FORGOTTEN ONES: BUDDY DOYLE

The entertainment world is full of forgotten artists, talented people who just never quite made it. One name that will not be remembered by anyone is the name of Buddy Doyle. Doyle was born on April 20, 1894 in Brooklyn, New York. Born Benjamin Taubenhaus) to Russian immigrants, he began acting in high school in minstrel shows in Brooklyn, New York. After he was discovered by comedian and vaudeville actor Lew Dockstader, his career as an impersonator, comedian, and singer landed him lead roles in all the major vaudeville circuits.

He had to quit vaudeville to fight during World War I, but returned after the war had ended. On Broadway he performed in the original 1923 revue Artists and Models. His film credits include At a Talkie Show (1929) and The Great Ziegfeld (1936), which he understudied for before playing Eddie Cantor. He also performed in several editions of The Ziegfeld Follies and was a replacement actor for Henry Williams in the 1928 Broadway production of Whoopee. Buddy was not only a performer but a song writer as well. He wrote a song with Gene Austin entitled All That You Left Me Were Two Empty Arms in 1926.

In 1927, Doyle married the beautiful Peggy Hoover. Peggy Hoover was an American dancer and actress for vaudeville, Broadway, and regional theater. She began dancing as a child in Denver, Colorado under Gladys Moore. During her freshman year of high school she was picked up by vaudevillian Gus Edwards to perform in his fifteenth annual revue at the Orpheum Theatre in Denver. Hoover would continue to perform with Edwards for several years in shows across the United States and in London. She also appeared in Bobby Sanford's well-received Showboat Revue and performed in multiple editions of Earl Carroll's Vanities. She made her Broadway debut in Hello, Yourself in 1928.

Buddy died suddenly during an appendix operation on November 9, 1939 in New York City, New York. He was only 45. Peggy Hoover later remarried and continued her career in radio and melodrama under the name Peggy Bloodgood. It's sad because as forgotten as Eddie Cantor is today - Buddy Doyle is forgotten even more...