Gene Sheldon (born Eugene Hume; February 1, 1908 – May 1, 1982) was an American actor, mime artist, and musician. He is remembered as the mute servant Bernardo in Walt Disney's live-action Spanish Western series Zorro (1957-1959).
Born in Columbus, Ohio, Sheldon began acting at an early age, serving as stage assistant to his father Earl, a magician. His tasks included appearing as a girl, dressed appropriately but not speaking. He also gained experience as a radio announcer at age 17, broadcasting on Toledo, Ohio radio in 1925.
His film debut was in the 1934 movie Susie's Affairs, as Slug the Banjoist. The next year, he had a small part in the early Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers musical Roberta as a banjo player in the film's band. In the musical number "Let's Begin", he had a short comedy scene tuning the banjo and he idanced in a comedy dance number with Fred Astaire and Candy Candido.[1]
Sheldon appeared in the Broadway revue Priorities of 1942, performing a comedy banjo act in which he did not speak, wearing an outfit resembling the costume of silent film comedian Harry Langdon and mimicking some of Langdon's distinctive gestures.
In the 1950s and 1960s, most of Sheldon's work was on various Walt Disney programs. An often-seen act, in the "Golden Horseshoe Revue" episode of the Walt Disney anthology television series, was as a banjo player who kept getting his fingers stuck in the strings. After several minutes he would finally get them "un-stuck" and play a vigorous riff on his banjo.
His other speaking roles were banjoist Sam Jordan in the 1951 musical Golden Girl, notorious alcoholic Puffo the Clown in Paramount's 1954 film 3 Ring Circus and in Disney's 1960 film Toby Tyler as Sam Treat, a clown and animal trainer who is one of Toby's mentors and protectors. Toby's other protector, gruff wagon driver Ben Cotter, was played by Henry Calvin, who co-starred on Zorro as Sergeant Garcia.
Sheldon starred in Disney's 1961 Christmas film Babes in Toyland as Barnaby's mute henchman, Roderigo. He was teamed with Calvin once more as a kind of ersatz Laurel and Hardy.
Zorro
Sheldon's role was Bernardo, Diego's mute (but not deaf) servant on Zorro. As established in the series' first episode, when Diego de la Vega confides to Bernardo his intention to pretend to be a helpless intellectual rather than a man of action, Bernardo decides to support him by pretending to be deaf. In this way, Bernardo is able to spy for Diego without arousing suspicion. This characterization, an innovation over the deaf-mute Bernardo of the original stories, employed Sheldon's pantomime skills while making the character more integral to the series. William Lava composed Bernardo's humorous music theme. Sheldon reprised the role in four further Zorro adventures that appeared on the Walt Disney anthology television series in 1960-1961.
Personal
Sheldon married Margaret McCann on December 11, 1944 in Las Vegas, Nevada. They had two children. He died from a heart attack. His remains were cremated.
gene, sheldon, born, eugene, hume, february, 1908, 1982, american, actor, mime, artist, musician, remembered, mute, servant, bernardo, walt, disney, live, action, spanish, western, series, zorro, 1957, 1959, bernardo, borneugene, hume, 1908, february, 1908colu. Gene Sheldon born Eugene Hume February 1 1908 May 1 1982 was an American actor mime artist and musician He is remembered as the mute servant Bernardo in Walt Disney s live action Spanish Western series Zorro 1957 1959 Gene SheldonGene Sheldon as Bernardo BornEugene Hume 1908 02 01 February 1 1908Columbus Ohio U S DiedMay 1 1982 1982 05 01 aged 74 Tarzana California U S Years active1934 1970SpouseMargaret McCann m 1944 wbr Children2 Contents 1 Biography and career 1 1 Zorro 2 Personal 3 Filmography 4 References 5 External linksBiography and career EditBorn in Columbus Ohio Sheldon began acting at an early age serving as stage assistant to his father Earl a magician His tasks included appearing as a girl dressed appropriately but not speaking He also gained experience as a radio announcer at age 17 broadcasting on Toledo Ohio radio in 1925 His film debut was in the 1934 movie Susie s Affairs as Slug the Banjoist The next year he had a small part in the early Fred Astaire Ginger Rogers musical Roberta as a banjo player in the film s band In the musical number Let s Begin he had a short comedy scene tuning the banjo and he idanced in a comedy dance number with Fred Astaire and Candy Candido 1 Sheldon appeared in the Broadway revue Priorities of 1942 performing a comedy banjo act in which he did not speak wearing an outfit resembling the costume of silent film comedian Harry Langdon and mimicking some of Langdon s distinctive gestures He appeared in speaking roles as the genie Ali in 20th Century Fox s 1945 films Where Do We Go From Here and the seal trainer Professor Winnup in The Dolly Sisters In the 1950s and 1960s most of Sheldon s work was on various Walt Disney programs An often seen act in the Golden Horseshoe Revue episode of the Walt Disney anthology television series was as a banjo player who kept getting his fingers stuck in the strings After several minutes he would finally get them un stuck and play a vigorous riff on his banjo His other speaking roles were banjoist Sam Jordan in the 1951 musical Golden Girl notorious alcoholic Puffo the Clown in Paramount s 1954 film 3 Ring Circus and in Disney s 1960 film Toby Tyler as Sam Treat a clown and animal trainer who is one of Toby s mentors and protectors Toby s other protector gruff wagon driver Ben Cotter was played by Henry Calvin who co starred on Zorro as Sergeant Garcia Sheldon starred in Disney s 1961 Christmas film Babes in Toyland as Barnaby s mute henchman Roderigo He was teamed with Calvin once more as a kind of ersatz Laurel and Hardy Zorro Edit Sheldon s role was Bernardo Diego s mute but not deaf servant on Zorro As established in the series first episode when Diego de la Vega confides to Bernardo his intention to pretend to be a helpless intellectual rather than a man of action Bernardo decides to support him by pretending to be deaf In this way Bernardo is able to spy for Diego without arousing suspicion This characterization an innovation over the deaf mute Bernardo of the original stories employed Sheldon s pantomime skills while making the character more integral to the series William Lava composed Bernardo s humorous music theme Sheldon reprised the role in four further Zorro adventures that appeared on the Walt Disney anthology television series in 1960 1961 Personal EditSheldon married Margaret McCann on December 11 1944 in Las Vegas Nevada They had two children He died from a heart attack His remains were cremated Filmography EditYear Title Role Notes1935 Roberta Banjo Playing Wabash Indianian Uncredited1937 Television Talent Herbert Dingle1938 Star of the Circus Peters1939 Lucky to Me Hap Hazard1945 Where Do We Go from Here Ali the Genie1945 The Dolly Sisters Professor Winnup1951 Golden Girl Sam Jordan1954 3 Ring Circus Puffo the Clown1957 1961 Zorro Bernardo TV Series 82 episodes1960 Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks with a Circus Sam Treat1961 Babes in Toyland RoderigoReferences Edit Hischak Thomas S The Jerome Kern Encyclopedia 2013 ed Scarecrow Press Inc p 112 ISBN 978 0 8108 9167 8 External links Edit Biography portalGene Sheldon at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Gene Sheldon amp oldid 1074802671, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
