Person biography:
Bobby Clark, a renowned vaudeville comedian, was born in Springfield, Ohio on June 16, 1888. At the age of 12, he teamed up with his classmate Paul McCullough to create a tumbling act that they took on the road. The duo later joined a traveling minstrel troupe and then a circus as clowns. As their act matured, they transitioned to the vaudeville circuit.
Clark & McCullough debuted as a vaudeville comedy team at the Opera House in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1912. Their popularity increased, and after World War I, they began performing in London, where they achieved great success in musical-comedy. Composer Irving Berlin signed them for his Broadway show, the "Music Box Revue", which was a huge hit.
The duo made a series of one-reel recreations of their act for Fox, but they soon returned to Broadway. In 1930, RKO-Radio Pictures signed them to make shorts, allowing them to continue making Broadway appearances. From 1930 to 1935, Clark & McCullough appeared in 22 shorts for RKO, many of which were scripted by Clark himself.
In 1935, after completing their slate of short films, Clark & McCullough went on tour with "The George White's Scandals". However, McCullough experienced a nervous breakdown and was committed to a sanitarium. Paul McCullough died two days later.
Bobby Clark was devastated by his partner's death. He spent several months in seclusion but eventually returned to Broadway. He continued to appear in legitimate plays, musical comedies, and revues, including "The Ziegfeld Follies of 1936", "Sheridan's 'The Rivals'", and "Mexican Hayride".
Beginning in 1942, producer Mike Todd cast him in five Broadway shows, all of which were smash hits. Clark also hosted segments of the TV show "The Colgate Comedy Hour" and later toured with the road show of "Damn Yankees!" in 1956. Clark died on February 12, 1960, at the age of 71, having outlived the minstrel show, vaudeville, and burlesque eras.
