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Bobby Van
in Small Town Girl (1953)
Born	December 6, 1928(1928-12-06) The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Died	July 31, 1980 (aged 51) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1950 – 1980

Bobby Van (December 6, 1928 – July 31, 1980) was a musical actor probably best known for his career on Broadway in the 1950s and 1970s.

Bobby Van was born Robert Jack Stein to vaudeville parents in The Bronx, New York City, and grew up backstage to many memorable Depression-era acts. Originally, Van took King as his stage name (after his father's stage name, from the trio "Gordon, Reed and King"). He finally opted for Van, supposedly after seeing a Van Johnson poster hanging in his sister's bedroom.

Van began his career as a musician, playing trumpet. When his band played a venue in the Catskills, Van was asked to fill in as a song and dance man for another act. His act drew rave reviews, and gave Van a thrill out of performing live as a solo act.

In the early 1950s, while Van was married to starlet Diane Garrett, he appeared in several films and television shows including "Shower of Stars" and the title role in The Affairs of Dobie Gillis and roles in the MGM musicals Because You're Mine and Kiss Me, Kate

In the 1960s, Van did comedy work with Mickey Rooney in films and television. He appeared in three episodes of Rooney's Mickey sitcom on ABC in the role of a freeloading brother-in-law.^[1] He also did some choreography, as had his father years earlier.

In 1968, Van married Broadway actress Elaine Joyce, and together they appeared on 1970s game shows like Tattletales and Match Game. Van also hosted the game shows Showoffs, The Fun Factory and Make Me Laugh. They had one daughter, Taylor, who was born in 1977.

In 1973 he appeared in the musical remake of Lost Horizon, the last occasion on which he took his traditional song-and-dance persona to the big screen. His novelty dance number from Small Town Girl (1953) was featured in That's Entertainment, Part II (1976). Van's last television appearance was as the host for the Mrs. America Pageant in 1980, which he had emceed for several years.

In 1979, Van was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. He survived the initial surgery, but after a year-long battle with cancer, he died from the disease in Los Angeles in 1980 and was interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Broadway credits

• Alive and Kicking (1950)
• On Your Toes (1954)
• No, No, Nanette (1971; Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical)
• Doctor Jazz (1975)

References

External links

• Bobby Van at the Internet Broadway Database
• Bobby Van at the Internet Movie Database
• Bobby Van tribute site
• Bobby Van at Find a Grave