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Sunday Obituary: John Broida

 

Broida Family (Click for Family Tree)

 

John Broida Obituary. "The Jewish Criterion" 18 Nov 1938, Vol. 93, No. 2, Page 25. Courtesy of "Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project,"  http://digitalcollections.library.cmu.edu/pjn
John Broida Obituary. “The Jewish Criterion” 18 Nov 1938, Vol. 93, No. 2, Page 25. Courtesy of “Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project,” http://digitalcollections.library.cmu.edu/pjn/index.jsp  (Click to enlarge.)      

 

John Broida Obituary. "The American Jewish Outlook" 18 Nov 1938, Vol. 8, No. 24, Page 15. Courtesy of "Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project," http://digitalcollections.library.cmu.edu/pjn/index.jsp (Click to enlarge.)
John Broida Obituary. “The American Jewish Outlook” 18 Nov 1938, Vol. 8, No. 24, Page 15. Courtesy of “Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project,” http://digitalcollections.library.cmu.edu/pjn/index.jsp     (Click to enlarge.)

Today is a good opportunity to thank the individuals and organizations who so generously share their resources with others. The above obituaries are available as part of the Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project found at http://digitalcollections.library.cmu.edu/pjn/index.jsp.

Although these periodicals are no longer published, these articles are still under copyright, since they were published after 1923. A reply to my email to Carnegie Mellon University concerning permission to publish let me know that CMU just ‘facilitate[s] electronic access’, and she forwarded information about Rodef Shalom Congregation in Pittsburgh, the copyright holder. Their archivist thanked me for asking permission- we all know so many do not- and gave me the right to publish these newspaper clips to help tell the story of our family. She also said,

“We would like as many people as possible to discover, as you have, this rich resource, which includes information applicable to areas way beyond Western PA.”

(She did ask me to cite the articles with at least the name of the project and link as above, which many genealogists do not, sadly.)

What a wonderful mission for an organization! Knowledge should be free for all. While I do recognize the costs of archiving, digitizing, developing and maintaining websites, etc., and thus do not mind paying for a website to aggregate large amounts of data for easy searching, such as Ancestry.com, free use of old material is a refreshing concept. It will help us learn more about our past, and thus help us navigate our future.

 

Thank you, Rodef Shalom Congregation, CMU, and all the other organizations who freely share their treasures!

 

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1) See citation on image.

2) Email correspondence 04/02/2015 and 04/07/2015.

 

Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images. Click to enlarge images.

We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
 

Original content copyright 2013-2015 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.
 
Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.
 
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The Real Max Broida, AKA Buster Brodie


John Broida and Sons 25 July 1930 Pittsburgh PA

Broida Family (Click to see family tree)

The real Max Broida, also known as “Buster Brodie” on stage (See “Talented Tuesday- Max Broida-Now Starring as Buster Brodie“), was the third of ten children born to Zelig/John Jacob Broida and his wife, Sarah Gitel Frank Broida. John and Gitel were immigrants, born in Eišiškes, Salcininkai, Lithuania (also known as Eishyshok, Poland or Russia) in the late 1850s. John came to the US in 1874, and Gitel in 1881, the same year they married. (We don’t know if the plan was for John to come first and get established, then bring over Gitel, or if John had traveled back to his homeland and asked her to join him and marry, or if they met in the US.) Max was born 11 October 1885 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

Max Broida, circa 1894. Cropped from family portrait.
Max Broida, circa 1894? Cropped from family portrait. (Click to enlarge.)

Max was brought up in Pittsburgh, which had a flourishing Jewish population.  There were many Russian immigrants too, so they would have had some sense of ‘home.’ John had a very strong Yiddish accent even into the 1930s, per his grand-daughter, so Max probably spoke Yiddish, and maybe knew Hebrew as well. Max’s younger brother Samuel Broida, born in 1889, died in 1891 at the age of 2 years, 9 months; two other siblings died young. By 1897, with the birth of Max’s youngest brother Harold H. Broida, it was a family of seven sons. They seemed to have moved fairly frequently but stayed in Pittsburgh, where the family of nine was living at 1102 Fifth Avenue in 1899.

The year 1900, when Max was 14, was a difficult year. The family had moved to Denver, Colorado by 07 June 1900 when the census was taken- but only part of the family was in Denver. John, Gitel, their oldest son Joseph Jacob Broida, and youngest son, Harold H. “Harry” Broida were with them. There were four boarders in the home, but their other five sons could not be found in the census.

