Bert Lahr as
The Cowardly Lion
This image "reprinted by permission, The Official 50th Anniversary
Pictorial
History, The Wizard of Oz Warner Books NY,NY © 1989, all rights reserved."
Herbert Lahr was born in Manhattan, New York City, in 1895. At the age of 12 the family moved to the Bronx Borough. At the age of 15 his was determined to get into show business. He began his career in Vaudeville and later at age 17 did a stint in Burlesque at the Columbia Burlesque Wheel. This theatre in New York City is now known as the DeMille.
Bert Lahr was basically a comedian but over the years he played in a wide variety of theatre and films. In later life he made many television commercials with his own special brand of humor. Lahr was capable of comedic genius bordering being bombastic but he also had the ability, rare for a comic, of being subtle in some of his presentations.
Early 1960's Lahr appeared in the American Shakespeare Festival as Bottom in A Midnight's Summer Dream. His performance was so stellar that he won a nod of approval from the American Shakespeare Academy for the best performance of the year.
Lahr by nature was a worrywart and many of his close friends would tease him with good nature about it. (Sounds to me like the cowardly lion from the Land of Oz.) Bert Lahr was extremely well liked and appreciated by his close circle of friends.
When Bert Lahr was hired by M-G-M for the role of the Cowardly Lion there was a disagreement about his contact. The studio wanted to pay him for only 5 weeks for the part but Bert held out for 6 and in the end that is the way the contract was written. The film actually took 7 months to make.
Lahr will be much missed by his family, friends, and fans alike. Paradoxically Lahr was an off stage rarity in that he was a shy man and somewhat withdrawn. But when he was on stage he was on and few comics had the depth, breadth of abilities, and success as Lahr's multifaceted career.
He died at age 72 and was survived by his wife and two children. I can still hear him quavering "If I were king of the jungle, . . . " Bert you were King and had more courage than most of us.
There is a new book out, a revised book by Lahr's son John. It is an excellent book that is available on Amazon.com and I am sure in your local bookstores also. It is called: Notes on a Cowardly Lion by John Lahr. It is an excellent read and I do recommend it to anyone who wants more information.
