Roger Imhof: Old Broadway

Roger Imhof (1875-1958) was part of the John Ford stock company, appearing in Judge Priest, Steamboat ‘Round the Bend, Three Godfathers, Drums Along the Mohawk, The Grapes of Wrath, and dozens of other pictures during his decade long movie career.

A native of Rock Island, Illinois, he started out as a clown with the Mills Orton Circus, then as an Irish comedian in vaudeville and burlesque. In vaudeville he worked with numerous partners in many different acts. In the late 1890s, he worked with Charles Osbourne, in a comedy contortion and burlesque acrobatics act. Around 1902 he began to work with Hugh Conn. The two were joined by Marcelle Corinne during the teens to form the act known as Imhof, Conn and Corinne. (Corinne was to become Imhof’s wife) The trio performed two comedy sketches in vaudeville for many years, ‘The Pest House” and “Surgeon Louder”. He also wrote numerous songs during his vaudeville career, including the popular 1906 tune “Old Broadway”.  He was to lose most of his money and investments in the stock market crash, at which he point he decided to try his luck in Hollywood.

To find out about  the history of vaudeville, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever nutty books are sold.And please check out my new book: Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube, just released by Bear Manor Media, also available from amazon.com etc etc etc