Bobby "Uke" Henshaw
(1896-1969)
Bobby "Uke" Henshaw (1896-1969), christened Charles Robert
Henshaw, was born on Jan. 13, 1896 in Wheeling, Ohio County, WV, the son of James
"Edgar" and Alice (Hoge) Henshaw.
He had blue eyes and brown hair with a
round, full face.
Bobby was nicknamed after the ukelele musical instrument and was a noted vaudeville entertainer who made a name for himself in select national circles. His cousin was the well-known singer Annette Hanshaw of the 1920s and early '30s.
Bobby was a fifth generation West Virginian, dating to his great-great grandfather Burket Minerd who settled there circa 1812. When Bobby was about age nine, though, his parents moved from Wheeling, where his father had been a salesman, to Columbus, the capitol of Ohio, where the father found new employment as a manager of the Coca Cola Bottling Works. Later, the family moved again, to St. Louis, MO.
During World War I, when he registered for the military draft, Bobby was residing with his parents at 1371 Union Avenue in St. Louis, and was self-employed in show business. In 1919, after years spent away from Columbus, he returned to perform at the city's famed Broadway Theatre. In a short review, the Jan. 7, 1919 issue of the Columbus newspaper, The Ohio State Journal, said that Bobby, "who formerly lived in Columbus, coaxes hitherto unheard airs from the ukulele. His mimicry of musical instruments is a novelty and was well received."
Also during World War I, he lent his name and publicity photograph for the cover of sheet music entitled "Say a Prayer for the Boys 'Out There'," written by Bernie Grossman and Alex Marr, and published by Joe Morris Music Co., 145 West 45th Street in New York. It was billed as "the greatest patriotic ballad of the season."
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| Old postcard view of the Broadway Theatre where Uke performed in Columbus, Ohio, and a local news review |
Variety
once called him a "vaudevillian known for his prowess on the ukulele."
In August 1921, while performing at the Pantages Theatre in Oakland, CA, the Oakland
Tribune reported that "Bobby Henshaw pleases with his imitations of
musical instruments and lively funmaking. Towards the end of his act Vera Van
Atta, his pretty partner, makes her appearance and proves and accomplished
cornet player." Ten years later, on Feb. 6, 1931, the Oakland Tribune
said that "On the stage this week is a Fanchon and Marco 'Idea' entitled 'Vandeville
Echoes' in which a group of standard big-time acts are presented.... The Four
O'Connor, not to speak of the younger generation, present a dancing turn that
brings the show to a halt; and other sketches are provided by Bobby (Uke)
Henshaw; Ed and Jenny Rooney and Dureen Rae."
Bobby is said to have married Vera Margaret Van Atta (1899- ? ), a native of Lima, Allen County, OH, in about 1920. She apparently also was a vaudevillian or musician. She is known to have assisted Bobby during a performance of "The Merry Mimic"at the Majestic Theater in Dallas, TX during the week of Aug. 24, 1924. The attractive cover artwork is seen at right, with the Henshaw Van Atta program listing below.
Circa 1923, Bobby and Vera sailed to Europe on the ship USS Homeric to perform in Great Britain, Germany, France, Belgium, Holland and Switzerland. When the federal census was taken in 1930, Bobby and Vera, and her mother Gertrude and brother Virgil, were residing together in Malverne, Nassau County, NY. Their home was on Riveria Court. Bobby and Vera declared their occupations as actors in vaudeville.
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Theatre program from Bobby and Vera's performance in Dallas in 1924 |
In 1925,
Nonny was pictured prominently on the
cover of the sheet music entitled "There's a Little White House on a Little
Green Hill Where the Red, Red Roses Grow." This sheet music was published by Milton
Weil Music Co., Inc., of Chicago, with words by Billy Rose and music by Harry
Akst.
Bobby is known to have appeared in the 1935 film, Variety, about the trials and tribulations of running a music hall, although he was not named in the credits. (The film was directed by Adrian Brunel, based on a story by Oswald Mitchell.)
According to Hanshaw family researcher John Woodruff, "Other descriptions of Bobby's act can be found in ... the Kansas City Times, March 10, 1919, the New York Star, Mar. 18, 1920 and Variety, Jun. 24, 1920."
During the weekend of Jan. 19-22, 1928, Bobby is known to have performed vaudeville at the Loew's Greeley Square in New York, located at Sixth Avenue and 30th Street. He is listed in the Loew's Weekly program pamphlet, preserved today in the Minerd-Minard-Miner-Minor Archives.
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Sometime during the late 1920s or early '30s, Bobby and Vera divorced. In the mid-1930s, he married again, to Doris Harding (1910- ? ), a native of Cambridge, Guernsey County, OH. They had at least one son, Robert Kent Henshaw, born in Hoboken, NJ in 1934. The following year, 1935, they had moved to Southern California, living at 6220 De Longpree in Hollywood. During the 1930s, Bobby made a number of ocean voyages to Europe and Greenland to perform.
He also produced a commercial line of baritone ukeleles and tenor guitars, under the "Bobby Henshaw" brand, manufactured in Sorkin, NY. These are found today in antique shops and on eBay.
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Bobby's endorsed ukulele brand, manufactured in Sorkin, NY |
Seen
at right, Bobby prepares to push a peanut with his nose at a public
appearance at a movie theater in Houston circa 1950, sponsored by the Raymond
Pearson Lincoln Mercury automobile dealership. It apparently involved a ukulele
contest for a $2,000 prize. This image is courtesy of the Center
for American History at the University of Texas at Austin.
When Bobby's aunt Kate (Henshaw) Robinson died in Wheeling in 1954, Bobby was mentioned in her Wheeling News Register obituary, and was residing in Dallas, TX at the time. Then in 1960, when his uncle Roy C. Henshaw died, also in Wheeling, Bobby again was mentioned in the newspaper obituary, and was listed as living in Kansas City.
When Bobby died on Oct. 29, 1969, in Los Angeles, Variety said that for "many years he toured the world, spending between 12 and 15 years in Australia." See a more detailed set of research data on the Hinshaw genealogy website.
Copyright © 2002-2008 Mark A. Miner