Much research over many years culminated in us learning that Gitel had died of pulmonary tuberculosis in Denver. So dear Max and four of his brothers had been separated from their mother for almost a year, maybe two years, and she likely died tragically without all her children by her side. Her body was returned to Pennsylvania for burial, where all her sons could pay their last respects. (See posts listed in notes below for details.)

But where had Max been during those years? We finally realized that the school-age sons had been placed with relatives while Gitel and John were in Denver. Max, who was enumerated as “Moros” (so we initially thought it was his brother Morris listed, but the age was wrong) and with an earlier birthdate (August 1885) along with his older brother Louis, age 16, were living with their paternal aunt, Kate Broida York, and her family in the Carnegie Borough of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. They were noted as nephews, and their nine cousins, ranging in age from 27 to 3, were living in the household as well. Kate’s husband Joseph York was a dry goods merchant, and his two oldest sons, as well as Louis, may have worked in the store with him. Max and the other children likely helped out at the store when they were done with their schoolday.

In 1910, the John Broida family was enumerated mostly together again. Max, age 24, was living with his father, who had remarried about 1904 to Fannie __, plus an ‘aunt’ Ethel (may not be actually related but was treated like a sister), and his brothers Joseph, Louis, Phillip, and Theodore. Max’s youngest brothers, Morris, age 14, and Harold, 13, had continued living in St. Louis, Missouri with their ‘uncle’ Jacob, who actually was their father’s cousin. There are family stories that some of the boys were not very happy in their temporary homes after Gitel’s move to Denver and her subsequent death. It must have been a very hard time for a close-knit family to be separated.

Max, Phillip, and Theodore were listed as laborers in a shop in the 1910 census, with Louis listed as a clerk in a clothing store, and Joseph a merchant. Their father was the proprietor of a clothing store, so it is possible that some or all of the sons worked for him. They might also have worked for Frank & Seder, a Pittsburgh department store. Their mother’s maiden name was Frank, many Broidas worked in the Frank & Seder stores, and the families socialized together as well.

Max Broida 1916
Max Broida at the wedding of his brother, Theodore “Dave” Broida on 20 Aug 1916 in Denver, Colorado. (Click to enlarge.)

We do not know what happened next, or when for Max Broida. His oldest brother Joseph married about 1906, Phillip in 1910, brothers Louis and Morris both about 1913, Theodore married in 1916, and Harold about 1918. The above picture is from the wedding portrait of Theodore Broida and Lucy Shatzke in Denver, Colorado, on 20 Aug 1916- perhaps Max was the Best Man?

Max’s father, John/Zelig Broida, and his wife Fannie emigrated to Tel Aviv, Israel, in September of 1920. He did come back to visit at least once, in June of 1937. Hopefully Max was able to see his father at that time. Zelig died in 1938, in Israel.

The obituaries for Max in the Los Angeles Times and in Variety tell us that Buster Brodie, Max’s stage name, was an original ‘Buster Brown,’ and he toured the country advertising Buster Brown shoes, possibly even working in plays as Buster Brown. He also worked in the circus, maybe as a clown (did he run away from home to join the circus?), and vaudeville as well before he began his film career in the mid-1920s. Film was the new medium and Buster Brodie was in silent films and then graduated to the talkies when they began. We know he was in a silent short in 1925, and was still acting in movies in 1947. There are a few years that we do not know what he was in- 1929, 1930, 1936, 1939, and 1948, the year of his death. It is hard to see how he could have supported himself some years, with so little work produced. (The years noted on his filmography are the years the picture was released, so he may have worked more hours than it appears.) Buster/Max may have needed to work a second job, as so many actors must do to pay the bills.

Documenting Max or Buster is difficult in Los Angeles. There was a ‘Max M. Brodie,’ salesman, listed as a Republican and living at 651 W. 42nd Place, in Los Angeles in the 1916 California Voter Registrations. Could this be our Max Broida, working while trying to break into film?

‘Max Buster Brodie’ was listed as a salesman in the 1924 California Voters Register for Los Angeles, living at 1020 W. Pico St., and registered as a Republican. (Note the new middle name.)

