DEATH OF COMEDIAN.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume VL, Issue 3133, 12 February 1934, Page 7

DEATH OF COMEDIAN.

MACK OF “TWO BLACK CROWS”

FATAL MOTOR ACCIDENT.

All of those in the world who have laughed over that gramophone classic in negro dialogue, “The Two 'Black Crows,” will regret to learn that Charle E. Mack, a famous comedian, of Moran and Mack, was killed in a motor accident at Mesa, Arizona, on January 11.

Mr Mack, who was motoring with his wife, daughter, and partner, was crushed as the car rolled over, following a tire blow-out. He was conveyed to the nearest hospital, but died almost at once. Moran escaped injury, but both Mrs Mack and Miss Mary Jane Mack were slightly injured . 4

Mack, who was the big man of the team, was the one with the tired air, and the plaintively querulous voice. Who cannot recall his question (in answer to his partner’s chance remark to the effect that the early bird catches the worm): “Which worm? Why is the bird early?”

The late Mr Mack was born at White Cloud, Kansas, on November 22, 1887. He commenced commercial life as a newsboy, developed a sense of humour by daily contact with the crowds, became a negro minstrel, and so to a partnership, Garvin and Mack. Later he split with Garvin, and took on Moran, a team that was seen in “The Passing Show,” “The Scandals,” and “Greenwich Green Follies.” They also played a 14-week season in London. Mrs Mack, mother of the comedian, was known as the champion mouth-organ player of the State of Kansas.