Al Shean
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Abraham Elieser Adolph Schönberg (12 May 1868 – 12 August 1949), known as Al Shean, was a comedian and vaudeville performer. Other sources give his birth name variously as Adolf Schönberg, Albert Schönberg, or Alfred Schönberg.[6] He is most remembered for being half of the vaudeville team Gallagher and Shean, and as the uncle of the Marx Brothers. Shean was born in Dornum, Germany, on 12 May 1868, the son of Fanny and Levi or Louis Schoenberg. His father was a magician. His sister, Minnie, married Sam "Frenchie" Marx; their children would become the Marx Brothers. After making a name for himself in vaudeville, Shean teamed up with Edward Gallagher to create the act Gallagher and Shean in the 1920s. While the act was successful, the men apparently did not like each other much. After their act's final Ziegfeld Follies pairing, Shean went on to perform solo in eight Broadway shows, even playing the title character in Father Malachy's Miracle. Shean had some solo film roles: as the piano player, known as "The Professor" in San Francisco (1936), as a priest in Hitler's Madman (1943), as grandfather in The Blue Bird (1940), and in some three dozen other films. He and Gallagher also made an early sound film at the Theodore Case studio in Auburn, New York, in 1925. He died on 12 August 1949.
Known For
Credits
- 1976 · That's Entertainment, Part II as (archive footage)
- 1944 · Atlantic City as Al Shean
- 1943 · Crime Doctor as Dave, a Convict
- 1943 · Hitler's Madman as Father Cemlanek
- 1942 · The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady as Old Dann
- 1941 · Ziegfeld Girl as Al
- 1940 · Friendly Neighbors as Doc
- 1940 · The Blue Bird as Grandpa Tyl
- 1939 · Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President as Father Reicher
- 1939 · Broadway Serenade as Herman
- 1938 · The Great Waltz as Cellist
- 1938 · Too Hot to Handle as Gumpert
- 1937 · Tim Tyler's Luck as Professor Tyler
- 1937 · Live, Love and Learn as Professor Fraum
- 1937 · It Could Happen to You as Max 'Pa' Barrett
- 1937 · The Road Back as Markheim
- 1936 · San Francisco as Professor
- 1936 · At Sea Ashore as Adolph Rumplemeyer
- 1936 · Hitch Hike To Heaven as Herman Blatz
- 1935 · It's in the Air as Mr. Johnson
- 1935 · Page Miss Glory as Mr. Hamburgher
- 1935 · Traveling Saleslady as Schmidt
- 1935 · Sweet Music as Sigmund Selzer
- 1935 · Symphony of Living as Adolph Greig
- 1934 · Music in the Air as Dr. Walter Lessing
- 1931 · Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean as Self
- 1930 · Chills and Fever as Betty's Uncle Emil