Lloyd Hamilton and Bud Duncan — “Ham” and “Bud”! (1916) 🇺🇸
Twenty-two years ago an impudent-faced, undersized youngster made his appearance in the field, over in Brooklyn, which served as a ball-ground for the boys who lived in the neighborhood. A ball-game was about to start. All that was lacking was umpire, and, since umpire-baiting was a popular form of amusement at the time, none of the youngsters present evinced the slightest desire to act in that capacity.
by Hector Ames
The leader of one of the teams — a sturdy, well-built boy of twelve — spied the newcomer. Because of the latter’s size, he looked easy to lick, and so he was appointed arbiter.
It was apparent from the start that the stranger was to have hard sledding. Sure enough, trouble raised its grinning head with the very first decision he was called upon to make. A youngster sliding for home was called out. With one accord, his teammates headed for the luckless umpire.
The latter, however, put up a surprisingly good fight — so good, in fact, that he aroused the admiration of the leader of the band. The latter, wiping his shirt-sleeve across a bleeding nose, halted the attack, and declared the little lad duly elected to his gang.
Now, all this is of particular interest to photoplay patrons, because the principals were none other than Lloyd V. Hamilton and Bud Duncan. And the friendship formed at that time was destined to eventually prove a powerful factor in dispelling some of the worries and woes with which this old world is afflicted.
As “Ham” and “Bud,” Hamilton and Duncan are known wherever Kalem’s famous “Ham” comedies are shown. It was Hamilton who told of the manner in which he and his little chum chanced to take up Motion Picture work. Here is the story, just as he told it.
“You see,” Ham began, “I suppose the law of opposites had as much to do in cementing the friendship between Bud and me as anything else — altho the bloody nose he gave me, when the gang attacked him because of a poor decision he rendered, helped considerably.
“Bud is about knee-high to a grasshopper, while I am well over the six-foot mark,” Ham continued, laughingly. “He hates what I like, and I despise what he is strong for, and so we agree perfectly.
“But, to get back to our first meeting, the boys put Bud thru the usual initiation. Have you ever witnessed the sizing-up process which takes place when a new boy makes his appearance in the neighborhood? The most merciless cross-examination ever conducted by a district attorney is mild in comparison with that of a bunch of youngsters who want to get a line on the newcomer.
“Well, Bud was compelled to undergo the usual third degree. Everybody in the gang felt of his muscle and put a thousand and one questions to him. Finally, one of the boys, who proudly boasted of the fact that his father was a prize-fighter, asked Bud what his father did for a living.
“‘My father’s a ventril‘quist!’ Bud replied.
“Right then and there he became the envy and admiration of the crowd. Why, every one of us had ardently longed to be a ventriloquist ever since one of our number had seen one at a variety show. And now, right before us, was the son of so wonderful a person!
“Bud and I became warm friends from the start. We took bites out of the same apple, played ‘hookey’ from school together, and fought each other’s battles. Of course, with the coming of Bud the thoughts of every boy in the neighborhood turned towards matters theatrical.
“Then, one day, Bud’s father gave us a couple of passes to a Jekyll and Hyde show. The performance impressed us both so deeply that we decided to stage it ourselves. We let the other boys know, and, before long, all arrangements had been completed to produce Jekyll and Hyde in a cellar under the cottage in which one of our crowd lived. This chap consented to grant the use of the cellar upon condition that he be given a part. So I told him that he could be the victim who is choked by Hyde.
“We charged one gunnysack or two bottles for reserved soap-box seats, and one bottle for general admission. The performance commenced when the house was filled. Now, the show would have been a grand and glorious success but for one thing. The mother of the boy I was choking came down into the cellar while this scene was taking place. She broke up the performance, to save her son’s life!
“Altho our first histrionic attempt was more or less of a failure, Bud and I weren’t at all discouraged. The desire to tread the boards obsessed us. And then, one day, about two or three years later, Bud excitedly told me that people were wanted for the mob-scenes in a Shakespearean production about to be given at a theater not far from our homes.”
Hamilton grinned.
“This time it was my mother who broke up the show,” he chuckled.
“You see,” Kalends famous comedian continued, “she was a member of the church and wasn’t very strong for theaters. Of course I didn’t dare to tell her that I had been taken on as a super and that I was to carry a spear in one of the early scenes. Consequently, it was with a feeling of terror that I heard my father urging her to take in the performance with him. My heart went clear down to my shoes when she finally consented.
“Nevertheless. I made up my mind that I wasn’t going to pass up my chance of going on the stage, even tho all I had to do was carry a spear.
“The night of the performance came. I stole out of the house and hastened down to the theater. The show started, and I could see my mother seated out in the third row of the orchestra. For a time she failed to recognize me, but finally I felt her eyes riveted upon my face.
“I can imagine the horror which filled her. I can picture all that passed thru her mind. The next instant she rose in her seat, pointed her finger straight at me, and declared:
‘Lloyd Hamilton, you get into your clothes and go right home!’
“But even this failed to quench the desire to he actors that burned within Bud and me. At that time the ‘brother’ act craze was at its height, and so we teamed up and played at entertainments and other private affairs.
“Even as is the case in the ‘Ham’ comedies today, people laughed the moment we appeared. The difference in our sizes was responsible for this. Bud hadn’t grown an inch, while I had shot up like a weed. And, because we took to the business like ducks to water, we couldn’t help but make good.
“Later came a chance to join a burlesque troupe. This experience proved of immense value to us. You see, the people who patronize burlesque performances like rough stuff. The harder I knocked poor Bud about, the better they liked it. If you will take notice, this is exactly the case in the Motion Picture comedy field today.
“We eventually graduated into vaudeville, playing theaters from coast to coast. About a year ago we played Los Angeles. One of Kalem’s comedy directors saw our act, and shortly afterwards we joined the Kalem forces.
“One of the reasons which, in my opinion, has helped us make good in the ‘Ham’ comedies, is the fact that Bud and I have played together so many years that we can safely introduce funny business not contained in the original script, knowing the other will play up to it.
“What generally happens is this: Our director, giving us a general idea of the business which takes place in the scene, orders us to go ahead and make him laugh. If we succeed in doing this, we know that our work is funny. And it’s a pretty safe bet that the photoplay patrons will be of the same opinion.
“To what do I attribute the wonderful popularity of the ‘Ham’ comedies?” Hamilton concluded. “Simply this: Bud and I have originated a style of our own. We do our best to keep our work free from anything which might be deemed offensive. To our minds, these are the two things which every person who desires to succeed in the photoplay comedy field should never forget.”
—
Bud Duncan
Photo by: Albert Witzel (1879–1929)
—
Collection: Motion Picture Classic Magazine, March 1916
—