Herman Timberg

Herman Timberg (April 18, 1891 – April 16, 1952) was a Broadway performer, composer, and book writer, as well as a vaudevillian, actor, and songwriter who worked across nearly every area of show business. Born into a Jewish family of Austrian origin, he was the brother of composer Sammy Timberg and the uncle of journalist Robert Timberg.

Timberg's performing career began in his teenage years as a member of Gus Edwards's youth acting troupe, where he performed in the one-act sketch comedy Primary No. 23. Critics who saw the group on tour took notice of the young performer. A reviewer in Chicago in 1907 observed that Timberg displayed genuine comedic talent, while a critic at the Alhambra Theatre in Los Angeles singled him out as the standout of the company, citing his singing voice, dancing ability, and natural comic instincts. By 1911, he had earned the distinction of performing a solo song within the troupe's act, delivering "Love Me to a Yiddsha Melody."

His first solo vaudeville attempt in 1912 drew mixed notices, with at least one critic suggesting he move away from Jewish character work toward a more broadly accessible persona. The following year, on November 26, 1913, he married Hazel Rosenbloom, who performed under the stage name Hazel Rosewood as a dancer. Beginning around 1920, Timberg frequently partnered with other performers, including his sister Hattie Darling, with whom he performed a sixteen-minute act called "Little Bits" at the Palace Theatre. The act incorporated violin playing, dancing, and vocal imitations of performers including Al Jolson, Lew Fields, and George M. Cohan. By 1924, his comedy dancing had become a particular audience draw, with Variety reporting that encores prevented him from continuing with the violin.

On Broadway, Timberg appeared in productions spanning 1908 to 1920. He starred in School Days and appeared in the revues Doing Our Bit, The Show of Wonders, and Tick-Tack-Toe. By 1922, he had founded the Herman Timberg Producing Company, which sought outside financial backing in exchange for a share of his profits. That year the company's backers, which included baseball magnate Garry Herrmann and Sol Gilsey among others from Cincinnati, filed suit seeking an accounting of receipts from Tick-Tack-Toe and the return of $40,000 they had advanced him. Billboard reported that an amicable settlement was expected.

In the fall of 1929, Timberg announced rehearsals for Take It Easy, a show he wrote with music composed by his brother Sammy. The production was scheduled for tryouts in Brooklyn and Newark, with a possible Broadway opening in October 1929, and was notable for a planned broadcast over radio station WLTH. The Broadway opening did not occur, a result attributed in part to the Wall Street crash of 1929, in which Timberg reportedly lost a substantial portion of his savings.

His subsequent career continued across multiple areas. In 1931 he wrote and appeared in the MGM short film Ambitious People. In 1933 he appeared in Laff It Off alongside his son Herman Timberg Jr., who later performed as the comedian Tim Herbert, as well as Pat Rooney and his son Pat Jr. That same year he presented a new version of his skit "The Laugh Factory" at the Metropolitan Theatre, again featuring his son along with Audrey Parker, Leo Chalzel, and Oliver Harris. His June 1934 appearance at the Palace Theatre in a 53-minute act called Temptations drew reviews noting both his tested comic routines and the act's pacing issues. In 1936 he was engaged to adapt the London musical Yes, Madam for Broadway by producers Jack Curtis and Carleton Hoagland, though the project did not come to fruition. Similarly, a 1946 casting call listed him as co-author of Knickerbocker's Children alongside Ben Levinson, a project that also did not advance.

In 1949, Timberg was performing with the Graham Sisters, with Variety noting that he had retained his skills in dancing, comedy, and violin playing. One of his final stage appearances took place at the Palace Theatre, where, nearly blind, he performed an energetic act with a female partner that required fast movement and trick violin playing to strong audience reception. He was known throughout his career for a signature comic exit called the Timberg "crawl-off," in which he left the stage on all fours. At the end of his life, Timberg was residing at the Greystone Hotel at 212 West 91st Street in Manhattan. He died on April 16, 1952, at Memorial Hospital in New York City following a prolonged illness.