William Francis (nicknamed Fritz, later changed to Frank) was born March 30, 1906, the youngest of four children born to Frank and Jeanette (Nettie) Hubert, part of a working class family of German immigrants.
Fritz and his older sister Jean learned dance and acrobatics, and got their start in show business after being discovered by vaudeville dance act and producers Fanchon and Marco, who put them in one of their shows and off they went around the country. A newspaper clipping from March 23, 1927 in Oakland Ca, mentions them performing in F&M's show called "Ideas of Golf".
Fritz and Jean created the "Realistic Inebriatest" act, portraying two inebriated tuxedoed gentlemen, and traveled the country under various different producers and tour companies over their career, performing in Publix theaters, Keith's, Orpheum and many others. Their first appearance at Keith's Palace in New York was in April of 1930. The week they opened there, Fritz's wife Alice, who was a dancer, gave birth to Stanley Francis Hubert, in Minneapolis. Fritz and Alice were divorced sometime around 1935 and Fritz then married Virginia Paganini, also a dancer and they had a daughter JoJean in 1936. JoJean was named after Virginia's sister Joanne and Fritz's sister Jean
Fritz and Jean shared the bill with many of the legends of the time, including Abbott and Costello, Gypsy Rose Lee, Milton Berle, Bert Lahr, Ginger Rogers, Dinah Shore, Benny Goodman, and Kate Smith, just to name a few. They played the London Palladium and the Kit Kat Klub and toured Europe in 1930 and 1938.
Fritz and Jean were becoming popular on the vaudeville circuits, sometimes doing 11 shows a day, but it was taking a terrible toll on Fritz's body, and he suffered many, many injuries; as early as 1929, he injured his knee so badly the show was cancelled for a week, and then when he went back on, he was still hurt. The most famous story of his injuring himself was at their debut at the Palace Theater in 1930. This story has been recounted in the book "The Palace" by Marian Spitzer:
"Peter Lind Hayes had what he accurately refers to as a bloody debut at the Palace. He was sixteen at the time and not too interested in his great opportunity. His mother, affectionately known as Hazy, was far more nervous than he as they stood in the wings ready to go. The act immediately ahead of them was a brother and sister team named Fritz and Jean Hubert. Fritz finished with a knockabout comedy fall that propelled him clear across the stage. "To break the fall", Peter remembers, "Fritz hurled himself headlong into the main curtain, where Hazy's piano was waiting to be pushed onstage." Result: an unconscious and badly bleeding comedian and a hysterical sister." Fritz was knocked unconscious and had ten stitches. He was forever superstitious about playing the Palace, even though they played it two more times.
In 1932 Fritz co-starred with Roscoe Arbuckle in some shorts produced by Warner Brothers to try to restart Roscoe's career after the tragic scandal that had ruined it. While the scripts of these short films were pretty flimsy, they were enough for Warner Brothers to sign him to a contract for feature films to possibly turn them into the next Laurel & Hardy. Fritz idolized Stan Laurel and even named his son after him. The night he signed his contract, he went out with friends to celebrate, saying it was the "greatest day of my life" but sadly, Roscoe Arbuckle died in his sleep that night, dashing Fritz's Hollywood career and sending the Hubert siblings back on the road.
They did return to Hollywood in the early 40's and, as a team, they had parts in three feature films: "Stars on Parade" in 1944; "Incendiary Blonde" in 1945; and "Sensations of 1945" which starred Eleanor Powell, and was W.C. Fields' last film.
Fritz was back in Puyallup, WA for the holidays in December 1944, spending time with family after the recent death of his father. Some time on January 2, 1945, Fritz stopped breathing as a result of an accidental overdose of Nembutal combined with alcohol. Fritz's nephew Trafford, who was 19 and had spent much of his youth traveling and living with Fritz and Jean, found him and carried him to the doctor down the street in a panic. The doctor merely got his stethoscope and said "he's gone". William Francis Hubert was 39.
While never big names in Vaudeville, Fritz and Jean Hubert were highly admired and sought after by bookers and other entertainers. They made a living doing basically the same 7 minute pantomime act for nearly 20 years.
