Here is the rewritten biography of Dave Barry in a long format, keeping new lines:
Dave Barry was a trailblazing stand-up comedian who began his comedy, acting, and voice-over career at the age of 17. He played his first professional gig at New York's old Palace Theater in April 1935.
The young comedic talent, born Dave Siegel and later changing his name to Dave Barry in the early 1940s, was the son of a furniture store owner in Brooklyn. He called himself an "amateur cartoonist and sign painter" when he made his debut on the radio talent show "Major Edward Bowes and the Original Amateur Hour" in April 1935.
Bowes' radio show encouraged listeners to vote for their favorite acts by calling the station in New York or sending in a postcard. The act that gained the most votes won the opportunity to go on a road tour with one of Major Bowes' touring "units," making $50 weekly plus meals.
Barry was a hit with listeners, winning several contests, and Major Bowes signed him to a contract for live shows. Bowes became Barry's first mentor, schooling him on showbiz and suggesting that Barry hang out by the New York docks to soak up the funny sounds and things he heard.
Barry next cut his comedic chops on the vaudeville stage, touring for almost seven years with Major Bowes' units, handling emcee chores and featuring in a nightly comedy slot among a troupe of variety acts doing 35 shows a week across the 48 states, including Mexico and Canada.
Constant work followed, during which he played theaters nationwide with acts such as Paul Winchell, Jack Carter, George Liberace, Beverly Sills, Glen Gray, Jimmy Dorsey, and Charlie Barnet. Barry was given a headline spot in Bowes' unit #1 in June 1935, opening in Houston, Texas, and learning the showbiz ropes, surrounded by many future luminaries.
It was on the road that he met beautiful singer Ginny Wayne (Ginger Seiden),who was also working the same unit. The two married while touring in 1940, garnering a standing rousing ovation from their fellow performers during a ceremony in between shows. They had their first son (Alan) while on the road in August 1941, just a few months before the attack at Pearl Harbor and the beginning of World War II.
Barry built up a reputation as a dependable stand-up comic and impersonator, entertaining troops during his military service in World War II while serving at Camp Roberts, California, where he became an army sergeant in June 1944.
He performed on radio often (Command Performance USO, Major Bowes, The Connee Boswell show) and while attached to the army's Special Services Unit, he spent his short stint in the war doing what he did best - entertaining servicemen and women at home and overseas with luminaries such as Red Skelton, Eddie Cantor, Mary Pickford, Jimmy Durante, The Mills Brothers, Frank Sinatra, and Bob Hope.
In 1945, he came to Hollywood, landing a spot at Billy Gray's Band Box, a popular comedy club and dinner bistro on Fairfax Boulevard. His drawl humor and smart impersonations scored immediately with the Band Box crowd, and Barry was held over for months.
It was here that his work attracted the attention of local radio and film execs, bringing the lad plenty of radio appearances and finally a permanent berth on the Jimmy Durante radio show.
Jimmy Durante became Barry's mentor, bringing him under his wings for his 1947-1948 radio broadcasts, with Barry regularly appearing in cameos doing gags and sounds and as "Mr. Ripple," the Commissioner of Waterways. On some episodes, his six-year-old son Alan Barry would chime in as his youthful cherub "Trickle."
Guest stars on Durante's popular show included Bob Hope, Van Johnson, Rose Marie, and Frank Morgan - the well-known Wizard in The Wizard of Oz (1939). Barry also did a short-lived "Hollywood Showcase" radio show with Mickey Rooney in July 1947.
All the while, Barry was also working his stage show jokes and gags - honing and testing them for bigger laughs. In December 1948, Barry made his very first TV appearance on "Toast Of The Town" with Ed Sullivan, just as the new TV medium was about to begin its golden age.
Barry excelled at mimicry and mastered an endless stream of accents/dialects and offbeat sounds (in fact, at the start of his stage work, he advertised himself as an impressionist). He based his routines on the everyday happenings of "Mr. Average" - things that happen at home, problems with money, and the trials and tribulations with the wife and kids.
When Barry moved to Hollywood, he sought out more cartoon voice work and signed contracts with Columbia, Warner Brothers, Disney, Republic Pictures, and Screen