Next we find ‘Buster M. Brodie’ at 2603 W. Pico St., working as an actor, and noted as a Republican in the 1928 California Voters Register. Buster/Max was not listed in 1929-1931, but then we find him listed with the same name (‘Buster M. Brodie’) and address in the 1932 Los Angeles City Directory. He was also listed that year in the Voters Register, at 1843 W. 6th St.; he declined to state his political party.

Interestingly, the ‘Max M. Brodie,’ salesman, from 1916 was listed in 1932 at 1043 W. 6th St., and a Republican. He also was listed in years between, and a Mrs. Elizabeth J. Brodie, a housewife and Republican, lived at the same address for many of those years. No one has found evidence that Max ever married. Mrs. Brodie was also listed in the Voter’s Registration book after Buster died in 1948, as was ‘Max M. Brodie.’ Names have sometimes been continued on the voter’s roles after death, or is this evidence that they are not the same man?

Another intriguing bit of information: ‘Max M. Brodie’ lived at 1043 W 6th St in 1932, and ‘Buster M. Brodie lived at 1843. In 1936, Buster M. Brodie, actor, was living at 1043 W 6th St, where Max M. lived 4 years earlier. Is this a joke these guys/this guy is playing on future family historians? One would think the Voter Registration Books would get it correct, but Max was an actor, and who knows how many personas he could have presented? Or perhaps the imagination rambles too far…

Buster M. Brodie, actor, was found in the 1939 Los Angeles City Directory at 5640 Santa Monica Blvd. That is the address of the El Cortez Hotel, where he was a resident for many years. Buster died there on 09 April 1948. His close friend Chester Conklin, himself a comedian, found Buster, who died of a heart attack at age 61. (Chester is an interesting person- his fourth marriage was to a woman he met in the home for elderly actors- he was 79.)

Buster Brodie/Max Broida obituary in the Los Angeles Times, 09 Apr 1948.
Buster Brodie/Max Broida obituary in the Los Angeles Times, 09 Apr 1948. (Click to enlarge.)

Buster Brodie was buried in Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park, North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in Lot 5, Section 7690, Memorial G. He is listed on Find A Grave in the ‘Famous’ section.

Buster Brodie/Max Broida obituary in Variety, 14 Apr 1948.
Buster Brodie/Max Broida obituary in Variety, 14 Apr 1948. (Click to enlarge.)

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1) 1899 Pittsburgh, PA City Directory: Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

2) 1900 US Federal Census for John Broida: Year: 1900; Census Place: Denver, Arapahoe, Colorado; Roll: 120; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 0126; FHL microfilm: 1240122. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

3) Posts that detail more of the Denver story:

http://heritageramblings.net/2015/02/02/matrilineal-monday-where-were-the-children-of-sarah-gitel-broida-in-1900/

http://heritageramblings.net/2015/02/06/friday-follow-up-death-record-of-sarah-gitel-frank-broida/

http://heritageramblings.net/2015/02/11/wordless-wednesday-mortuary-record-for-sarah-gitel-frank-broida/

4) We have not seen information on any census as to name or sex of the unknown sibling, but the 1900 US Federal Census states that Gitel had borne 10 children.

5) 1900 US Federal Census for Max and Louis Broida, Joseph York, head of household- Year: 1900; Census Place: Carnegie Ward 1, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1366; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0354; FHL microfilm: 1241366. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

6) 1910 US Federal Census for Jacob (John) Broida, head of household- Year: 1910; Census Place: East Pittsburgh Ward 3, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1293; Page: 21A; Enumeration District: 0064; FHL microfilm: 1375306. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.

7) Los Angeles City Directory, 1939- Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

8) California, Voter Registrations, 1900-1968 on Ancestry.com.

9) An image of 5640 Santa Monica Blvd.- not a very good part of Los Angeles these days.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.090766,-118.312778,3a,75y,182.9h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sTdOrFA4ii0KG0oLcVNsxPQ!2e 

9) Chester C. Conklin (1886-1971) was a comedian who acted in silent films as well as talkies- over 280 of them. He created a character and broke into vaudeville, then minstrel shows and circuses as a clown. He may have met Buster Brodie in one of these venues, or they may have met out in Hollywood. Conklin became one of Charlie Chaplin’s ‘Keystone Kops’ and they became lifelong friends.  Both Chester and Buster worked in many studios, and both with the Three Stooges (though in separate shorts). Conklin was married four times- his last in 1965 when he was 79, she 65; they both were living at the Motion Picture Country Home and Hospital. Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_Conklin

10) See also “Talented Tuesday: Max Broida-Now Starring as Buster Brodie”- http://heritageramblings.net/2015/04/07/talented-tuesday-max-broida-now-starring-as-buster-brodie/

11) Again, a special thanks to Frank Reighter, who shared the above obituaries and other information about Buster’s career.

