hollywood: Morey Amsterdam

Saturday, 30 June 2012

Morey Amsterdam

Born in Chicago, Morey Amsterdam started in vaudeville at the age of 14, as a straight man for his piano-playing brother. His father, a concert violinist who worked with the Chicago Opera and the San Francisco Symphony, wanted Morey to pursue a career in classical music but Morey had other plans.Amsterdam was born Moritz Amsterdam in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest of the three sons of Max and Jennie (Finder) Amsterdam, Jewish immigrants from Austria-Hungary. He began working in Vaudeville in 1922 as the straight man for his older brother's jokes. He was also a cellist, a skill he used throughout his career. By 1924, he was working in aspeakeasy operated by Al Capone. After being caught in the middle of a gunfight, Amsterdam moved to California and worked writing jokes