Marlin Hurt
Encyclopedia
Marlin Hurt was an American
stage entertainer and radio actor who was best known for originating the dialect comedy role of Beulah made famous on the Fibber McGee and Molly
program and the first season of the Beulah radio series
.
A saxophone player and vocalist, Hurt was once a singer with the Vincent Lopez
band before becoming part of a vocal trio with Bud and Gordon Vandover billed as "Tom, Dick, and Harry".
When the act was dissolved due to Bud Vandover's death in 1943, Hurt became a solo performer with a combination of saxophone and dialect humor.
The widespread popularity of the Fibber McGee and Molly version of Hurt's character, based as much on the novelty of a white man portraying a black woman as the humor written for the character, soon warranted a spin-off series. In 1945, Beulah was spun off into her own radio show, The Marlin Hurt and Beulah Show; Hurt also played Beulah's boyfriend, Bill Jackson, in addition to his title roles.
The series was nearing the end of its first year when Hurt suddenly died of a heart attack, aged 40, bringing an abrupt end to the initial run.
He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
stage entertainer and radio actor who was best known for originating the dialect comedy role of Beulah made famous on the Fibber McGee and Molly
Fibber McGee and Molly
Fibber McGee and Molly was an American radio comedy series which maintained its popularity over decades. It premiered on NBC in 1935 and continued until its demise in 1959, long after radio had ceased to be the dominant form of entertainment in American popular culture.-Husband and wife in real...
program and the first season of the Beulah radio series
Beulah (series)
The Beulah Show is an American situation-comedy series that ran on CBS radio from 1945 to 1954, and on ABC television from 1950 to 1952. The show is notable for being the first sitcom to star an African American actress.-Radio:...
.
A saxophone player and vocalist, Hurt was once a singer with the Vincent Lopez
Vincent Lopez
Vincent Lopez was an American bandleader and pianist.Vincent Lopez was born of Portuguese immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York and was leading his own dance band in New York City by 1917...
band before becoming part of a vocal trio with Bud and Gordon Vandover billed as "Tom, Dick, and Harry".
When the act was dissolved due to Bud Vandover's death in 1943, Hurt became a solo performer with a combination of saxophone and dialect humor.
Beulah begins
Hurt's inspiration for the Beulah voice was an African-American woman named Mary who cooked for his family. While he was using this characterization on The Fred Brady Show, the summer, 1943 replacement for The Bob Burns Show on NBC, Fibber McGee writer Don Quinn "discovered" Hurt for a widespread audience, and cast Hurt/Beulah as the McGees' maid on what was one of the highest rated radio programs.The widespread popularity of the Fibber McGee and Molly version of Hurt's character, based as much on the novelty of a white man portraying a black woman as the humor written for the character, soon warranted a spin-off series. In 1945, Beulah was spun off into her own radio show, The Marlin Hurt and Beulah Show; Hurt also played Beulah's boyfriend, Bill Jackson, in addition to his title roles.
The series was nearing the end of its first year when Hurt suddenly died of a heart attack, aged 40, bringing an abrupt end to the initial run.
He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
.