Roger Imhof vaudeville, variety, circus, and movie scrapbooks, 1816-1952, bulk 1890-1950
Collection context
Summary
- Extent:
- 7 Linear Feet (48 volumes in seven boxes)
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item] Roger Imhof Vaudeville, variety, circus, and movie scrapbooks, M0611, Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Background
- Scope and content:
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A pictorial documentation of American entertainment from vaudeville through Hollywood's golden age. Includes songs and lyrics by Roger Imhof.
Broadly speaking, there are four types of material in the albums. The first consists of advertisements, programs, and other ephemera from vaudeville beginning around the 1890s, with scattered earlier examples. The second are images of 1940s film stars, taken from movie magazines. Some of these albums also have silent era actors and vaideville stars also pasted in. Thirdly, a small set of scrapbooks consists of bound copies of magazines. Most include some reference to or writing by Imhof. And lastly, there are several albums primarily devoted to Imhof's own musings and theater historiography.
- Biographical / historical:
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Frederick Roger Imhof (August 15, 1875 – April 15, 1958) was an actor, vaudeville, burlesque and circus performer, sketch writer, and songwriter who toured in vaudeville and burlesque between 1895 and 1930. Imhof was born in Rock Island, Illinois to Nicholas Imhoff, from Switzerland, and Susan McCluen Imhoff, from Ireland. Imhof began his career as a clown with the Mills Orton Circus, and later gained fame specializing in Irish caricature. By 1897, he teamed with Charles Osborne in a comedy contortion and acrobatics act. Around this time, he dropped the second "f" from his last name.
In the 1902–1903 season, he began working with partner Hugh Conn, an association that lasted at least through the 1920s. Marcel Corinne (died 1977), sometimes spelled Coreene, joined the act sometime in the 1910s. She and Imhof married in 1913. The trio of Imhof, Conn and Corinne toured in two comic sketches, "The Pest House" and "Surgeon Louder, U.S.A.", the latter a military comedy Imhof had written. In addition to touring as Imhof, Conn & Corinne, Imhof toured with a number of larger vaudeville and burlesque companies, including Robie's Knickerbockers. In 1923, he appeared in the Broadway play Jack and Jill.
Imhof reportedly invested heavily in real estate but lost most of his money in the stock market during the Depression. As vaudeville and live theater gave way to motion pictures, he became involved in the film industry, and he maintained ties with Hollywood even as he became a successful banker in Chicago after his retirement from the stage. As an actor, he appeared in small roles in more than fifty films from 1932 to 1944, including San Francisco (1936), Drums Along the Mohawk (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and This Gun for Hire (1942). Of the songs he composed, eleven are extant, including the 1906 "Old Broadway." Imhof died on his birthday on April 15, 1958.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of Samuel Stark, 1964.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Access and use
- Restrictions:
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Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.
- Terms of access:
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While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns. Some of these materials are believed to be in the public domain. There are no restrictions on use of public domain materials.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item] Roger Imhof Vaudeville, variety, circus, and movie scrapbooks, M0611, Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
- Location of this collection:
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Department of Special Collections, Green Library557 Escondido MallStanford, CA 94305-6004, US
- Contact:
- (650) 725-1022