B. S. Pully

B. S. Pully, born Murray Lerman on May 14, 1910, in Newark, New Jersey, was a nightclub comedian and stage actor whose Broadway career spanned from 1950 to 1953. He is best known for originating the role of Big Jule in the musical Guys and Dolls, a performance he sustained for more than 1,000 Broadway appearances.

Pully began his career on the Borscht Belt circuit, working in the burlesque comedy tradition and performing as part of a duo with a partner billed as H. S. Gump — the initials of both acts carrying deliberately crude meanings. The pair performed at a small nightclub in the Catskill Mountains unaffiliated with any hotel. Entertainer Freddie Roman, in an interview with historian Kliph Nesteroff, described Pully as a low-class burlesque comic whose fortunes changed dramatically when he was cast in Guys and Dolls. Pully was also recognized for his blue humor and a thick, gravelly voice.

Before his Broadway breakthrough, Pully worked briefly under contract to 20th Century-Fox in 1944 and 1945, appearing in 13 feature films during that period. Among those roles were a tough-guy quiz-show contestant in Take It or Leave It (1944), a gruff Christmas-tree vendor in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), and Joe the Bartender in Nob Hill (1945).

His origination of the Big Jule role in the original Broadway production of Guys and Dolls brought him widespread recognition, and he reprised the character in the 1955 film adaptation. He continued working in New York, appearing in guest roles on the New York-based television series Car 54, Where Are You?

Pully died of a heart attack at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on January 6, 1972, at the age of 61. He was buried at Cedar Park Cemetery in Emerson, New Jersey.