Bert Lahr (1895-1967) was a popular burlesque and vaudeville performer and an actor and comedian in musical comedy, film, and television.

Bert Lahr (Irving Lahrheim), born on August 13, 1895, in Yorkville, New York, was the son of Jacob Lahrheim, a German immigrant and third generation upholsterer, and his wife Augusta. His childhood years were filled with tension, largely due to his parents' poverty. He fled to the streets for escape and dropped out of school. Lahr schooled himself by reading and going to the theater--in particular, to vaudeville and melodrama. He joined the other boys on the street singing with his booming baritone voice.

Lahr also tried his hand at various jobs but did not hold any of them long. In 1910 a friend asked him to be a part of a burlesque act, "The Seven Frolics." (Although burlesque eventually developed into striptease shows, in that era it was similar...