(Adapted by Mike Bounds from family member Jan Hubert's memories and writings on her Facebook page dedicated to her great-aunt and uncle: https://www.facebook.com/Fritz-and-Jean-Hubert-Vaudeville-Memories-109949057340107)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckqDtHDxqXs
Contributor: Mike Bounds (47242326) • [email protected]
Fritz and his older sister Jean learned dance and acrobatics, and got their start in show business after being discovered by vaudeville dance act and producers Fanchon and Marco, who put them in one of their shows and off they went around the country. A newspaper clipping from March 23, 1927 in Oakland Ca, mentions them performing in F&M's show called "Ideas of Golf".
Fritz and Jean created the "Realistic Inebriatest" act, portraying two inebriated tuxedoed gentlemen, and traveled the country under various different producers and tour companies over their career, performing in Publix theaters, Keith's, Orpheum and many others. Their first appearance at Keith's Palace in New York was in April of 1930. The week they opened there, Fritz's wife Alice, who was a dancer, gave birth to Stanley Francis Hubert, in Minneapolis. Fritz and Alice were divorced sometime around 1935 and Fritz then married Virginia Paganini, also a dancer and they had a daughter JoJean in 1936. JoJean was named after Virginia's sister Joanne and Fritz's sister Jean
Fritz and Jean shared the bill with many of the legends of the time, including Abbott and Costello, Gypsy Rose Lee, Milton Berle, Bert Lahr, Ginger Rogers, Dinah Shore, Benny Goodman, and Kate Smith, just to name a few. They played the London Palladium and the Kit Kat Klub and toured Europe in 1930 and 1938.
Fritz and Jean were becoming popular on the vaudeville circuits, sometimes doing 11 shows a day, but it was taking a terrible toll on Fritz's body, and he suffered many, many injuries; as early as 1929, he injured his knee so badly the show was cancelled for a week, and then when he went back on, he was still hurt. The most famous story of his injuring himself was at their debut at the Palace Theater in 1930. This story has been recounted in the book "The Palace" by Marian Spitzer:
"Peter Lind Hayes had what he accurately refers to as a bloody debut at the Palace. He was sixteen at the time and not too interested in his great opportunity. His mother, affectionately known as Hazy, was far more nervous than he as they stood in the wings ready to go. The act immediately ahead of them was a brother and sister team named Fritz and Jean Hubert. Fritz finished with a knockabout comedy fall that propelled him clear across the stage. "To break the fall", Peter remembers, "Fritz hurled himself headlong into the main curtain, where Hazy's piano was waiting to be pushed onstage." Result: an unconscious and badly bleeding comedian and a hysterical sister." Fritz was knocked unconscious and had ten stitches. He was forever superstitious about playing the Palace, even though they played it two more times.
In 1932 Fritz co-starred with Roscoe Arbuckle in some shorts produced by Warner Brothers to try to restart Roscoe's career after the tragic scandal that had ruined it. While the scripts of these short films were pretty flimsy, they were enough for Warner Brothers to sign him to a contract for feature films to possibly turn them into the next Laurel & Hardy. Fritz idolized Stan Laurel and even named his son after him. The night he signed his contract, he went out with friends to celebrate, saying it was the "greatest day of my life" but sadly, Roscoe Arbuckle died in his sleep that night, dashing Fritz's Hollywood career and sending the Hubert siblings back on the road.
They did return to Hollywood in the early 40's and, as a team, they had parts in three feature films: "Stars on Parade" in 1944; "Incendiary Blonde" in 1945; and "Sensations of 1945" which starred Eleanor Powell, and was W.C. Fields' last film.
Fritz was back in Puyallup, WA for the holidays in December 1944, spending time with family after the recent death of his father. Some time on January 2, 1945, Fritz stopped breathing as a result of an accidental overdose of Nembutal combined with alcohol. Fritz's nephew Trafford, who was 19 and had spent much of his youth traveling and living with Fritz and Jean, found him and carried him to the doctor down the street in a panic. The doctor merely got his stethoscope and said "he's gone". William Francis Hubert was 39.
While never big names in Vaudeville, Fritz and Jean Hubert were highly admired and sought after by bookers and other entertainers. They made a living doing basically the same 7 minute pantomime act for nearly 20 years.
(Adapted by Mike Bounds from family member Jan Hubert's memories and writings on her Facebook page dedicated to her great-aunt and uncle: https://www.facebook.com/Fritz-and-Jean-Hubert-Vaudeville-Memories-109949057340107)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckqDtHDxqXs
Contributor: Mike Bounds (47242326) • [email protected]
William Francis (nicknamed Fritz, later changed to Frank) was born March 30, 1906, the youngest of four children born to Frank and Jeanette (Nettie) Hubert, part of a working class family of German immigrants.
