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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.
Birth Name
Abraham Elieser Adolph Schoenberg
Born
Tuesday, 12 May 1868
Died
Friday, 12 August 1949
Actor Filmography
Title | Character | Year |
---|
Inside the Marx Brothers | Self | 2003 |
Twentieth Century Fox: The First 50 Years | Self | 1997 |
American Masters | Self | 1986 |
That's Entertainment, Part II | Clip from 'Broadway Serenade' / (archive footage) | 1976 |
The Golden Twenties | Self | 1950 |
We, the People | Self | 1948 |
Atlantic City | Al Shean | 1944 |
Crime Doctor | Dave, a Convict / Dave - Convict | 1943 |
Hitler's Madman | Father Cemlanek | 1943 |
Tish | Rev. Ostermaier | 1942 |
Actor Filmography
Title | Character | Year |
---|
Inside the Marx Brothers | Self | 2003 |
Twentieth Century Fox: The First 50 Years | Self | 1997 |
American Masters | Self | 1986 |
That's Entertainment, Part II | Clip from 'Broadway Serenade' / (archive footage) | 1976 |
The Golden Twenties | Self | 1950 |
We, the People | Self | 1948 |
Atlantic City | Al Shean | 1944 |
Crime Doctor | Dave, a Convict / Dave - Convict | 1943 |
Hitler's Madman | Father Cemlanek | 1943 |
Tish | Rev. Ostermaier | 1942 |
Ziegfeld Girl | Al | 1941 |
Friendly Neighbors | Doc | 1940 |
The Blue Bird | Grandpa Tyl | 1940 |
Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President | Father Reicher | 1939 |
Broadway Serenade | Herman | 1939 |
The Great Waltz | Cellist | 1938 |
Too Hot to Handle | Gumpert | 1938 |
Tim Tyler's Luck | Professor Tyler | 1937 |
Rosalie | Herman Schmidt | 1937 |
52nd Street | Klauber | 1937 |
Live, Love and Learn | Professor Fraum | 1937 |
The Prisoner of Zenda | Orchestra Leader | 1937 |
It Could Happen to You | Max 'Pa' Barrett | 1937 |
The Road Back | Markheim | 1937 |
San Francisco | Professor | 1936 |
The King Steps Out | Ballet Master | 1936 |
The Law in Her Hands | Franz | 1936 |
At Sea Ashore | Adolph Rumplemeyer | 1936 |
Hitch Hike to Heaven | Herman Blatz | 1936 |
It's in the Air | Mr. Johnson | 1935 |
Page Miss Glory | Mr. Hamburgher | 1935 |
Traveling Saleslady | Schmidt | 1935 |
Sweet Music | Sigmund Selzer | 1935 |
Symphony of Living | Adolph Greig | 1935 |
Music in the Air | Dr. Walter Lessing | 1934 |