 

Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images. Click to enlarge images.

We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
 

Original content copyright 2013-2015 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.
 
Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.
 
Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright of our blog material.

Talented Tuesday: Max Broida-Now Starring as Buster Brodie

Buster Brodie in the "Pete Smith MGM Oddity" short "STRIKES AND SPARES" (1934 MGM)
Buster Brodie in the “Pete Smith MGM Oddity”
short “Strikes and Spares” (1934 MGM)

Broida Family (click to see family tree)

[NOTE: Edited 04/28/15 to add newly found information.]

You know how there are those amazing character actors in movies- especially the older, black & white movies- in which you never know the name of the actor, but you recognize them on sight? It’s always a bit part, sometimes playing the villain, sometimes as comedy relief, or sometimes they are the right-hand person of the main character, but never the one in charge. If you like old b&w movies, and are a Broida, you may have seen one of your cousins on the screen, be it a small b&w tv with rabbit ears on top, or today’s fantastic curved digital HD 70+ inch screens in our own homes. That cousin on the screen would be Max Broida, who used the stage name “Buster Brodie.”

In fact, unless you are one of the maybe 3 Americans who has never seen the 1939 version of “The Wizard of Oz” with Judy Garland, you have seen Buster in action- he was a flying monkey.

Buster Brodie as a 'winged monkey' in the 1939 film, "The Wizard of Oz."
Possibly Buster Brodie as a ‘winged monkey’ in the MGM 1939 film, “The Wizard of Oz.”

Comedy appeared to be Buster’s thing- most of the time he was in shorts or films that were completely comedies, or he was the comedy relief in a more serious film.

Buster Brodie in, "The Big Idea," (MGM 1934)
Buster Brodie in, “The Big Idea,” MGM’s 1934 film with Ted Healy and His Stooges, Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard.

Max Broida headed to California likely sometime in the 1920s. He had been in the circus, vaudeville, and on the stage, even traveling the country as ‘Buster Brown,’ the comic strip mascot used by Brown Shoes in St. Louis. (‘Buster Brown’ was a young boy with a pageboy hairdo and a fussy little suit who was always getting in trouble. Max was short so could pass as a boy; often midgets/little people acted as Buster Brown in the theatre and advertisements.) Max probably wanted to make it in the then-silent shorts, which came before longer film technology started to become available in the late 1920s. It is estimated that about 1,000 film ‘shorts’ were released each of the years of that decade, and Buster hoped to be in a lot of them!

We don’t know why or when Buster took the stage name, ‘Buster Brodie.’ Buster Keaton was a very popular comedian at the time, and Max may have wanted to trade on that name. Playing Buster Brown may also have been a part of the decision, with kids calling out to him, “Buster! Over here, Buster!” Being a part of a circus was probably frowned upon by his family, and acting may have been as well, so Max might have altered his last name to help ‘protect’ them from gossip. The ‘Broida’ family name was actually relatively new anyway- it was a name some Karklinskys took once they immigrated to the US.

We do know that in 1910, Max Broida was enumerated in the US Federal Census in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as a laborer in a shop (possibly his father’s clothing shop). The 1920 census entry for Max/Buster has not yet been found, and the earliest name change we know of was in 1928, when Max Broida registered to vote in California with the name “Buster M. Brodie.’

Buster Brodie as the piano player in "A Groovie Movie" a 1944 short.
Buster Brodie as the piano player in “A Groovie Movie” a 1944 MGM short. 
Buster Brodie as the smiling piano player in "A Groovie Movie" a 1944 short.
Buster Brodie as the smiling piano player in “A Groovie Movie” a 1944 MGM short.
Buster Brodie as the smiling piano player in "A Groovie Movie" a 1944 short.
Buster Brodie as the smiling piano player in “A Groovie Movie” a 1944 MGM short.

