Morton and Mayo [1] were a Vaudeville dance and comedy duo from approximately the 1920s to the 1940s who were predominantly known for an artificial horse act known as Pansy the Horse. "Mayo" was Andy Mayo and "Morton" was portrayed by both Al Morton from 1923 to 1931 and by Nonnie Morton from 1931 to 1942.
Al Morton and Andy Mayo toured the United States on a variety of Vaudeville stages including the Orpheum Circuit in various singing, dancing and comedy shows. These shows would typically include a feature film presentation and several other live Vaudeville acts including dancing girls and a band. In 1925 they were featured in Chicago's Frolics cafe's Frivolous Frolics and toured the US as Two Nuts left over from xmas. In 1926 they traveled to Hawaii as the featured act in Maurice Kusel's Melody Maid Revue at Hawaii Theatre in Honolulu, HI. In 1930 they began acting as a three-person act with Al Morton (front) and Andy Mayo (rear) performing in a two-person artificial horse costume and a third female performer acting as the horse's trainer. The peak of the first Morton and Mayo's career was a Paramount Publix Theaters production that was devised and directed by Boris Petroff modeled after Noah's Ark called Noah's Lark. Noah's Lark toured the United States for the last half of 1930 beginning in New York, NY. In New York, a rising Ethel Merman performed with the show in Brooklyn, NY at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater.
After Noah's Lark, it appears Morton and Mayo appeared together as Pansy into early 1931 travelling to various US cities as a single act. The Pansy the horse act earned as much as $550/week in 1931.
In 1931 Andy Mayo recruited Nonnie Morton out of high school [2] to continue the Pansy the Horse act with him and his wife, Florence Mayo. Nonnie took the place of Al Morton in the front of the horse and Florence acted as the horse's trainer. Morton and Mayo toured Europe in 1937 and in 1942 starred in Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe club in New York, NY.
In 1943 Nonnie joined the army and continued his Vaudeville career raising money for war bonds. [3]
Andy Mayo was born Andrew C Guariglia on 1 August 1901 in Italy [4] to Emil and Columbia Guariglia. In 1903 the family emigrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they lived at 1330 Moore St in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mayo was the oldest of began his Vaudeville career in 1918 and took his stage name from his mother's maiden name, DiMaio. Andy became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1918 and he toured on the Vaudeville stage circuit most of his life. He married and was divorced 1927, [5] remarried to Florence Mayo on 7 January 1932 [5] who performed with him throughout the remainder of his career. In 1938, with Florence attending to the birth of their first child, Mayo discovered [6] Virginia Mayo in St Louis to take Florence's place as the female horse trainer. [7] In 1939 Florence. Andy and Virginia Mayo were featured in the musical short Gallons and Guys. [8] In 1943 [9] Virginia Mayo's movie career started to gather attention and Andy left the Pansy the Horse act to manage the blossoming actress's career and leaving Pansy to his brother Allen and Frances Englebrecht in the horse costume and Dorthy Carlson as the trainer.
In 1944 [10] Andy and Florence were featured as Pansy in the feature film Take it Big, costarring Jack Haley and Ozzie Nelson. Also in 1944, Pansy (with Connie Haas as the trainer) was part of the short Jazz on the Screen. [11] This short film was released into the public domain. [12]
Mayo died in Orange County, CA on 11 September 1983 at age 82. [13]
Al Morton was born Dominic Colafrancessco on 30 January 1899 as the 4th of 5 children born to Italian Immigrants named Joseph and Filomena (née DeCarlo) Colafrancesso of 602 League St, Philadelphia, PA. He toured throughout the United States from the early 1920s as a singer, actor and dancer. In 1927 he married Antoinette Gelone and starred in the Morton and Stanley Revue. In 1930 Al became the front half of the dancing horse act known as Pansy the Horse. After Morton and Mayo split up in 1931, Morton continued in a similar act known as Sparkplug the horse. In 1933 Al's health became an issue and he slowly gave up his career in Vaudeville. He died suddenly on the 4th of July in 1937 at age 38.
