Actors'
Colony
at Bluffton
1908 - 1938
_____________

Buster Keaton
and the
Muskegon Connection

The Gardners

Jack E. "Happy Jack" Gardner
Born:   Syracuse, NY
Died:  
April 16, 1929, Muskegon, MI

Edna (Beard) Gardner
Born:  Unknown
Died: Unknown
Happy Jack GardnerEdna Beard Gardner      Little is known about the lives of the "Happy Jack" Gardner and his bride Edna Beard. According to various reports, Gardner was a longtime resident of Syracuse, NY. His "advent into the theatrical business occurred in Syracuse during the (Gilbert and
Sullivan H.M.S.) "Pinafore" craze back in the early '80s".
     Gardner toured the United States and Canada, performing on the vaudeville circuit as a singer, songwriter and comic.  Gardner came from a theatrical family that produced an earlier act called
"The Three Gardners," a musical comedy skit which listed Jack, Andy and Ada Gardner as performers in 1900.
     Jack appeared as a solo act at the Lake Michigan Park Theater in 1905, and with Edna, they joined the Actors' Colony around 1910. According to reports from the time, he had "been associated with everything from circus to Shakespeare."  Like many vaudeville performers, Gardner specialized in "black-face" routines, including a tour as a member of the Primrose Minstrels.
     A 1911 review noted that his act "A Close Call" met with "unprecedented success during its entire run which included nearly all of the leading vaudeville houses in the country."  His 1918 performances of "In the War Zone" were met with positive reviews. 
    In Muskegon, "Happy Jack" became an active participant in the Actor's Colony, performing in the colony's annual charity shows.  In later years, Gardner served as a booking agent for theatrical acts and sports world celebrities like Barney Oldfield, the famous race care driver, and for Jim Jeffries, one-time heavyweight boxing champ.
"He has no cause for happiness in this episode of his wild army career", notes a 1918 illustration by animation pioneer Charlie Thorson. 
Image courtesy of Gene Walz
 
Dick Gardner & Anna Revere
Dick Gardner
Born:  Unknown
Died: Unknown
Anna Walsh Revere
Born:  Unknown
Died: Unknown
   

     Dick Gardner and his wife, Anne Walsh, joined the Actors' Colony around the same time as his uncle, "Happy Jack" Gardner.  Again, little is known about  this branch of the Gardner family.
     Along with brothers Jack and Dan, Dick appeared in a 1897 touring performance of "Hogan's Alley," a farce-comedy, built around characters from a Richard Felton Outcault cartoon. Dick received rave reviews in the role of "The Yellow Kid". (Outcault's character would later explode in popularity, as a comic and as a merchandised character, earning Outcault recognition as the father of the comic strip.)

     Anne Walsh was born in Ireland, educated in England along with her two sisters Nellie and Mamie Walsh, than came to America. She had a vaudeville act called the Revere Sisters with her sister Nellie.
    
Gardner and Walsh, (using her stage name, Revere) hit the road annually, dancing, performing original songs and bits of comedy on the stages of the vaudeville circuit.  Receiving high praise for his abilities with a banjo and a steel guitar, his comic cut-ups earned hardy laughs according to
Dick Gardner and Anna Revere many reviews.
     The act continued touring into the 1920's, advertising the act with rather generic titles like "True Variety", "Bits of Vaudeville" and "Bits of Variety" into the 1920's.      Like the Keaton's, Dick Gardner had a passion for baseball and his talented team, christened "Dickie Gardner's Colts" took the field against numerous Muskegon area sandlot teams, as well as opponents from within the Colony. 
 
Thank you Claire Hooker - grand niece of Anna Walsh Revere!
   
 

     "Hogan's Alley" will be at the Lyceum Theater this week with the well-known Irish comedians. Gilmore & Leonard, as the principal tenants. One of the chief characters is the Yellow Kid. The author of this prodigy had a hand in fitting him for the stage, and in this performance he is described as the only and original article.
     As the other familiar characters of the alley are introduced, and they get into the
snarls and wrangles that are to be expected in such a neighborhood. Gilmore and Leonard are old vaudeville favorites, and in their advancement they have not left any of their entertaining powers behind them. The scenery in the alley is a characteristic one and shows that place up in all its turbulent glory. The entire three acts comprise a collection of entertaining specialties by clever people; and those who enjoy fun, and plenty of It. will certainly enjoy "Hogan's Alley."
     In addition to furnishing plenty of fun In the first two acts, an opportunity afforded the stars In the final act to Introduce their well-known specialty. The others of the company are all clever entertainers, and include the Gardner Brothers, Jack, Dan and Dick, musical artists. Dick Gardner, who plays the part of the Yellow Kid, has made an emphatic hit. In his drum-major specialty in the last act he is compelled to respond to four encores.

     Other interesting specialties are contributed by W. J. Hagan, who possesses and excellent tenor voice; Joseph J. Conion, singer and dancer; the Shirley Sisters, song and dance artists;  Leslie & Maivers, singers and dancers, and the Urline Sisters, duettists.  “Hogan’s Alley” was constructed for the fun-loving public.  Its plot being only to please and no farce company traveling has received more liberal prestige that “Hogan’s Alley.”  It is bright, up to date and within the keeping of the times.

For more on Hogan's Alley and The Yellow kid, please visit:
 
The R. F. Outcault Society's Yellow Kid Site