Weber & . . .

The goat-bearded tall man who stuck his thumb in the goat-bearded short man's eye died this week in Beverly Hills. He was Lewis Maurice Fields, 74, known to two generations as the aggressive half of Weber & Fields, the greatest knockabout comedy team in theater history.

Sputtering, barrel-bellied Joe Weber and sputtering, gangling Lew Fields got each other and the English language in Dutch on and off for over half a century. Born the same year on Manhattan's lower East Side, they threw an act together when they were ten years old and stormed the beer gardens of the Bowery. They were out on the road touring with their own company at the age of 18. Eleven years later they opened their own theater in Manhattan and in a short time it was the best-known music hall in the U.S.

They surrounded themselves with some of the greatest names of the stage, among them, Lillian Russell, DeWolf Hopper and David Warfield. For every serious success other producers had, Weber & Fields turned out a broad and successful burlesque. They matched Du Barry with Du Hurry, Quo Vadis with Whoa Vass Iss?, Cyrano de Bergerac with Cyranose. Whatever the title, Weber & Fields remained the same. Lew Fields tried to explain, Joe Weber couldn't understand. Joe Weber disgraced himself, Lew Fields hit him over the head.

The team separated in 1904 but neither was very funny without the other. Rejoined in 1912, they took their cuffs and insults into vaudeville, and appeared in occasional musical comedies. They appeared in a few moving pictures--the last was Lillian Russell. When Lew Fields died this week Joe Weber declared gravely: "It's like losing my right arm."

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