Milton Frome: From “Foys” to “Joys”

February 24 was the birthday of “Chrome Dome Frome” a.k.a. Texaco Star Theatre’s Second Best Milton, Milton Frome (1908-1989). (No one ever called him those things, I just thought them up).

Frome was a foil and second banana to many a top comedian in radio and television, a sort of taller version of Sidney Fields. He was widely described as a former vaudevillian; touring productions of Top Banana and Sugar Babies, and his work in general, lead me to believe he was in burlesque too. His first screen role was a cop in the Ben Blue short Daredevil O’Dare (1934). In 1939 he was third billed to Dorothy Page and Vince Barnett in the musical western Ride ‘Em, Cowgirl. Most of his early screen roles in the ’30s were walk-ons and bit parts, so he spent the better part of the ’40s in radio, including a recurring part as Professor Melonhead on The Abbott and Costello Show. In 1949 he joined Bert Wheeler and the comedy dance team of Paul and Grace Hartman in the Broadway revue All for Love.

Television proved a boon to Frome’s career. From 1950 to 1956 he was a regular cast member on The Milton Berle Show, one of his more prominent platforms, typically playing straight parts to Berle in comedy sketches. For two years, he was the head of the USO. When Abbott and Costello hosted the Colgate Comedy Hour, he went on the show to publicly invite them to entertain the troops. He also worked extensively with Jerry Lewis, appearing in most of his comedy films between 1955 and 1970, as well as his TV variety shows. He came on The Red Skelton Show nine times, and supported Red in the film Public Pigeon #1 (1957). He did a half dozen Bob Hope tv specials (including this notorious one) and appeared with the comedian in The Seven Little Foys (1955). He was also in several of the last comedy shorts made by The Three Stooges.

Related films included Frank Tashlin’sThe Girl Can’t Help It (1956), Norman Taurog’sThe Fuzzy Pink Nightgown (1957), the Hal Marchvehicle Hear Me Good (1957), Please Don’t Eat the Daisies (1960), Bye Bye Birdie (1963), John Goldfarb Please Come Home (1965), Elvis Presley’sGirl Happy (1965), Fluffy (1965), Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965), Batman (1966), Ann-Margret’s The Swinger (1966), Carl Reiner’s Enter Laughing (1967) and the late Doris Day comedy With Six You Get Eggroll (1968). Late work for the big screen included the Disney films The Strongest Man in the World (1975), The Whiz Kid and the Carnival Barker (1976), Gus (1976), and The Shaggy D.A. (1976).

From was also in multiple episodes of shows like The Monkees, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Joey Bishop Show,Lucille Ball’s various shows, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, etc. as well as shows outside of the comedy realm, most often in westerns. His non-comic films included Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Roger Corman’s The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (1967), and Paul Mazursky’s Next Stop Greenwich Village (1976). His last role was in a movie written, directed by, and starring Telly Savalas in 1977, the peak of his Kojak fame. Co-starring Star Trek‘s Diana Muldaur it was never released theatrically, finally coming out on video in 1985. Frome lived another dozen years after his retirement.

For more on the history of vaudeville and burlesque,consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, for more on classic comedy please check out my book: Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube. And stay tuned for my upcomingElectric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.