Henry (“Hank”) Ladd (December 12, 1908 – June 9, 1982) was an American actor and writer of radio, film and stage.

Life and career

Ladd was born on December 12, 1908, in Chicago, Illinois.[1] He was an actor and writer, known for Las Vegas Nights (1941), The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950), and The Jackie Gleason Show (1966). He was a comedian and monologist on radio, nightclubs, TV, stage and film, known for his dry, sardonic delivery. He performed in vaudeville, nightclubs and commercials, and wrote books and TV scripts ("The Judy Canova Show"). Ladd appeared in USO tours and appeared in the musical revue "Along Fifth Avenue" in 1949. He appeared on Jackie Gleason's show "Jackie Gleason and His American Scene Magazine" and also served as a writer on the show.

On Broadway, he appeared in Angel in the Wings (1947) as a monologist and master of ceremonies and he also wrote some of the sketches for the show.[2] Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times writing about the show said, "To tell the truth, there isn't much else in it except Hank Ladd, a saturnine-looking wag who can make a mildly spoken story sound hilarious and does."[3]

Ladd was married to Francetta Malloy, an actress, who died on July 17, 1978.[4] He died on June 9, 1982, in Redwood City, Near Los Angeles California.[1]

Radio programs

He was one of three comedians to play Beetle the ghost on The Phil Baker Show for the CBS and NBC Radio Networks from 1931 to 1939 in Chicago. His other radio shows included Columbia Workshop (#149), a radio play by William Saroyan, which aired August 10, 1939; he was a member of a comedy team with Bert Wheeler that was featured on The New Old Gold Show for NBC-BLUE (1941-1942); Command Performance (#30), starring Bing Crosby, James Cagney, and Larry Adler, which aired August 30, 1942; and The Judy Canova Show episode "A Quiet Christmas Party", which aired December 21, 1946. He was the host of The Arrow Show on NBC-TV (1949)[5] and appeared in Waiting for The Break on NBC-TV (1950).[6][7]

Film

Stage appearances

In the 1940s, he appeared in the following Broadway musicals:

References

  1. 1 2 "Hank Ladd – Broadway Cast & Staff". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  2. ↑ Chapman, John Ed. (1948). The Burns Mantle Best Plays of 1947-1948. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company. p. 368.
  3. ↑ "The Hartmans and Hank Ladd in an Entertaining Musical Revue". The New York Times. 21 December 1947. p. 162.
  4. ↑ "Francetta Malloy – Broadway Cast & Staff |". Internet Broadway Database.
  5. ↑ "The Arrow Show". IMDb.
  6. ↑ "Waiting for the Break". IMDb.
  7. ↑ "Waiting for the Break".
  8. ↑ Crowther, Bosley (1941-03-20). "Movie Review - Las Vegas Nights - 'Las Vegas Nights' Shown at the Paramount - 'The Monster and the Girl' at Loew's Criterion - 'Sleepers West' at Palace". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-03-17.
  9. ↑ "Laffing Time". IMDb.
  10. ↑ "The Errand Boy (1961)". 20/20 Reviews. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  11. ↑ Bordman, Gerald (1978). American Musical Theatre. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 531.
  12. ↑ "Priorities of 1943 Will Open Tonight". The New York Times. 15 September 1942. p. 18.
  13. ↑ Dietz, Dan (2015). The Complete Book of 1940s Broadway Musicals. New York: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 411–413.
  14. ↑ Chapman, John Ed (1949). The Burns Mantle Best Plays of 1948–1949. New York: Dodd,Mead and Company. pp. 406–407.
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