Jack Pearl

Jack Pearl, born Jack Perlman, was a vaudeville performer and a star of early radio.

Pearl portrayed a character he created, Baron Munchausen, very loosely based on the Baron Münchhausen literary character. As the Baron, Pearl would tell far-fetched stories with a comic German accent. When the straight man expressed skepticism, the Baron replied with his familiar tagline and punchline: “Vass you dere, Sharlie?” This catch phrase soon became part of the national lexicon.

Typical of the dialogue:

Pearl played this character and others in musical revues of the 1920s and 1930s: The Dancing Girl, Topics of 1923, A Night in Paris, Artists and Models, Pleasure Bound, International Review, Ziegfeld Follies of 1931, Pardon My English and All for All .