Fritz and his older sister Jean learned dance and acrobatics, and got their start in show business after being discovered by vaudeville dance act and producers Fanchon and Marco, who put them in one of their shows and off they went around the country. A newspaper clipping from March 23, 1927 in Oakland Ca, mentions them performing in F&M's show called "Ideas of Golf".
Fritz and Jean created the "Realistic Inebriatest" act, portraying two inebriated tuxedoed gentlemen, and traveled the country under various different producers and tour companies over their career, performing in Publix theaters, Keith's, Orpheum and many others. Their first appearance at Keith's Palace in New York was in April of 1930. The week they opened there, Fritz's wife Alice, who was a dancer, gave birth to Stanley Francis Hubert, in Minneapolis. Fritz and Alice were divorced sometime around 1935 and Fritz then married Virginia Paganini, also a dancer and they had a daughter JoJean in 1936. JoJean was named after Virginia's sister Joanne and Fritz's sister Jean
Fritz and Jean shared the bill with many of the legends of the time, including Abbott and Costello, Gypsy Rose Lee, Milton Berle, Bert Lahr, Ginger Rogers, Dinah Shore, Benny Goodman, and Kate Smith, just to name a few. They played the London Palladium and the Kit Kat Klub and toured Europe in 1930 and 1938.
Fritz and Jean were becoming popular on the vaudeville circuits, sometimes doing 11 shows a day, but it was taking a terrible toll on Fritz's body, and he suffered many, many injuries; as early as 1929, he injured his knee so badly the show was cancelled for a week, and then when he went back on, he was still hurt. The most famous story of his injuring himself was at their debut at the Palace Theater in 1930. This story has been recounted in the book "The Palace" by Marian Spitzer:
"Peter Lind Hayes had what he accurately refers to as a bloody debut at the Palace. He was sixteen at the time and not too interested in his great opportunity. His mother, affectionately known as Hazy, was far more nervous than he as they stood in the wings ready to go. The act immediately ahead of them was a brother and sister team named Fritz and Jean Hubert. Fritz finished with a knockabout comedy fall that propelled him clear across the stage. "To break the fall", Peter remembers, "Fritz hurled himself headlong into the main curtain, where Hazy's piano was waiting to be pushed onstage." Result: an unconscious and badly bleeding comedian and a hysterical sister." Fritz was knocked unconscious and had ten stitches. He was forever superstitious about playing the Palace, even though they played it two more times.
In 1932 Fritz co-starred with Roscoe Arbuckle in some shorts produced by Warner Brothers to try to restart Roscoe's career after the tragic scandal that had ruined it. While the scripts of these short films were pretty flimsy, they were enough for Warner Brothers to sign him to a contract for feature films to possibly turn them into the next Laurel & Hardy. Fritz idolized Stan Laurel and even named his son after him. The night he signed his contract, he went out with friends to celebrate, saying it was the "greatest day of my life" but sadly, Roscoe Arbuckle died in his sleep that night, dashing Fritz's Hollywood career and sending the Hubert siblings back on the road.
They did return to Hollywood in the early 40's and, as a team, they had parts in three feature films: "Stars on Parade" in 1944; "Incendiary Blonde" in 1945; and "Sensations of 1945" which starred Eleanor Powell, and was W.C. Fields' last film.
Fritz was back in Puyallup, WA for the holidays in December 1944, spending time with family after the recent death of his father. Some time on January 2, 1945, Fritz stopped breathing as a result of an accidental overdose of Nembutal combined with alcohol. Fritz's nephew Trafford, who was 19 and had spent much of his youth traveling and living with Fritz and Jean, found him and carried him to the doctor down the street in a panic. The doctor merely got his stethoscope and said "he's gone". William Francis Hubert was 39.
While never big names in Vaudeville, Fritz and Jean Hubert were highly admired and sought after by bookers and other entertainers. They made a living doing basically the same 7 minute pantomime act for nearly 20 years.
(Adapted by Mike Bounds from family member Jan Hubert's memories and writings on her Facebook page dedicated to her great-aunt and uncle: https://www.facebook.com/Fritz-and-Jean-Hubert-Vaudeville-Memories-109949057340107)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckqDtHDxqXs
Contributor: Mike Bounds (47242326) • [email protected]
Fritz and his older sister Jean learned dance and acrobatics, and got their start in show business after being discovered by vaudeville dance act and producers Fanchon and Marco, who put them in one of their shows and off they went around the country. A newspaper clipping from March 23, 1927 in Oakland Ca, mentions them performing in F&M's show called "Ideas of Golf".
Fritz and Jean created the "Realistic Inebriatest" act, portraying two inebriated tuxedoed gentlemen, and traveled the country under various different producers and tour companies over their career, performing in Publix theaters, Keith's, Orpheum and many others. Their first appearance at Keith's Palace in New York was in April of 1930. The week they opened there, Fritz's wife Alice, who was a dancer, gave birth to Stanley Francis Hubert, in Minneapolis. Fritz and Alice were divorced sometime around 1935 and Fritz then married Virginia Paganini, also a dancer and they had a daughter JoJean in 1936. JoJean was named after Virginia's sister Joanne and Fritz's sister Jean
Fritz and Jean shared the bill with many of the legends of the time, including Abbott and Costello, Gypsy Rose Lee, Milton Berle, Bert Lahr, Ginger Rogers, Dinah Shore, Benny Goodman, and Kate Smith, just to name a few. They played the London Palladium and the Kit Kat Klub and toured Europe in 1930 and 1938.
Fritz and Jean were becoming popular on the vaudeville circuits, sometimes doing 11 shows a day, but it was taking a terrible toll on Fritz's body, and he suffered many, many injuries; as early as 1929, he injured his knee so badly the show was cancelled for a week, and then when he went back on, he was still hurt. The most famous story of his injuring himself was at their debut at the Palace Theater in 1930. This story has been recounted in the book "The Palace" by Marian Spitzer:
"Peter Lind Hayes had what he accurately refers to as a bloody debut at the Palace. He was sixteen at the time and not too interested in his great opportunity. His mother, affectionately known as Hazy, was far more nervous than he as they stood in the wings ready to go. The act immediately ahead of them was a brother and sister team named Fritz and Jean Hubert. Fritz finished with a knockabout comedy fall that propelled him clear across the stage. "To break the fall", Peter remembers, "Fritz hurled himself headlong into the main curtain, where Hazy's piano was waiting to be pushed onstage." Result: an unconscious and badly bleeding comedian and a hysterical sister." Fritz was knocked unconscious and had ten stitches. He was forever superstitious about playing the Palace, even though they played it two more times.
In 1932 Fritz co-starred with Roscoe Arbuckle in some shorts produced by Warner Brothers to try to restart Roscoe's career after the tragic scandal that had ruined it. While the scripts of these short films were pretty flimsy, they were enough for Warner Brothers to sign him to a contract for feature films to possibly turn them into the next Laurel & Hardy. Fritz idolized Stan Laurel and even named his son after him. The night he signed his contract, he went out with friends to celebrate, saying it was the "greatest day of my life" but sadly, Roscoe Arbuckle died in his sleep that night, dashing Fritz's Hollywood career and sending the Hubert siblings back on the road.
They did return to Hollywood in the early 40's and, as a team, they had parts in three feature films: "Stars on Parade" in 1944; "Incendiary Blonde" in 1945; and "Sensations of 1945" which starred Eleanor Powell, and was W.C. Fields' last film.
Fritz was back in Puyallup, WA for the holidays in December 1944, spending time with family after the recent death of his father. Some time on January 2, 1945, Fritz stopped breathing as a result of an accidental overdose of Nembutal combined with alcohol. Fritz's nephew Trafford, who was 19 and had spent much of his youth traveling and living with Fritz and Jean, found him and carried him to the doctor down the street in a panic. The doctor merely got his stethoscope and said "he's gone". William Francis Hubert was 39.
While never big names in Vaudeville, Fritz and Jean Hubert were highly admired and sought after by bookers and other entertainers. They made a living doing basically the same 7 minute pantomime act for nearly 20 years.
(Adapted by Mike Bounds from family member Jan Hubert's memories and writings on her Facebook page dedicated to her great-aunt and uncle: https://www.facebook.com/Fritz-and-Jean-Hubert-Vaudeville-Memories-109949057340107)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckqDtHDxqXs
Contributor: Mike Bounds (47242326) • [email protected]
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