Max/Buster may have worked in vaudeville with Wheeler & Woolsey, a famous vaudeville comic duo of the time. Wheeler & Woolsey made the film, “Cracked Nuts” in 1931, with Boris Karloff playing a comic villain named, interestingly, “Boris.” (One year later, Karloff would star in his breakthrough, Frankenstein.)  Max played the “Royal Humidor” in this movie. (A humidor is a container for cigars that kept them from drying out too much.) “Cracked Nuts” had W&W, the comic duo, shooting back and forth a conversation about the towns of “What” and “Which”- obviously a precursor to Abbott & Costello’s more refined and comedic, “Who’s on First.” And Buster was a part of that film, with its ground-breaking comedy.

What is ‘funny’ has changed over the years, and some of the jokes may be lost on our generation. Here is a quote from the 1933 RKO Radio Pictures short, “Fits in a Fiddle”:

Pretty Girl: Do you have change for a twenty?

Bobby Clark: Not since 1929.

Knowing history will put this in context- in 1933, our country was in the midst of the Great Depression.

"Buster Brodie", AKA Max Broida, in Charlie Bowers', "There It Is" 1928 short. Buster played the 'Fuzz-Faced Phantom.'
“Buster Brodie”, AKA Max Broida, in Charlie Bowers’, “There It Is” 1928 short. Buster played the ‘Fuzz-Faced Phantom.’

Many silent film stars did not make it into the talkies because they had strange voices, but Buster did have some speaking parts- and a strange voice. It would be interesting to know more about Buster’s career- he must have been in more productions than just those listed, in order to support himself. Note the large number of war-time films. “Hers to Hold” was actually filmed in an aircraft manufacturing plant, and had to be filmed on Sundays in order to avoid disruption of warplane production.

Buster did star with many a Hollywood big name, or big-name-to-be, and was in one genre-defining film, “Island of the Lost Souls,” based on the 1896 (horror) science fiction novel of the same name by H. G. Wells. The makeup used was the beginning of subsequent sophisticated ‘monster’ makeup, and Buster would have experienced it firsthand in his role as the ‘Pig-Man.’

Buster Brodie (Max Broida) as Pig Man in Paramount's 1932 film, "Island of Lost Souls."
Buster Brodie (Max Broida) as Pig Man in Paramount’s 1932 film, “Island of Lost Souls.”

We will tell more of Max’s story in our next post. Check out the notes below to actually see Max in some of his films.

Caution: Please be careful when using these links- they were good at the time of this writing. Also, see note below.

Buster Brodie’s Filmography

*uncredited

 1925

Half a Hero (a short)

1926

Trimmed in Gold (a short)-Customer in barbershop*

1927

All Aboard

1928

There It Is  (a short)- Fuzz-faced Phantom; silent film comedy with added music score; with Kathryn McGuire and Charlie Bowers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKEtAtjgwTc. See excellent article about Charlie Bowers and note re: Buster Brodie: http://brightlightsfilm.com/forgotten-charleys-i-charley-bowers-silent-comedys-wizard-of-the-bizarre/#.VT9TWjesa-8

Goofy Birds (a short)- Charlie Bowers and Buster Brodie are the only two actors listed for this short

Say Ah-h!  (a short)

1931

Cracked Nuts– Royal Humidor*; with Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi. excerpt (without Buster)-  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIWWVGsE_Gs. The entire film is also available on video.

City Lights– Bald guest at party*; with Charlie Chaplin.  http://www.hulu.com/watch/215794, excerpts-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_vqnySNhQ0

1932

Island of Lost Souls– Pig Man- a Little Beast*

1933

Fits in a Fiddle (a short)- Orchestra member*

Kickin’ the Crown Around (a short)- Page for the King*

1934

The Big Idea– Little Bald Man (with Ted Healy & His Stooges)

Babes in Toyland– Jack in the Box* with Laurel & Hardy (there are numerous versions so check the date)

Strikes and Spares (a short)- Little bald man* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK8hkWRnhD8. He is the amateur first seen at 3:00- with hair! Definitely racial stereotyping sadly consistent with the times and sexist too.

1935

Kentucky Blue Streak– Jockey* Online at http://free-classic-movies.com/movies-03b/03b-1935-05-01-Kentucky-Blue-Streak/index.php. Buster is a jockey in this film- see 51:23-51:37- always the comedy relief with his funny voice. Also, as an “Easter Egg” (a hidden joke or reference), at 52:34, the rider for the horse “Time Out” is announced as “Buster Brodie.”

