Alfonso Iannelli (1886-1965), major American sculptor, poster and graphic designer. Offered is Bert Leslie – The King of Slang poster for the Orpheum Vaudeville Theater, L.A., circa 1912-15. Bert Leslie (1871-1933) (aka William A. Johnston) was a vaudeville and Broadway comic actor. His most famous routine was “Hogan”, a disreputable, yet articulate, bum slinging quotable one-liners. According to a San Francisco review of his act was “one of the wittiest and most effective of all the Bert Leslie sketches. The king himself is a, scream and his 20 minutes was filled with hilarity and applause.”

 

There is a 1/4-inch margin around the edges, it is an off-set print on a heavy, high-quality paper printed by one of the top printers in NYC in the 1970s. Dimensions: 31 x 23-1/4 (inches). New. This is a reprint made for the Kelmscott Gallery, Chicago in the 1980’s. The Kelmscott Gallery owned and sold the original poster. Provenance: Kelmscott Gallery, Chicago.