Morton Mayo

Morton Mayo was a vaudeville dance and comedy duo active from approximately the 1920s through the 1940s, best known for a comedic artificial horse act featuring a character called Pansy the Horse. The partnership was built around Andy Mayo, born Andrew C. Guariglia on August 1, 1901, in Italy, whose family emigrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1903 and settled at 1330 Moore Street in South Philadelphia. Mayo took his stage name from his mother's maiden name, DiMaio, became a naturalized United States citizen in 1918, and began his vaudeville career that same year. The "Morton" half of the act was performed by two different individuals across the duo's history: Al Morton from 1923 to 1931, and Nonnie Morton from 1931 to 1942.

Al Morton was born Dominic Colafrancesco on January 30, 1899, the fourth of five children born to Italian immigrants Joseph and Filomena Colafrancesco of 602 League Street, Philadelphia. He built a career as a singer, actor, and dancer touring the United States from the early 1920s. In 1927 he married Antoinette Gelone and appeared in the Morton and Stanley Revue. During the first phase of Morton and Mayo, the duo performed on a variety of vaudeville stages across the country, including engagements on the Orpheum Circuit. In 1925 they were featured at Chicago's Frolics Cafe in Frivolous Frolics and toured the United States as Two Nuts Left Over from Xmas. The following year they traveled to Hawaii as the featured act in Maurice Kusel's Melody Maid Revue at the Hawaii Theatre in Honolulu.

In 1930 the act evolved into a three-person format, with Al Morton performing in the front of a two-person artificial horse costume, Andy Mayo in the rear, and a female performer serving as the horse's trainer. The centerpiece of this configuration was a Paramount Publix Theaters production devised and directed by Boris Petroff, modeled after Noah's Ark and titled Noah's Lark. The production toured the United States during the latter half of 1930, opening in New York City, where a then-rising Ethel Merman performed with the show at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater. The Pansy the Horse act commanded earnings of as much as $550 per week in 1931. After Morton and Mayo parted ways that year, Al Morton continued in a comparable act featuring a horse character called Sparkplug. His health declined in 1933, and he gradually withdrew from vaudeville. He died on July 4, 1937, at the age of 38.

Nonnie Morton, born Dominic Anthony Rebecca on July 5, 1913, in Philadelphia to Anthony and Rachel Rebecca, was recruited by Andy Mayo directly out of high school in 1931 to assume the front-of-horse role previously held by Al Morton. Andy's wife Florence Mayo joined the act as the horse's trainer. Under this second configuration, Morton and Mayo toured Europe in 1937 and in 1942 performed at Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe club in New York. The duo's Broadway credit dates to 1941, when they appeared in the musical Banjo Eyes. In 1938, while Florence was attending to the birth of her first child, Mayo discovered Virginia Mayo in St. Louis to temporarily fill the trainer role. Andy Mayo, Florence Mayo, and Virginia Mayo were subsequently featured together in the 1939 musical short Gallons and Guys. Nonnie Morton enlisted in the United States Army on January 23, 1943, and served overseas from April 28, 1945, to March 2, 1946, before being released on March 9, 1946. During his service he performed in vaudeville shows, including Pennsylvania on Parade, to raise money for war bonds. Nonnie Morton died on April 26, 2003, in Killeen, Texas.

Andy Mayo's later career included appearances in film. In 1944 he and Florence were featured as Pansy in the feature film Take It Big, co-starring Jack Haley and Ozzie Nelson. That same year, Pansy appeared in the short film Jazz on the Screen, later released into the public domain. Mayo went on to manage the career of Virginia Mayo as her film work gained prominence in 1943. Andy Mayo died in Orange County, California, on September 11, 1983, at the age of 82.