Nonnie Morton was born Dominic Anthony Rebecca in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 5 July 1913 to Anthony and Rachel (Rae) (née Westle) Rebecca. Nonnie enlisted in the US Army on 23 January 1943 and was released on 9 March 1946 after spending 28 April 1945 to 2 March 1946 overseas. In the Army, Nonnie raised money for war bonds with various Vaudeville shows including Pennsylvania on Parade. [3] Nonnie died on 26 April 2003 [14] in Killeen, Texas. [15]
| Show | Year | Theater | City, state | Photos | Clippings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frivolous Frolics | 1925 | Frolics Cafe | Chicago, Ill |  |  |
| Two Nuts Left Over from Xmas | 1925 | Numerous | Numerous |  | |
| Melody Maid Revue | 1926 | Hawaii | Honolulu, HI |  | |
| Noah's Lark [16] [17] | 1930 | Numerous |  |  | |
| Pansy the horse | 1930/31 | Numerous | Detroit, Baltimore, Rochester and Syracuse |  |
A chorus line is a large group of dancers who together perform synchronized routines, usually in musical theatre. Sometimes, singing is also performed. While synchronized dancing indicative of a chorus line was vogue during the first half of the 20th century, modern theatre uses the terms "ensemble" and "chorus" to indicate all supporting players in a stage production.
Virginia Mayo was an American actress and dancer. She was in a series of popular comedy films with Danny Kaye and was Warner Bros.' biggest box-office draw in the late 1940s. She also co-starred in the 1946 Oscar-winning movie The Best Years of Our Lives.
Albert Jerome Wheeler was an American comedian who performed in Broadway theatre, American comedy feature films, and vaudeville acts. He was teamed with Broadway comic Robert Woolsey, and they went on to fame as Wheeler & Woolsey.
Paul Hartman was an American dancer, stage performer and television actor.
Tim Moore was an American vaudevillian and comic actor of the first half of the 20th century. He gained his greatest recognition in the starring role of George "Kingfish" Stevens in the CBS TV's The Amos 'n' Andy Show. He proudly stated, "I've made it a point never to tell a joke on stage that I couldn't tell in front of my mother."
Florence Lake Owens was an American actress best known as the leading lady in most of the Edgar Kennedy comedy shorts.
Bergetta "Dorothy" Peterson was an American actress. She began her acting career on Broadway before appearing in more than eighty Hollywood films.
Rosella O'Connor Russell was a vaudeville star from about 1912 to the late 1940s on the Columbia circuit.
Frederick Roger Imhof was an American film actor, vaudeville, burlesque and circus performer, sketch writer, and songwriter.
Dewey Barto was best known as the shorter half of the comedic and acrobatic dance act, Barto and Mann. He was the father of actress Nancy Walker, known earlier in life as "Nan Barto".
Mitzi Mayfair was an American dancer and stage and film actress.
Tomasso Patricola was an American actor, comic and dancer who starred in vaudeville and motion pictures.
Herman Timberg was a vaudevillian, actor and songwriter, a writer of sketches and dialogue for vaudeville and musicals, "active in nearly every field of show business". He was the brother of composer Sammy Timberg and uncle of the journalist Robert Timberg.
Boyd Marshall was an American actor of the stage and screen during the early decades of the 20th century. Born in Ohio in 1884, he moved to New York to pursue a career in acting. He began on the stage and in vaudeville, before entering the film industry in 1913. He had a brief film career, lasting until 1917, before he returned to the stage.
Take It Big is a 1944 American comedy film directed by Frank McDonald and written by Howard J. Green and Joe Bigelow. The film stars Jack Haley, Harriet Hilliard, Mary Beth Hughes, Richard Lane, Arline Judge and Fritz Feld. Also featured is Hilliard's husband in real life, bandleader Ozzie Nelson.
Charley Foy, born Charles Richard Fitzgerald, was an American actor of both the vaudeville stage and film. Son of Eddie Foy Sr., he was one of the famous "The Seven Little Foys", the seven children of the senior Foy, who joined him on stage in vaudeville. After beginning his career in Vaudeville, he had a film career which spanned 40 years, although he was only truly active for seven of them, from 1936 through 1943.
Lottie Gee(néeCharlotte O. Gee; 17 August 1886 Millboro, Virginia – 13 January 1973 Los Angeles) was an American entertainer who performed in shows and musicals during the Harlem Renaissance. She is perhaps best known as a performer in the 1921 Broadway hit, Shuffle Along, the show that launched the careers of Josephine Baker and Florence Mills.
Virginia Mauret, sometimes seen as Virginie Mauret, was an American musician and dancer. In 1962 she became the founder and director of the Young Artists Opera of New York City.
Florence Tempest, sometimes billed as Florenze Tempest, was an American comedian and dancer, a vaudeville and musical theatre performer, best known as part of "Sunshine and Tempest" with her sister, Marion Sunshine.
Edythe Elliott was an American character actress active primarily during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.
{{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)  | This article about an American theatre actor is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |