Joseph Morris Weber (1867-1942) and Moses Schoenfeld (1867-1941) were a highly influential comedy duo at the turn of the twentieth century, in both vaudeville and musical theatre. They were best known for a ‘Dutch’ dialect act, in which they played German immigrants torturing the English language. Both performers were themselves the children of Polish immigrants.
Weber and Fields also became impresarios, staging shows that centred on their own act, while also putting together road shows that toured the country.
Joe Weber and Lew Fields were amongst the old vaudeville acts that filmed material for the abandoned MGM musical The March of Time. Part of their sequence can be seen at the beginning of Broadway to Hollywood, although, given they are in a horse costume, there is no way of actually verifying it is them. Both men would have been in their seventies at the time. Joe Weber also appears briefly as a character in Broadway to Hollywood, played by Leo White.