1937

Mountain Music– Hillbilly*; with Martha Raye, Gabby Hayes

A Doctor’s Diary– Bald man* See http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028793/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm, clip- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvLWOxyiah0

1939

The Wizard of Oz– Flying monkey; with Judy Garland. Flying (Winged) Monkeys scene from the 1939 film”The Wizard of Oz”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SESI19h4wDo

1940

Dance, Girl, Dance– Spectator at Burlesque House*

The Grapes of Wrath– Migrant*; with Henry Fonda

1941

Miss Polly– Bald townsman*; with Kathleen Howard. “Miss Polly” also online at http://free-classic-movies.com/movies-04e/04e-1941-11-14-Miss-Polly/index.php At 33:15, Buster is the bald man with checked shirt and tie sitting on the aisle at the town meeting; Miss Polly taps him on the head.

1942

Tales of Manhattan– Call Boy in the Laughton sequence*; with Charles Laughton, Buster Keaton, Rita Hayworth, Ginger Rogers, Henry Fonda, etc.

Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch*

Baby Face Morgan– Curly, a messenger at racetrack*

1943

Nearly Eighteen– Little bald man*; with Gale Storm

Hers to Hold– Popcorn man*; with Deanna Durbin and Joseph Cotten

1944

Lady in the Dark– Clown*; with Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland

Crazy Knights– Baldy; with Shemp Howard from the 3 Stooges

Firebrands of Arizona– Musician*

Step Lively– Bald man*; with Frank Sinatra, Gloria DeHaven

Ghost Catchers– Little bald man in nightclub*; excerpt (but without Buster)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6CrXrj01GA

Show Business– Bald man*; with Eddie Cantor, George Murphy. Original trailer (no Buster)- http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/135165/Show-Business-Original-Trailer-.html. “Show Business” online at http://flixcube.com/watch-show-business-1944-movie-online. Clips of soundtrack: http://tunes.zone/movie-show-business-soundtracks-109030#/play/109030/89330/list_base

Cassanova in Burlesque– Bald man in box*; with Dale Evans, Joe E. Brown

Action in Arabia– Bald man* Original trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W4fcn9KwjQ

Patrick the Great– Bellboy. Musical, with Donald O’Connor. Not found on US websites, but on an Irish film history website, likely because of Donald O’Connor being in the film: http://www.tcd.ie/irishfilm/showfilm.php?fid=58531

Groovie Movie (a short)- Piano Player.* Available on YouTube. It is a funny jitterbug instructional video that is less than 10 minutes- watch til the end to see each appearance of Max, and take a look at his shoes… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbaNYWkQYYA

Action in Arabia– Bald man* Original trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W4fcn9KwjQ

Patrick the Great– Bellboy. Musical, with Donald O’Connor. Found on an Irish film history website, likely because of Donald O’Connor being in the film: http://www.tcd.ie/irishfilm/showfilm.php?fid=58531

1945

George White’s 1945 Scandals– Box gag man (Buster was famous for this bit.)

Beyond the Pecos– Baldy*

Hit the Hay– Bald man*

Bells of Rosarita– Circus Clown*; with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans- http://free-classic-movies.com/movies-04c/04c-1945-Bells-of-Rosarita/index.php. Hard to tell which clown is Buster- may be at beginning of parade, possibly at 1:07, the clown on the right who lays down on ground at end. Not a very good copy, but this is also available on DVD.

The Horn Blows at Midnight– Little bald man at carnival*; with Jack Benny

Shadows of Death– Bald man getting haircut*; with Buster Crabbe. Max is in a barbershop bit at about 22:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXVomV1nuyE or free movie online at http://www.ovguide.com/shadows-of-death-9202a8c04000641f800000000f14a8ce

Patrick the Great– Bellboy*; with Donald O’Connor

1946

So You Want to Keep Your Hair– Little bald man.* B&W, 11 min. One of a series of 62 shorts entitled “So You Want To…” or “So You Think…” produced in the 40’s-50s by Warner Brothers. http://www.democraticunderground.com/10301820

1947

Yankee Fakir– Bald man*

Buckaroo from Powder River– Bald customer

 

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1) Rotten Tomatoes Bio- Buster Brodie- http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/buster_brodie/

2) A page for Buster- in Czech! http://www.osobnosti.cz/buster-brodie.php

3) Three Stooges website: http://www.threestooges.net/cast/actor/826

4) International Movie DataBase- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0110886/

5) Turner Classic movies (TCM) page for Buster Brodie: http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/22744%7C25165/Buster-Brodie/

6) “Whatever happened to Buster Brown shoes?” http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2839/whatever-happened-to-buster-brown-shoes

7) Some of Buster Brodie’s videos are still available.

