Eva Puck: Difference between revisions

Eva Puck became a member of the vaudeville comedy act Clayton and White that, after Lew Clayton’s departure around 1920, became known as Puck and White. One of their popular vaudeville sketches at("Opera thatvs. timeJazz") portrayed White as a scholarly music teacher and Eva as his inept student. The couple married in 1922.<ref>The Fitchburg Sentinel May 20, 1932</ref><ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=qv0CWuFSxDoC&pg=PA382&dq=%22sammy+white%22+vaudeville&hl=en&ei=xJNiTpqPOszgsQLJqPWZCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false The Papers of Will Rogers: From Vaudeville to Broadway]</ref> and together appeared in [[Broadway theater|Broadway]] shows such as the ''Greenwich Village Follies'' (1923), [[Rodgers and Hart]] musical ''[[The Girl Friend]]'' (1926), and [[Jerome Kern]]'s ''[[Show Boat]]'' (1927). Puck also appeared as Helen Cheston in the original Broadway run of the musical ''[[Irene (musical)|Irene]]'' from November 1919 to June 1921.<ref>[http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=56658 Internet Broadway Database entry]</ref>

The two played in the original 1927 [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] stage version of the classic musical ''Show Boat''. In the musical, White played the role of comic dancer Frank Schultz, and Puck played the role of Ellie May Chipley, who eventually marries Frank. In 1932, the two reprised their roles in the first Broadway revival of the show. However, by the time [[Universal Pictures]] released the [[Show Boat (1936 film)|1936 film version]], the two had divorced, so the role of Ellie went to [[Queenie Smith]], with White repeating his performance as Frank in the film.<ref>[http://search.ancestry.com/iexec?htx=View&r=an&dbid=50000&iid=97166263&fn=&ln=Harry+Puck&st=d&ssrc=&pid=993356 The New York Times January 29, 1964]</ref><ref>The New York Times October 28, 1979 pg. 44</ref>