Lew Brice


Lew Brice was an American actor, dancer and comedian.

Biography

He was born Louis Borach on October 26, 1893, in Manhattan, New York City, the brother of Fannie Brice. He was the youngest of four children born to Rose Stern, a Hungarian Jewish woman who emigrated to America at age ten; and Alsatian immigrant Charles Borach. Charles and Rose were saloon owners and had four children, Philip, Carrie, Fania, and Louis.
Brice married actress Mae Clarke on February 26, 1928; the union ended in divorce in 1930. The Public Enemy, released in 1931, would contain one of cinema's more famous scenes, in which James Cagney pushes a half grapefruit into Clarke's face, then goes out to pick up Jean Harlow. The film was so popular that it ran 24 hours per day at a movie theatre in Times Square upon its initial release; four months after the premiere, The Hollywood Reporter informed readers that Brice claimed to have seen the film more than 20 times and that Brice "says he goes to see the scene wherein Mae Clarke gets hit in the eye with a grapefruit—and that it's a plazure!"
He died June 16, 1966, in Hollywood, California, aged 72.

Stage performances

  • The Passing Show of 1913
  • The Passing Show of 1914
  • Maid in America
  • Step This Way
  • Americana
  • ''Billy Rose's Crazy Quilt''

    Film

  • The Income Tax Collector
  • Partners Again Pazinsky
  • Lew Tyler's Wives Buzzy Mandelbush
  • Happy Days Minstrel Show Performer
  • The Window Cleaners, one-reel Vitaphone comedy short featuring the song of the same name, adapted from their vaudeville routine
  • Two Seconds uncredited reporter