Biography
Born in Newark, New Jersey, to parents who had immigrated from Austria-Hungary and Poland, the three siblings later known as the Ritz Brothers bore the surname Joachim. Al entered the world on 27 August 1901 and died 22 December 1965 in New Orleans, Louisiana; Jimmy arrived 5 October 1904 and passed on 17 November 1985 in Los Angeles, California; Harry was born 22 May 1907 and died 29 March 1986 in San Diego, California. With brother George serving as manager, the trio launched a dance-and-comedy act in 1925 that soon found favor on Broadway in Earl Carroll’s Florida Girl and on subsequent tours of the Shubert Brothers’ circuit. ‘Collegiate’ served as their theme song, while ‘The Man In The Middle Is The Funny One’ spotlighted Harry. They also joined early-1930s editions of the Earl Carroll Vanities. After completing the 1934 short Hotel Anchovy, they moved to 20th Century-Fox, where studio executives hoped they might rival the Marx Brothers. Their Fox output included Sing, Baby, Sing (1936), which featured ‘The Music Goes Round And Round’, One In A Million (with Sonja Henie and the brothers’ performances of ‘Horror Boys Of Hollywood’, ‘Chloe’, ‘I Wish I Was In Dixie’s Land’, ‘Old Folks At Home’, ‘My Old Kentucky Home’ and ‘Toreador Song’), On The Avenue (in which they joined Alice Faye and Dick Powell on ‘I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm’), You Can’t Have Everything and Life Begins In College (both 1937), The Goldwyn Follies (containing ‘Here, Pussy, Pussy’), Kentucky Moonshine and Straight Place And Show (both 1938), plus The Three Musketeers, The Gorilla and Pack Up Your Troubles (all 1939). Although their anarchic sketches and musical sequences frequently succeeded, the Ritz Brothers attained only modest fame and transferred to Universal, where they completed Argentine Nights (1940), Behind The Eight Ball (1942), Hi’ya, Chum and Never A Dull Moment (both 1943). Thereafter the trio abandoned motion pictures and returned to live performance, remaining on the road until Al’s death. They made scant television appearances; Harry publicly questioned whether the medium suited their brand of humor. Jimmy and Harry later appeared in Blazing Stewardesses (1975) and Won Ton Ton, The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976), while Harry alone featured in Mel Brooks’ Silent Movie (1975). Brooks has cited Harry as a formative influence on his own work, and other entertainers who have acknowledged the Ritz Brothers’ impact include Sid Caesar, Danny Kaye and Jerry Lewis.