The EntertainerOne day, Paul walked into the gym and saw three guys doing Jitterbug Acrobatics. He said, "that's for me!" Being an acrobat required no doctor's exam, and six months later, he was a pro. In the beginning, Paul did lifts with his partner, Bill Weiderfeld. But then he went solo, first with a hand-balancing act of his own design, followed by a dancing dummies act which was such a hit that he kept doing it for years. Here are a few photographs of my dad in action!
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The Acrobat
Here's Paul with his partner Bill Weiderfeld, early in his career. This is called a "lift". In 1950, they performed their act and won first place at the Hippodrome Theater in Baltimore, Md. They were later flown to New York for the Ted Mack Amateur Hour, which they unfortunately did not win. According to Paul, Bill dropped him during practice one day, and as a result, Paul broke his wrist. After the cast came off, Paul dropped his partner (not literally) and he started developing his own act. For a brief period of time, my father incorporated me into his act, using me to do lifts. I remember one show very well. I was all of five years old, and we were both dressed up in matching cowboy suits and hats. I ran out on stage and through my dad's legs, cap guns blazing! The audience loved it! But my mother wanted neither me nor her living a show-biz lifestyle, so my dad reluctantly released me from the act and continued his solo career as a hand-balancer and acrobat. I sometimes wonder...
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An Upsidedown World
Here's Paul skating on his hands down Saint Paul Street (appropriate, no?) in Baltimore, MD, on Sunday, February 19, 1956 (part of a newspaper clipping from the Baltimore Sun). He said, "in that time, I liked to do different things. Nobody was doing it, and I said, well, why can't I skate on my hands? So I made a piece of wood on the skates, wrapped 'em, and waited for the green light, and I hit the skates, and [I was] going down St. Paul St., and cars are [going by, and people are] driving with their mouths open."
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Publicity Pics
This is the kind of glossy publicity pic Paul's agent, Irv Klein, used to send to nightclubs and other venues to get booking dates.
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The Kingpin
Paul is balancing on a small "bowling ball" which is balanced on a bowling pin. Paul later dropped this from his act.
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Lord of the Rings
Paul is balancing on a ring which is balanced on a wine bottle. Paul also dropped this part of his act later.
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He's No Dummy
Here's Paul with the heads of his dancing dummies act. This was an extremely difficult act to perform. He would get inside the costumes bent over, his hands inside the woman's shoes, with his shoes as the man's shoes. He would then enter the stage dancing, and would eventually make it down into the audience, where he would stand up to reveal that he was inside the dummies. Years after this photo was taken, Paul had the heads replaced with those of an old couple with goofy faces. The old man was crosseyed with cockeyed glasses and the old woman had a very big rear end!
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The Mike Douglas Show
Here's Paul posing with Mike Douglas for a publicity shot. Paul has the dummy suit strapped around his waist with a thick belt and is in the position that he ends up in after dancing around the crowd with the dummies and revealing to them that he is inside. He played the Mike Douglas show, the Ed Sullivan Show, the Merv Griffen Show, and many others.
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The old newspaper balancing act
Click on the photo to see a series of photos showing Paul balancing a newspaper on his nose, just like he used to do in his act. These photos were taken in 1996 at the Days Inn, Towson, MD, during an interview with WJZ-TV13 reporter Norm Vogel (retired). The taped footage was used for a segment of Norm's "Now and Then" series, in which he chronicled Paul's life, much as I am doing here. Paul was 68 years old at the time. To view a transcript of the interview, click here.
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The Kooky Board
Click on the photo to see a series of photos of Paul demonstrating the proper use of the Kooky Board. These photos were also taken at the Days Inn in 1996. |
