Tuesday, December 5, 1967
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
7
Comedian Bert Lahr, 72, dies in New York
NEW YORK —(UPI)— The performance of comedian Bert Lahr in the film he was making when he died was "too exquisite" to cut altogether, the producer said, even though it might interfere with the continuity of the picture.
Producer Norman Lear made the comment about Lahr's scenes in "The Night They Raided Minsky's," which the veteran comic was making when he was hospitalized Nov. 22 for a back ailment.
Lahr, 72, starring in the film with Jason Robards and Britt Ekland, later developed pneumonia and his death Monday was attributed to a massive intestinal hemorrhage.
Lahr, who played the cowardly lion who burst into tears when someone tweaked his whiskers in "The Wizard of Oz," had come
full circle in his comic career at the time of his death.
He was working on location in the old Gaiety Theater on lower Second Avenue where he had often appeared in vaudeville and burlsque when he first broke into show business.
In addition to vaudeville and burlesque, he appeared in Broadway musicals, stock companies, radio, television and films. He began his career at the age of 18 as a $35-a-week comedian and within seven weeks had boosted his earnings to $165 a week as a dumb Dutch cop.
Lahr is survived by his second wife, the former Mildred Schroeder, a son by his first marriage, and a son and daughter by his second wife. Funeral services are Wednesday in New York.
Prof present, LBJ signs
A KU professor was present Monday when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed HR 6430 into law.
For John V. Irwin, the Roy A. Robarts distinguished professor of speech pathology and audiology, the signing of the "mental retardation bill" signified the results of many hours and years of work.
Irwin, who came to KU from Wisconsin in 1966, has served for the past five years as chairman of the program-project committee of the National Institute of Dental Research and as a consultant for the National Institutes of Health, the Neurological and
Sensory Disease Service Program, the Office of Education and the Vocational Rehabilitation Agency. In January, he will assume additional duties as president of the American Speech and Hearing Association.
A native of Muskogee, Okla., Irwin earned the B.A. degree and membership in Phi Beta Kappa at Ohio State University in 1937, and the M.A. there in 1940. He was awarded the Ph.D., in 1947 by the University of Wisconsin.
As a Roy A. Roberts professor, Irwin receives the income on a 100,000 endowment in addition to his regular salary.
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