“The Wizard of Oz” is of course on tv, DVD, and online.

“There It Is” may be found on YouTube in its 18 minute entirety. It was some of the first stop-motion animation and had some ‘special effects.’ Max/Buster got  good billing in it, and is seen throughout as the short, fuzzy-faced phantom with the big glasses. The original had music added to it in the movie houses; the YouTube version has contemporary music that does seem to fit well. It is worth the time to watch to see what was funny in 1928, to see how short Max really was and what he looked like, and it is just charming- watch til the very end: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKEtAtjgwTc. The great-great-great nieces and nephews will get a hoot out of it.

The two shorts “There It Is” and “Say Ah-h” may also be found on the DVD “Charley Bowers. The Rediscovery of an American Comic Genius.” (Note: One Amazon reviewer states “There It Is” is not included but this video does come up with an Amazon search for “Buster Brodie,” though it may be because there is another film on the disc in which Buster Brodie appears. It is listed as included in the French, “Charley Bowers Collection (17 Films)” which cannot be played on American DVD players.)

The following movies are available on DVD, VHS, or live streaming:

The 1934 version of “Babes in Toyland” AKA “March of the Wooden Soldiers” with Laurel & Hardy

“Cracked Nuts”

“George White’s 1945 Scandals”

“Tales of Manhattan”

“The Grapes of Wrath”

“City Lights” with Charlie Chaplin- considered Chaplin’s greatest film.

“Island of Lost Souls” (the genre-defining horror film- to this day- with Bela Lugosi)

 

There have been multiple films made at different dates of some of these stories, so make sure to check the date before you order if you want to see Buster Brodie. Also, be careful with downloading from unknown websites- while researching one site locked up my computer, with a message that I had a Trojan virus and had to call a number to unlock. Thankfully I was able to reboot and everything was ok, but I do have a Mac… So make sure you have a current backup in case anything does go wrong, and be wary of websites that look out of the mainstream.

 

8) America’s Film LegacyThe Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, by Daniel Eagan, 1910. See p. 135-6 for “There It Is” which lists Buster Brodie as the “fuzz-faced phantom.” https://books.google.com/books?id=deq3xI8OmCkC&pg=PA135&lpg=PA135&dq=%22Buster+Brodie%22+vaudeville&source=bl&ots=cY8qNdcvd_&sig=yXbbOzYcvIFRicgAI5fRXbo4DIg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tkQjVc3HI8PfsAX4rICwCw&ved=0CDQQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=%22Buster%20Brodie%22%20vaudeville&f=false

9) A very special thanks to Frank Reighter, who documents actors who worked with the Three Stooges and shared what he had learned about Buster Brodie. He got me motivated to finish up this post I have been working on for many months, and added to the information we have about Buster’s career.

 

 

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Workday Wednesday- Samuel Broida and Broida Brothers Dry Goods

 

 

Samuel A. (Karklinsky) Broida (1887-1973) with two unknown men in Broida Brothers Dry Goods, St. Louis, Missouri. Taken between 1910-1929.
Samuel A. (Karklinsky) Broida (1887-1973) in center with two unknown men in Broida Brothers Dry Goods, Manufacturers and Mill, St. Louis, Missouri. Taken between 1910-1929. (Click to enlarge.) [Editor’s Note: Sam was misidentified originally- he was actually the man with the bow tie in the center, not the left as originally captioned. His granddaughter caught the error, and stated, “He always had a mustache and always wore bowties.” These are great clues to help identify Sam Karklinsky/Broida!]
➡ Broida Family

Samuel A. (Karklinsky) Broida was born in Eišiškes, Salcininkai, Lithuania on 01 August 1887. His parents were Jacob Zev Karklinsky Broida (1857-1932) and Anna (Sonya) ___ (1857-194).

Sam immigrated to the US in 1905 at age 18. He married Ida Leah Deborah Oscherwitz (1888-1975) in Cincinnati, Ohio on 03 April 1910. When the 1910 US Federal Census was enumerated on 04 May 1910 in St. Louis, Missouri, Sam was in St. Louis, living with his parents but noted as married for 0 years; his wife is not enumerated with the family. Sam is listed as a peddler of dry goods, working on his own account. The same occupation is given for his brother Max and his father.

