Introduction
Al Shaw (June 1, 1902 – March 13, 1985) was a Polish-born American comedian and film/stage actor active from the late 1920s through the late 1950s. He formed a comedy duo with actor Sam Lee (real name Samuel Levy, 1891–1980), and the two appeared in several movies such as The Beau Brummels (1928), Going Places (1930), and Hunting Trouble (1933).
Life and career
Al Shaw was born Albert Schultzman on June 1, 1902, in Poland.
He made his screen debut in 1928, appearing alongside Sam Lee in The Beau Brummels. It was Lee's debut as well. From then on, the comedy duo of Shaw and Lee was seen in 15 movies over a period of next thirty years. Their theatrics presented them as equally silly, with Shaw, the shorter and slighter of the two, in a goofier persona to Lee's straight-man character.
Their debut was followed by Murray Roth's comedy Going Places (1930). In 1934, Shaw and Lee were seen in Joseph Santley's Young and Beautiful, starring William Haines, Judith Allen, and Joseph Cawthorn.
In 1938, he played Shane with Lee (as Trilby) in Otis Garrett's crime/mystery The Last Express, starring Kent Taylor, Dorothea Kent, and Greta Granstedt.
Shaw's last film credit was Sam Newfield's comedy Skipalong Rosenbloom (1951,) with Lee, Maxie Rosenbloom, Max Baer, Jackie Coogan, and Fuzzy Knight. This was also the last credit of Lee.
In 1958, Shaw (and Lee) had a minor, uncredited role in Hal Kanter's comedy-drama I Married a Woman. Shaw played a TV repairman while Lee played an elevator repairman.
Filmography (with Lee)
- The Beau Brummels (1928, short film)
- Going Places (1930, short film)
- Young and Beautiful (1934)
- Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1934)
- You Belong to Me (1934)
- Gentlemen of Polish (1934, short film)
- I Live for Love (1935)
- King of Burlesque (1936)
- In Paris, A.W.O.L. (1936)
- The King and the Chorus Girl (1937)
- Ready, Willing and Able (1937)
- The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1939)
- Under Western Skies (1945)
- Hollywood Varieties (1950)
- Skipalong Rosenbloom (1951)
- I Married a Woman (1958)
Personal life
Shaw was married to Victoria Berkowitz.
Death
Shaw passed away on March 13, 1985, in Westminster, California, at the age of 82.