The Rath Brothers: Acro-Balance

The Rath Brothers, Dick and George, were a classy, well-regarded acro-balancing act, invariably on short lists of critics, bookers and audiences of greatest vaudeville acts of all time — under the acrobats category, at least.  Their real names were George Meigs and W.R. Cameron, and they formed their partnership in Twin Falls, Idaho in 1910. Within a few years, they worked themselves up all the way to big time vaudeville and beyond, into the more rarified air Broadway revues, performing in at least 7 between 1919 and 1930. After vaudeville passed from the scene, apparently so did the Rath brothers. They retired in 1932. Meigs passed away in 1938.

To find out more about the variety artspast and present, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever nutty books are sold. And don’t missChain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube, to be released by Bear Manor Media in 2013.