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Bert Wheeler Collection

Bert Wheeler became part of the biggest comedy team of the early Talking Picture era, but struggled after his partner, Robert Woolsey, passed away.

Bert Wheeler

8 old time radio show recordings
(total playtime 3 hours, 2217 min)
available in the following formats:

1 MP3 CD
or
4 Audio CDs


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Text on OTRCAT.com ©2001-2024 OTRCAT INC All Rights Reserved. Reproduction is prohibited.

Bert Wheeler
(1895 – 1968)

Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey.jpgClowns are supposed to make us laugh, and with their garish makeup, ridiculous costumes, and insane antics, how can we help it? In every clown troupe, however, there is at least one whose painted smile points down in an exaggerated frown, with a tear dripping from his eye. The sad clown still makes us laugh, but we are forced to consider, for at least a moment, what it could be that makes the sad clown cry.

The simple fact is, many of the most gifted comedians are able to make us laugh despite harboring their own demons. There is even a theory that most of the most popular comics join showbusiness as a mechanism for coping with their own offstage depression or mental health problems. It seems rather cynical to believe that only a broken person can make people laugh but there are, in fact, some comedians whose shenanigans are actually a cry for help. We choose to believe that a well-adjusted person can also make us laugh and appreciate that some comics are struggling to laugh through the pain, if not of a mental health issue then the tragedies of real life.

Albert Jerome Wheeler was born in Patterson, New Jersey, 1895, and was still just a baby when he lost his seventeen-year-old mother. He was raised by his father and an aunt who was eventually replaced by a step-mother. When his father remarried, the family moved to New York City, and little Bert got involved with show business.

Burt Wheeler and Hank Ladd.jpg

"Star Maker" Gus Edwards helped Bert get started in vaudeville (Edwards is also credited with discovering Walter Winchell, Elsie Janis, Georgie Price, Lila Lee, Eleanor Powell, Ray Bolger, the Duncan Sisters, Sally Rand, Jack Pearl, the Lane Sisters, Paul Haakon, and Ina Ray Hutton).

While working in Gus's revue "When Dreams Come True", Bert met Margaret Grae, with whom he partnered for a vaudeville act. Harold Lloyd invited the couple to work in silent films, but Bert wanted to stick to vaudeville.  He and Margaret divorced in 1926 (she soon married another actor), and a year later he was signed to Florenz Ziegfeld's "Rio Rita" revue. Ziegfeld teamed Wheeler with Robert Woolsey, and the team simply clicked.

Ziegfeld sold the rights to the show to the then new RKO Radio Pictures studio, but Wheeler and Woolsey were the only members of the Broadway cast to appear in the picture. Rio Rita (1929) would be RKO's biggest hit until King Kong (1933). It also cemented the partnership of Wheeler and Woolsey, who went onto become one of the first big comedy teams of the talking picture era. They made 20 more pictures together until Robert Woolsey took ill in 1936 and passed away due to kidney failure in 1938.

Wheeler continued to work, mostly on stage, but struggled as a single. He would marry five times, and his later years were marked with financial difficulties and failing health. Just after New Year's, 1968, his only daughter succumbed to cancer, and Bert Wheeler passed away from emphysema on January 18, 1968.

Text on OTRCAT.com ©2001-2024 OTRCAT INC All Rights Reserved. Reproduction is prohibited.

These classic recordings are available in the following formats:

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    COMMENTS

    very interesting shows from an artist who up till now, I only knew from some feature films. a real time capsule. Peter Kok Netherland

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  • MP3 CDs are delivered by mail. These archival quality MP3 CDs are playable in your computer and many MP3 player devices.



    8 recordings on 1 MP3 CD for just $5.00. Total playtime 3 hours, 2217 min
    8 recordings on 1 MP3 CD for just $5.00
    total playtime 3 hours, 2217 min
    Add MP3 CD Collection to Cart

    1. 8 shows – total playtime 3 hours, 36 minutes
    2. Amos And Andy Show 471111 Leroy Strikes It Rich.mp3
    3. Chesterfield Show 510613 072 Bert Wheeler And Teresa Brewer.mp3
    4. Chesterfield Show 511121 082 Bert Wheeler And Alexis Smith.mp3
    5. Chesterfield Show 511212 085 Bert Wheeler Alexis Smith.mp3
    6. CP 420830 030 Bing Crosby James Cagney Larry Adler.mp3
    7. Fresh Up Show 450620 Starring Bert Wheeler.mp3
    8. Jack Benny Program 340914 144 School Days Part Two.mp3
    9. Thirty Minutes In Hollywood 371024 04 Judy Garland.mp3
  • MP3 downloads are available instantly after purchase!



    8 recordings on 1 MP3 Collection Download for just $5.00. Total playtime 3 hours, 2217 min
    8 recordings on 1 MP3 Collection Download for just $5.00
    99 MB – total playtime 3 hours, 36 min
    Add Instant Download Collection to Cart

    1. 8 shows – 99 MB – total playtime 3 hours, 36 minutes
    2. Amos And Andy Show 471111 Leroy Strikes It Rich.mp3
    3. Chesterfield Show 510613 072 Bert Wheeler And Teresa Brewer.mp3
    4. Chesterfield Show 511121 082 Bert Wheeler And Alexis Smith.mp3
    5. Chesterfield Show 511212 085 Bert Wheeler Alexis Smith.mp3
    6. CP 420830 030 Bing Crosby James Cagney Larry Adler.mp3
    7. Fresh Up Show 450620 Starring Bert Wheeler.mp3
    8. Jack Benny Program 340914 144 School Days Part Two.mp3
    9. Thirty Minutes In Hollywood 371024 04 Judy Garland.mp3
  • Standard Audio CDs are delivered by mail on archival quality media with up to 60 minutes on each CD and play in all CD players



    8 recordings on 4 Audio CDs. Total playtime 3 hours, 36 min
    8 recordings on 4 Audio CDs
    total playtime 3 hours, 36 min

    Bert Wheeler Disc A001

    1. Jack Benny Program 340914 144 School Days Part Two
    2. Thirty Minutes In Hollywood 371024 04 Judy Garland

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    Bert Wheeler Disc A002

    1. CP 420830 030 Bing Crosby James Cagney Larry Adler
    2. Fresh Up Show 450620 Starring Bert Wheeler

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    Bert Wheeler Disc A003

    1. Amos And Andy Show 471111 Leroy Strikes It Rich
    2. Chesterfield Show 510613 072 Bert Wheeler And Teresa Brewer

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    Bert Wheeler Disc A004

    1. Chesterfield Show 511121 082 Bert Wheeler And Alexis Smith
    2. Chesterfield Show 511212 085 Bert Wheeler Alexis Smith

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00

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