Billy Ruge-Oliver Hardy's Runt:Vaudeville; Toyland ('30)
Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 6:06 pm
Ruge must/might have been born earlier than the previously reported 1885-
unless he started young, or there was more than one Frobel and Ruge
(his obituary below seems to confirm this):
The Montreal Gazette - Oct 23, 1899
Feobel and Ruge in 1901-1902
Rochester Catholic Journal April 06, 1901
1902 The Tammany Times - Volumes 20-21 - Page 257
Here are Frobel and Ruge (1909) in a Will Rogers book
The Papers of Will Rogers: From Vaudeville to Broadway, September 1908–August 1915
Page 116
257Being Funny is a Serious Thing (1916)
Salt Lake Herald 12/31/1916..................................................................Caricature
...
VAUDEVILLE (1922-1924) with Rose, a new partner
New York Clipper 5/31/1922........Vaudeville News 6/2/1922..............................Vaudeville News 9/ 29/1922
.................................................................................................................N. V. A. APPLICATIONS LAST WEEK
...
...
Variety: "New Act" (6/9/1922).........N.Y. 58th Street (2/15/1923).,..... Chicago Appearance (2/14/1924)
........
......
Brooklyn Life May 6, 1922............................................Brooklyn Daily Eagle June 17, 1923
.............. 
BABES IN TOYLAND (1930)
PHILADELPHIA...
Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland [Shubert Keith Theatre playbill 1930]
Published by Shubert Keith Theatre, Philadelphia, week of 1/20/1930
Presented by the Jolson Theatre Musical Comedy Company.
Libretto: Glen MacDonough; staging: by Milton Aborn; ballet Virginia Mauret.
Toys in Act III supplied by Gimbel Brothers.
Cast included Barry Lupino, Jayne Waterous, Ethel Lynne, Mary Thurman,
Eleanor Gilmore, Frank Yanelli, Harry Knabenshue, Billy Ruge,
June Meier, and Anita Stewart.
CHICAGO
TRIBUNE REVIEW.......................
Ruge's obit (dead in 1955 at 80)
Billboard - Nov 5, 1955 - Page 48
3rd column above Folk Talent and Tunes
"RUGE— Billy, 89, formerly of the team of Frobel and Ruge, October 19 in New York.
He had played all the leading vaudeville houses in America and had toured Europe for 17 1/2 years.
He was also a pioneer In the silent films. There are no immediate survivors."
unless he started young, or there was more than one Frobel and Ruge
(his obituary below seems to confirm this):
The Montreal Gazette - Oct 23, 1899
Feobel and Ruge in 1901-1902
Rochester Catholic Journal April 06, 1901
1902 The Tammany Times - Volumes 20-21 - Page 257
Here are Frobel and Ruge (1909) in a Will Rogers book
The Papers of Will Rogers: From Vaudeville to Broadway, September 1908–August 1915
Page 116
257Being Funny is a Serious Thing (1916)
Salt Lake Herald 12/31/1916..................................................................Caricature
...
VAUDEVILLE (1922-1924) with Rose, a new partner
New York Clipper 5/31/1922........Vaudeville News 6/2/1922..............................Vaudeville News 9/ 29/1922
.................................................................................................................N. V. A. APPLICATIONS LAST WEEK
Variety: "New Act" (6/9/1922).........N.Y. 58th Street (2/15/1923).,..... Chicago Appearance (2/14/1924)
Brooklyn Life May 6, 1922............................................Brooklyn Daily Eagle June 17, 1923
.............. BABES IN TOYLAND (1930)
PHILADELPHIA...
Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland [Shubert Keith Theatre playbill 1930]
Published by Shubert Keith Theatre, Philadelphia, week of 1/20/1930
Presented by the Jolson Theatre Musical Comedy Company.
Libretto: Glen MacDonough; staging: by Milton Aborn; ballet Virginia Mauret.
Toys in Act III supplied by Gimbel Brothers.
Cast included Barry Lupino, Jayne Waterous, Ethel Lynne, Mary Thurman,
Eleanor Gilmore, Frank Yanelli, Harry Knabenshue, Billy Ruge,
June Meier, and Anita Stewart.
CHICAGO
TRIBUNE REVIEW.......................
Ruge's obit (dead in 1955 at 80)
Billboard - Nov 5, 1955 - Page 48
3rd column above Folk Talent and Tunes
"RUGE— Billy, 89, formerly of the team of Frobel and Ruge, October 19 in New York.
He had played all the leading vaudeville houses in America and had toured Europe for 17 1/2 years.
He was also a pioneer In the silent films. There are no immediate survivors."