Employees in an early picture of the Broida Brothers Dry Goods.
Employees in an early picture of the Broida Brothers Dry Goods. (Click to enlarge.)

Sam and his younger brother, Max Broida, became partners in Broida Brothers Dry Goods in St. Louis, Missouri. In the 1920 US Federal Census, Sam was living with wife Ida and their 4 children and a servant in St. Louis, Missouri. Sam is listed as owning his own dry goods store. In the same census, brother Max was also listed as a dry goods merchant, working on his own account.

By 1930, Samuel and family had moved to Chicago to run the Oscherwitz family business, Best Kosher Meat Company. Max remained in St. Louis, and in the 1940 US Federal Census he is listed as President of the Broida Brothers, a wholesale dress jobber.

Thus the above photos were taken sometime after the 1910 census, but before the 1930 census. A check of St. Louis City Directories would help to narrow down the time period of the beginnings of the partnership.

In the first photo, note the old phone, name of company on window, and the still-lit cigar on the chair, waiting for the photo to be taken so it can again be enjoyed.

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1) Thanks to Cousin Mitch for sharing this photo and information on his Broida line, and Cousin Jane for her photo above that was posted on Ancestry.com.

2) 1910 US Federal Census, Jacob Broida Head of Household: Year: 1910; Census Place: St Louis Ward 4, Saint Louis City, Missouri; Roll: T624_812; Page: 22B; Enumeration District: 0064; FHL microfilm: 1374825, Lines 98-100 and family continued on following page.

3) 1920 US Federal Census for Samuel Broida: Year: 1920; Census Place: St Louis Ward 22, St Louis (Independent City), Missouri; Roll: T625_959; Page: 12B; Enumeration District: 423; Image: 55, Lines 91-97.

4) 1920 US Federal Census for Max Broida: Year: 1920; Census Place: St Louis Ward 23, St Louis (Independent City), Missouri; Roll: T625_959; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 457; Image: 1015.

5) 1940 US Federal Census for Max Broida: Year: 1940; Census Place: St Louis, St Louis City, Missouri; Roll: T627_2207; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 96-635

 

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Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.
 
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Wednesday’s Child: The ‘Missing’ Children of John and Sarah Gitel Broida

 

1900 US Federal Census excerpt for John Broida and family, Denver, CO
1900 US Federal Census excerpt for John Broida and family, Denver, CO. (Click to enlarge.)

Broida Family

A previous post, entitled Samuel Broida- An Unknown Son of John Zelig Broida and Gitel Frank? posed the question of the parents of a young Samuel who is buried in the family plot. At the time of writing that post, I did not go to each of the US Federal Censuses, but should have at least looked at the 1900 census for the family. In that census, Gitel was still alive (she died in 1901) but the census asks “Mother of how many children?” and then “Number of these children living?” While looking for some other information this past week on that census, I noticed that Gitel’s entry states that she was the mother of ten children, with only seven still living. This helps to explain some of the gaps in childbearing.

The 1900 census states that John and Gitel had been married 19 years, so that would put their marriage in 1881. Son Joseph Broida was then born in 1882, Louis Broida in 1884, and Max Broida in 1886. Phillip E. Broida was born in 1887, and Samuel Broida, who likely was their child, in 1889. There was then a gap before Theodore “Dave” Broida’s birth in 1893, and another gap before Morris Broida was born in 1896. Their last son, Harold, was born in 1897, when Gitel was 38 years old. Thus there may have been children born about 1891 and 1894-5, but they didn’t survive. We will need to search for burial information in Beth Hamedrash Hagodol-Beth Jacob Cemetery, McKees Rocks (Allegheny County), Pennsylvania for these dear little ones.

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1) Previous post about young Samuel Broida: http://heritageramblings.net/2013/11/20/samuel-broida-an-unknown-son-of-john-zelig-broida-and-gitel-frank/

2) 1900 US Federal Census for John Broida, Head of Household, in Denver, Colorado: Year: 1900; Census Place: Denver, Arapahoe, Colorado; Roll: 120; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 0126; FHL microfilm: 1240122

 

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We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
 

Copyright 2013-2015 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.
 
Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.
 
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