were top-of-the-bill performers on Broadway and appeared in the 1916 show Why Worry? The foursome made commercial recordings replicating their stage act, as in a 1917 restaurant sketch:
SMITH: One cheese sandwich! The cheese should be neutral.
DALE: One sandwich, with American cheese.
SMITH: Where's the manager?
DALE: He's not here. He went across the street to a good restaurant.
However, this would prove to be the group's peak. While they continued to perform throughout the 1920s, this only resulted in a single record being published during this decade, and they proved unable to secure many lucrative contracts or gigs. This was contrasted by Smith and Dale's popularity as a duo, which had continued to rise throughout the same period. By 1930, Smith and Dale had grown tired of the act, and so, after 28 years of performing, dissolved the Avon Comedy Four to focus exclusively on their career as a duo. Smith and Dale took up where the foursome left off, playing Broadway and vaudeville (including the Palace Theatre, considered the pinnacle of stage venues) while also beginning their movie career. Both used a heavy Jewish dialect, with Smith speaking in a deep, pessimistic voice and Dale in a high, wheedling tenor.
During the 1920s, Smith and Dale became famous for their signature sketch "Doctor Kronkheit and His Only Living Patient," which like "Who's on First?" for Abbott and Costello, became one of the famous comedy sketches of the 20th century. The name of the doctor is an inside joke: Smith and Dale, both being Jewish, named the physician Kronkheit, which is Yiddish and German [Krankheit] for "sickness". Thus we have a doctor named Dr. Sickness. Indeed, a hospital in German is called a Krankenhaus, or literally "house for the sick".