Shows · Lester Allen
Lester M. Allen (November 17, 1891 – November 6, 1949) was an American actor, dancer, singer, comedian, and circus performer. After beginning his career as a child acrobat with the Barnum and Bailey Circus, he became a performer in minstrel shows, burlesque, and vaudeville. He worked as primarily a dancer and acrobat in the Broadway musical revues George White's Scandals and Ziegfeld Follies in the 1910s and early 1920s; ultimately progressing to singing and comedic acting parts. He starred as a comic actor in several musical comedies on Broadway during the 1920s and the early 1930s. He transitioned into work as a film actor, appearing in more than 15 films released from 1941 to 1950. He was…
On stage 12 productions, 26 years
| 1907 | Miss Pocahontas Lyric Theatre · Original | 16 perf. |
| 1919 | George White's Scandals [1919] Liberty Theatre · Original · directed by Edgar MacGregor | 128 perf. |
| 1920 | George White's Scandals [1920] Globe Theatre · Original · directed by William Collier | 134 perf. |
| 1921 | George White's Scandals [1921] Liberty Theatre · Original | 97 perf. |
| 1922 | George White's Scandals [1922] Globe Theatre · Original | 89 perf. |
| 1922 | George White’s Scandals Globe Theatre · Original · directed by George White | 88 perf. |
| 1923 | George White's Scandals [1923] Globe Theatre · Original | 168 perf. |
| 1924 | George White's Scandals [1924] Apollo Theatre · Original | 196 perf. |
| 1925 | Florida Girl Lyric Theatre · Original · directed by Frederick Stanhope | 40 perf. |
| 1928 | The Three Musketeers Lyric Theatre · Revival · directed by William Anthony McGuire, Richard Boleslawsky | 318 perf. |
| 1929 | Top Speed Chanins 46th Street Theatre · Original · directed by John Harwood | 104 perf. |
| 1933 | Shady Lady Shubert Theatre · Original · directed by Theodore Hammerstein | 30 perf. |
Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in. That is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.
Worked with more than once12 names
| Winnie Lightner | 4 productions |
| Vera Colburn | 4 productions |
| Peggy Dolan | 4 productions |
| Myra Cullen | 4 productions |
| James Miller | 4 productions |
| Thea Lightner | 3 productions |
| Richard Bold | 3 productions |
| Newton Alexander | 3 productions |
| George Bickel | 3 productions |
| Dolores Costello | 3 productions |
| Darry Welford | 3 productions |
| Christine Welford | 3 productions |
Both names in the same cast list, more than once. It is not evidence of a partnership. A long-running company puts the same forty people together every night, but it is where one would start looking. 9 of these names are not links because we hold no record behind them; the name is set from the identifier and its punctuation may be wrong.
Also credited on2 works
Ziegfeld Follies
A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical
These come off the person record, which names a work and not a production. So we can say this name is attached to the work and we cannot say which staging, or in what capacity. For a composer or a writer that is the whole career we hold; there is no cast list to find them in.
In the literature5 passages
- Cast: W. C. Fields, Winnie Lightner, Paul Whiteman Orchestra, Lester Allen, George White, Jack McGowan, Pearl Regay, Dolores CostelloBroadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell
- Cast: Dennis King, Vivienne Segal, Lester Allen, Vivienne Osborne, Yvonne D’Arle, Reginald Owen, Joseph Macaulay, Harriet Hoctor, Douglass Dumbrille, Detmar Poppen, Clarence DerwentBroadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell
- Producers: Paramount Theatres (Dan Sherkow), Lester Allen, Francine LeFrak, Kenneth Greenblatt, Mark SchwartzBroadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell
- Charles Winninger. “Scandals of 1919” was the first of this series produced by George White. The cast included Ann Pennington, Lester Allen and Mr. White himself.A Pictorial History of the American Theatre, 1860-1985 (Blum)
- Lane and Imogene Wilson were in the “Ziegfeld Follies,” Lester Allen and Winnie Lightner in the “George White’s Seandals,” Joe Cook and Sophie Tucker in the “Vanities,” Grace Moore, FannieA Pictorial History of the American Theatre, 1860-1985 (Blum)
Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.
What this page does not know
- What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
- Which of the credits above the roles on this record (actor) apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.
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