Tuesday, June 14, 2022

"Casey at the Bat" - DeWolf Hopper (1922)


Not to go too far down the "Casey at the Bat" rabbit hole, but the poem was most associated with vaudeville performer DeWolf Hopper, who first recited it on stage in 1888 and continued to so so thousands of times until his death in 1935.

Fortunately, Hopper recorded "Casey at the Bat" or Victor Records in 1906:


Still very engaging!

Perhaps even more noteworthy is that DeWolf Hopper also recited the poem in a very early sound film in 1922:




That's just fascinating! 

The sound on film process used to capture this performance didn't catch on, but films such as this are fascinating little windows into the past!

Another notable contribution to the entertainment world from DeWolf Hopper was the result of his marriage to Hedda Hopper, the wannabe actress who became a noted gossip columnist.

Their son William Hopper gained fame as detective "Paul Drake" on the CBS TV series "Perry Mason":



No comments:

Post a Comment

Popular (For Some Reason) Posts: