He began his career playing in minstrel shows and later as a clown for Ringling Brother's Circus.
During his vaudeville days he often worked with Will Rogers.
His first big success on stage came when he appeared in "Marriage a la Carte" at the La Salle Theater in Chicago.
In 1912 he began a long working relationship with Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. and the Ziegfeld Follies.
During World War I, he served as aviator with the Second Field Army in France.
Served in France in WWI. Was publicity director for the 1923 organizational meeting in NYC of the founding of the American Association for the Study and Cure of Cancer.