Lahr, Bert [né Irving Lahrheim] (1895–1967), comic actor. The rubber‐faced, caterwauling comedian, famous for his “gnong‐gnong” and “Some fun, eh kid?,” began his career in vaudeville and burlesque. His first Broadway assignment was in Delmar's Revels (1927), but it was his clowning as the punch‐drunk Gink Schiner in Hold Everything! (1928) that made him a star. Appearances followed in Flying High (1930), Hot‐Cha! (1932), George White's Music Hall Varieties (1932), Life Begins at 8:40 (1934), George White's Scandals of 1935, The Show Is On (1936), Du Barry Was a Lady (1939), and Seven Lively Arts (1944). In 1946 he was praised for his performance as Skid in a revival of Burlesque, then, after appearing in Two on the Aisle (1951), he won further laurels for his portrayal of Estragon in Waiting for Godot (1956), a role he claimed he never understood. Lahr's later performances included Boniface in the farce Hotel Paradiso (1957), the revue The Boys Against the Girls (1959), a number of quick‐change roles in The Beauty Part (1962), and, his last Broadway appearance, the sly miser Foxy (1964). His son is critic and author John LAHR (b. 1941) who was born in Los Angeles and educated at Yale and Oxford University. After working as a dramaturg for some regional theatres, he started writing reviews in Evergreen Review, the Village Voice, and later The New Yorker. Among his many books is a biography of his father, Notes on a Cowardly Lion, 1969.

The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Copyright © 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved.