Background
Charles Marks Dale was born on September 6, 1881 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York, United States into a Jewish working-class family.
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Actor comedian vaudeville performer
Charles Marks Dale was born on September 6, 1881 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York, United States into a Jewish working-class family.
The little schooling Dale obtained was at P. S. 20, alma mater of Edward G. Robinson, Paul Muni, George and Ira Gershwin, and Jacob Javits. He never graduated, but he was awarded honorary alumnus status in 1963.
In 1898 Dale was working as a printer's apprentice when he was involved in a bicycle accident with Joseph Seltzer on the corner of Eldridge and Delancey streets. The resulting argument led to a ride on a tandem bike with Seltzer and initiated a partnership that lasted seventy-three years.
Seltzer and Marks's first engagement was a stag party on March 15, 1899, which netted them $3. They performed regularly at saloons in the Bowery or on Coney Island, working at Childs' Cafeteria between engagements. A quarter's investment provided them with business cards refused by another act, and thus Seltzer and Marks became known as Smith and Dale in 1900. That December, they joined the Imperial Vaudeville and Comedy Company in Roundout, New York--they worked the "Borscht Belt" before it was named--and developed their first classic routine, "The Schoolroom. "
Returning to New York, they joined with pianist Will Lester and tenor John Coleman to form the Avon Comedy Four, the most successful of more than 300 quartets then touring the vaudeville circuit. Personnel in the quartet changed many times over the next forty years, but Smith (the tough) and Dale (the "Dutchman") were constants. Exactly which partner contributed more to their skits can never be known; both agree they worked together for the good of the act.
In 1902 the Avon Four were booked into the Atlantic Garden in the Bowery at a splendid salary of $60 per week. Rarely out of work afterward, they were headliners who in 1904 introduced the "New Schoolteacher" skit to audiences; the Clipper reported "there are no dull moments. " Their famous "Dr. Kronkhite" skit first appeared in 1906 on the stage of Hammerstein's Victoria Theatre on Forty-second street; it went on to become the most performed comedy act of all time.
In 1908 the first Avons broke up when Lester left and was replaced by Irving Kaufman. After several national tours on vaudeville circuits, the Avons in 1909 took on New York's "blue laws" prohibiting Sunday performances. A judge, confused by a description of their routine, decided "they have no act, " and dismissed the case; as a consequence the ban on Sunday performances ended. The troupe then became the first major American vaudeville group to tour England and soon anticipated yet another cultural change by recording their skits and songs. In 1914 they headlined the first all-American show at London's Finsbury Park Empire Theatre. The fame of the group spread as classic skits including "Hungarian Rhapsody, " "Venetian Nights, " and "The Realestaters" were added to their repertoire. As a vaudeville headliner, the Avons were successful even as smaller theater chains (Keith-Albee) were supplanted by larger ones (Shubert/Erlanger).
When Smith and Dale began their Broadway career in The Passing Show (1919), they created sub-Avon Fours who continued to tour. To support the Actors' Equity strike of August 1919 against the Shuberts, they left the Winter Garden and performed at a rival Keith theater. For many years Dale served on the Board of the American Guild of Variety Artists, where he fought for better wages and conditions for all actors. On Broadway, the team performed in additional Passing Shows, Earl Carroll's Vanities; The Sidewalks of New York; Crazy Quilt; Mendel, Inc. ; and The Sky's the Limit, among others.
As late as 1962 the octogenarian duo appeared in Old Bucks and New Wings, but legitimate theater was never their true milieu. Even during the 1920's, the theater world marveled at the team's longevity and understood that the partners never had a serious quarrel. One memorable day in 1922 they performed before President Warren Harding in the afternoon and ex-president Woodrow Wilson in the evening. Another president, Harry Truman, remembered seeing the team perform while he was working as a theater usher in Kansas City in 1905.
Dale lived quietly with his wife in Worcester, Massachussets, when not performing, but the team's professional success continued even after the Avons disbanded for good in the 1920's. Dale lost track of how many times he and Smith "played the Palace" in New York, and the team led the bill at London's Palladium in 1929, helped open Radio City Music Hall in 1932, and constantly appeared on radio. One of their skits, "From the Battery to the Bronx, " was filmed as a Paramount short in 1929, and a brief movie career followed; they appeared in Manhattan Parade in 1931 and Heart of New York in 1932. They made many slapstick shorts, but Dale vetoed additional films, preferring Broadway to Hollywood. For their fortieth anniversary, Smith and Dale appeared in Frank Fay's vaudeville show at the Alvin Theatre on March 15, 1939.
Almost as amazing as the duo's longevity was the fact that their act never really changed. Whether it was belligerent patter, exquisite timing, sight gags, or the very familiarity of the route is debatable--but the inevitable result was hilarity. Smith and Dale appeared on Milton Berle's first "Texaco Star Theatre" television show only a month before the Lamb's Club honored their fiftieth anniversary in 1948. By then the Dales resided on West Fifty-fifth street, so it was easy for the team to reopen vaudeville at the Palace with Judy Garland in October 1951, to appear with Ed Sullivan, and to enjoy a sixtieth anniversary fete attended by Mayor Robert Wagner in 1958.
After the team's seventieth anniversary party in 1968, Charlie joined Smith in residence at the Actor's Fund Home in Englewood, New Jersey. The duo's last professional appearance was on Ed Sullivan's show in November 1969.
Dale was a part of the legendary comedy team of "Smith and Dale, " which entertained the crowds with such skits as "Hungarian Rhapsody", "Dr. Kronkheit", and appeared several times on "The Ed Sullivan Show. " Their partnership had lasted for 73 years. They were also the inspiration for Neil Simon's film "The Sunshine Boys. "
Quotes from others about the person
Brooks Atkinson praised the comic pair with these words: "They are professional performers, acting two low comedy parts with style, authority and abandon. Don't change your act for at least 50 years. "
Dale married Molly Cahill in 1908; their childless union lasted sixty years, surviving endless tours and three wars.
