Bernard R. Granville (July 4, 1888 - October 5, 1936) was an American actor, singer and minstrel show performer who was discovered by Florenz Ziegfeld and was known as "the twentieth century comedian".[1]

Biography

He was born on July 4, 1888 in Chicago, Illinois,[1] the only child of Algernon Granville and Cora B Chamberlain Granville (1864-1937).[2]

He started his career as a minstrel show performer with Al G. Field at age 18, in 1906. He worked there until 1911. He worked as a circus clown for Ringling Brothers than went back to a minstrel show with Donnely and Hatfield[1]

He performed in Marriage a la Carte at the La Salle Theater in Chicago, Illinois in 1911. He performed in A Winsome Widow at the Moulin Rouge in Manhattan, New York City. He then appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1912, 1915, and 1916.[1]

He served in World War I as a lieutenant and a pilot in France.[1]

He married Dorothy Dayne around 1920 and had as his daughter, Bonita Granville. They later divorced. He next married Eleanor Christie.[1]

He died of pneumonia on October 5, 1936 in Hollywood, California.[1]

Broadway

• Whistling in the Dark (1932)
• Castles in the Air (1927) as Monty Blair
• Earl Carroll's Vanities (1923)
• Frank Fay's Fables (1922)
• Ziegfeld Follies of 1920
• Morris Gest's Midnight Whirl (1919)
• The Little Blue Devil (1919)
• Ziegfeld Follies of 1916
• Ziegfeld Follies of 1915
• Dancing Around (1914)
• The Passing Show of 1914
• The Whirl of the World (1914)
• Ziegfeld Follies of 1912

External links

• Bernard R. Granville at Findagrave
• Bernard Granville at the Internet Broadway Database

References