Sam Bernard
Encyclopedia
Sam Bernard was a renowned stage, film and vaudeville
star. He also performed comic opera
and burlesque
.
At the beginning of his acting career in vaudeville
, Bernard went by Samuel Barnet, which was his given name; he changed his surname to 'Bernard' as he considered it "more ethnic." He began to explore acting in motion pictures in 1915, after he was signed to the Triangle Film Corporation
.
Bernard was one of the first stars to collaborate with Weber & Fields
, and was also reported to have performed with the historic Lucier Comedy Company.
He died of apoplexy
while aboard the SS Columbus
after its departure from New York enroute to Europe.
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
star. He also performed comic opera
Comic opera
Comic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...
and burlesque
Burlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
.
At the beginning of his acting career in vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
, Bernard went by Samuel Barnet, which was his given name; he changed his surname to 'Bernard' as he considered it "more ethnic." He began to explore acting in motion pictures in 1915, after he was signed to the Triangle Film Corporation
Triangle Film Corporation
Triangle Film Corporation was a major American motion-picture studio, founded in the summer of 1915 in Culver City, California, and envisioned as a prestige studio based on the producing abilities of filmmakers D. W. Griffith, Thomas Ince and Mack Sennett...
.
Bernard was one of the first stars to collaborate with Weber & Fields
Lew Fields
Lew Fields , born as Moses Schoenfeld, was an American actor, comedian, vaudeville star, theatre manager and producer....
, and was also reported to have performed with the historic Lucier Comedy Company.
He died of apoplexy
Apoplexy
Apoplexy is a medical term, which can be used to describe 'bleeding' in a stroke . Without further specification, it is rather outdated in use. Today it is used only for specific conditions, such as pituitary apoplexy and ovarian apoplexy. In common speech, it is used non-medically to mean a state...
while aboard the SS Columbus
SS Columbus (1924)
The Columbus, laid down before the start of World War I, was originally to be named Hindenburg. However, her then-sister, originally named Columbus, was handed over to the White Star Line after the war as part of reparations in 1920. The Allies allowed the Norddeutscher Lloyd , her owners, to keep...
after its departure from New York enroute to Europe.
Acting credits
Some of the movies he was featured in include:- A Janitor's Wife's Temptation (1915)
- Because He Loved Her (1915)
- Fatty And The Broadway Stars (1915)
- Poor Schmaltz (1915)
- The Great Pearl Tangle (1916)
- Call A Cop (1921)