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Harry Steppe
Harry Steppe (born Abraham Stepner, March 16, 1888[Abe Stepner's obituary, "Feature News," Billboard magazine, Dec. 1, 1934, pg 5.] was a Jewish[-American actor, musical comedy performer][, headliner][, writer][, director and producer ][, who toured North America working in Vaudeville][Theatre Magazine, edited by Arthur Hornblow, Stewart Beach, W. J. Thorold, et al., 1930, v.51-52, pg. 36. Excerpt: "In fact, Harry Steppe, one of the leading burlesque comedians, remarked to me the other day that there is more to be seen on the streets today than there..."]. Steppe performed at several well-known theaters on the Columbia[ circuits. As one of Bud Abbott's first partners]["Abbott and Costello in Hollywood," by Bob Furmanek and Ron Palumbo, 1991, Page 18. Excerpt: "Bud was now working with comedian Harry Steppe, who originated the famous 'Lemon Bit'...It was the 'Lemon Bit' that Bud had done with Harry Steppe. When Bud and Lou crossed paths in burlesque in the mid-1930s, Bud staged the routine for Lou. After the boys teamed up, they reprised the 'Lemon Bit'..."]["Lou's on First: The Tragic Life of Hollywood's Greatest Clown Warmly Recounted by His Youngest Child," by Chris Costello, St. Martin's Griffin, 1982, pg.23. ISBN 0-312-49914-0. Excerpt: "Backstage between shows Bud would do skits with Dad (Lou) that he had done with Harry Steppe -- a very clever Jewish comedian who was the creator of the famous "Lemon Bit," which was to be so successful for Bud and Dad (Lou) as a team."][, Harry introduced Bud to Lou Costello in 1934.]
Early Life
Born in Russia to Orthodox Jewish parents, Steppe emigrated from Moscow to the United States through Ellis Island with his family in 1892. Steppe became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1899.[New York Petitions for Naturalization Index 1792-1906 and 1907-1989]
Steppe's father was a tailor.[Twelfth Census of the United States: New Jersey, Schedule I - Population, Year 1900. Retrieved March 20, 2010 from HeritageQuest Online.] His brother Michael was a vocalist.
Steppe lived in Newark, New Jersey[World War I Draft Registration Card 1917-1918, retrieved from Ancestry.com. Notes: Lists his occupation as Actor, employed by the Gaeyty Theater in Chicago, Illinois.] and in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Relationships
Steppe married twice. His first wife Beatrice, an actress in "Razzle Dazzle of 1918," died at the age of 25 from the Spanish flu, the same year they were married. This sudden loss may have contributed to speculation about Harry's personal struggles with depression.[Thomas, Bob. Bud & Lou: the Abbott & Costello story. 1977. Page. 33 & 37. Excerpt: "Bud joined with Harry Steppe, a funny Jewish comic but one subject to spells of melancholia."]
Other paramours of Harry Steppe included Vaudeville performers Victoria "Vic" Dayton, whom he married in 1920[Photo of Harry Steppe and his wife Vic Dayton (Cover), New York Clipper, December 1, 1920.], Edna Raymond and Leona St. Clair. Steppe was often billed with actress Lola Pierce
Career
Known to theater patrons as "The Hebrew Gent,"["The Stage," Toronto Sunday World, Mar 15, 1914, page 29.] Steppe was billed as a Hebrew[ character comedian. One of Steppe's alter egos Ignatz Cohen][ ]
Phil Silvers and others credited Steppe with "introducing the phrase "top banana" into show business jargon in 1927 as a synonym for the top comic on the bill. It rose out of a routine, full of doubletalk, in which three comics tried to share two bananas." Silvers further popularized the term "Top Banana" in his 1951 Broadway musical and 1954 film of the same name. Steppe also claimed to have coined the phrase "Second Banana."
Steppe's sketches were performed by such well-known comedians as Phil Silvers, The Three Stooges[. Although Steppe had penned the "Pokomoko" (aka Niagara Falls) Routine ("Slowly I Turned, step by step, inch by inch...")" and performed it with The Three Stooges, other writers, including fellow Vaudevillians Joey Faye and Samuel Goldman each laid claim to the skit, too. "Lifting" routines from another performer was standard operating procedure][ in the early-to-mid 20th century, and the famed routine was performed, without originator credit, by...]
*The Three Stooges in the movie ''Gents Without Cents'' (1944)
*Abbott and Costello in the movie ''Lost in a Harem'' (1944)
*Lucille Ball in the TV show ''I Love Lucy'' (1951), Season #1, Episode #19 ("The Ballet")
*Abbott and Costello on TV in ''The Abbott and Costello Show'' (1952-1953)
Agents and Management
Harry Steppe was represented by several theatrical agencies during his career, including Cain & Davenport["Harry Steppe - Orpheum," Reading Eagle, Sep 27, 1930, page 14. Excerpt: "That irresistible comedian, Harry Steppe, will hold forth at the Orpheum Theatre for the last time tonight, appearing at the head of his own one that is ...].
Death
When Steppe became gravely ill and unable to work, his friends in show business staged a fundraiser on his behalf[The American Burlesque Show, by Irving Zeidman, Hawthorn Books, 1967. Excerpts: "The chief comic effects by Harry Steppe, it was noted, consisted in hitting other characters across the face with celery stalks. (Page 96)" "The most prominent of the later "Hebe" comics was Harry Steppe, who, ill and destitute in 1935, was the beneficiary of the Harry Steppe Fund, to which many famous stage personalities contributed. (Page 102)" "Harry Steppe had to be the recipient of a public benefit. (Page 215)"], however Steppe died in poverty. Pulmonary edema contributed to Steppe's death, according to his death certificate. He was at Bellevue Hospital in New York, New York for two days and had been ill for a month, according to a story in Variety magazine, Nov. 27, 1934. He is buried in New Jersey.
Stage Productions
Source: Wikipedia