… Edna Northlane and Jack Ward in an “Impromptu Duo” present a merry hodge midge of songs, dances and patter, and the late song hit, “Within the Law.” Miss Northlane make a decided impression upon her audiences. A clever, bright and exceedingly well dressed couple, they savor of society entertainers of the de luxe order.
The vaudeville team of Northlane and Ward, having returned from entertaining soldiers overseas, will split temporarily. Jack Ward will do a single and Edna Northlane, in private life Mrs. Jack Ward, will not work this season. Ward will offer singing, dancing and character bits in his act.
The “High Kicking Kellys,” whose funny antics in Jack Ward’s cartoon strip on this page each week have brought merriment to countless thousands, are now a year old. For 52 consecutive weeks they have delighted Vaudeville News readers, and for that reason a few “inside” facts about them may be of interest.Of course the Kellys do not exist in reality. It is just a cartoon, created for laughing purposes only and the creator and cartoonist is Jack Ward of the team of Northlane and Ward, now playing the Keith-Albee Circuit. Ward has worked with Edna Northlane (known as the Mary Pickford of Vaudeville) for the past twelve years. For eight years he worked with Eddie Weber (now Weber & Ridnor) in an act known as Ward & Weber.Old friends of Ward, knowing that he was raised in the show business, are curious to know how he became a cartoonist. The creator of the High Kicking Kellys acquired his cartooning education right off the make-up shelf. In 1920 he took up a correspondence school course in cartooning which required three years to complete. Another year was devoted to the study of commercial art. He never studied anywhere excepting in a dressing room between shows. Thanks to present-day conditions most dressing rooms arc well lighted, well ventilated and are ideal for studying. Ward was not alone in his studying as evidenced by the accompanying photo of Baby Edna Lorraine Ward, who is 4 1/2 years of age and weighs 38 pounds. She has been “brought up” on the stage and is living proof of the fact that vaudeville artists are laboring under healthful conditions.With the assistance and advice of the editor of The Vaudeville News and Mr. McClure, manager of Associated Newspapers, as well as Ed Ripley, sport cartoonist of the New York Telegram, Ward’s work in The Vaudeville News has been closely watched and coached and is now considered equal in originality, humor and technique to any comedy strip before the public today.The Kellys are a year old and if you have followed them you will admit they have gone through some terrible experiences for their age.But “you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
Jack Ward, comedian and dancer for the past 20 years on the Keith and Loew vaudeville circuits with Northlane & Ward and later with Ward & Weber, has been signed for an indefinite engagement with the Aesop Fable dept. of the Van Beuren Corp.
… If dance steps or a special funny walk were needed for a cartoon character to perform, the veteran former star vaudevillian dancer, Jack Ward, was called in. Jack would go through the routine, freezing occasionally for the animator to make quick pencil sketches to be later transposed into the cartoon character’s action. …
… The other outstanding attribute of this musical cartoon is the dancing. Both Gordon Sheehan and animator Dave Tendlar remembered the talents of writer, cartoonist, and former vaudeville dancer Jack Ward. Tendlar said, “He could draw. He drew all the [dance] steps for us. He drew everything out. The positions of the feet. He was a professional dancer. He drew out all the steps in very great detail, and we could follow the feet movements that he drew. He was not an animator. He worked in the Story Department. In his early days, he and his wife were vaudeville actors; they danced.”
Jack Ward, onetime musical comedy and vaude performer, died Jan. 11 in New York. Starting his theatrical career at the age of 14, he later was dance director for the late George M. Cohan in a number of shows presented by the production team of Cohan & Harris.But although Ward frequently trouped in musicals for the Shuberts and other producers he was better known for his work in vaude. In the latter medium he teamed with his wife, Edna, in a turn known as Northlane & Ward and also was a member of the act of Ward & Weber.After serving in World War I, Ward rejoined Miss Northlane to appear in the George M. Cohan Over There Theatre League and on the major circuits of yesteryear. A cartoonist as well as a dancer, he drew a strip called the “High Kicking Kellys” in the Vaudeville News and was long associated in various capacities with the Van Beuren Studio and Max Fleischer Studio.Surviving besides his wife are two daughters and five sisters. One daughter, Edna L., is a member of Lane & Ward.