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MIDDLETOWN
TIMES-HERALD
AUGUST 08, 1928
Graduate of Middletown amateur productions of fifteen or more years ago, Bill
HEHN, who has been in show business since 1913, will appear before his friends
here on the week-end vaudeville program of the State Theater, starting
Thursday. The engagement ends his vacation which he has been spending with
relatives here.
Billed through the United States on the big circuits
as Bill Haynes, Hehn born and reared here, is remembered as one of the
outstanding stars of the days when home talent shows in Middletown attracted
thousands of people.
HEHN is noted for his strong fine-tuned tenor voice.
He had dreams of a career as a noted vocalist. Vocal lessons improved his
voice notably un a New York teacher. Then Middletown show leaders caught wind
of his ability and drafted him for amateur productions. That, Bill says,
smiling genially, was his ruin. The show business lured him to abandon his
classical work for the most part.
In 1912 he started his professional career with the
DeRue Brothers Minstrels. Then followed a season with George Primrose’s
Minstrels. Thence he tried vaudeville. Later he was in the show “Attaboy”
and sang in movie houses on the Pacific Coast.
It was not until four years ago, however, that his
ability gained national recognition. A veteran showman himself by then, he
found two Detroit singers of ability, both of whom had had thorough vocal
training. HEHN, Tony LEHMAN and Howard KEYSER have trouped together
continuously since that time.
Tours of the Keith and Orpheum circuits have just
concluded. After their appearance here, the trio will go to the Capitol
Theater in New York City. Then they will swing in the Publex circuit for a
year’s engagement. Capitalizing their unusual physical proportions, the trio
have adopted the title – “Three Little Playmates”. Their appearance
never fails to bring a laugh. Together they weigh 850 pounds. HEHN is
responsible for about 350 pounds of this, with the remainder divided among his
companions.
The press throughout the country has been lavish in
its praise of the act, which has headed the bill at many theaters. It consists
of popular songs and ballads and chatter to fill in. All three performers are
accomplished singers and LEHMAN is
also a composer.
Unusual publicity methods have been adopted the three
in recent months with the result that their photos have appeared in many newspapers.
A favorite “story” tells of their arrival in a
restaurant. An accompanying photograph depicts the three sitting at a table
while waiters scurry about to replenish enormous platters of food.
Other photographs show the three being met at the
station by a large truck, because all taxi drivers refused to transport the
heavyweights.
The act has come to be regarded a sure-fire hit by
the professionals. It never fails to gain unusual applause.
Middletown Times Herald
December 03, 1947
“Big Bill” Hehn, former Vaudeville Trouper, Dead.
William Christian
HEHN, football player in his youth,
trouper in the hey day of minstrel shows and vaudeville and more recently,
jovial proprietor of the Golden Nugget on James Street, died today at Horton
Hospital after a lengthy illness.
Mr. HEHN’s figure whose voluminous proportion had earned
him the nickname of Big Bill, was a familiar one in the vicinity of the Erie
Depot, where he had owned and operated a tavern and restraunt for more than a
decade. Although away from the world of the theater for many years, Mr. HEHN
never lost his joy in giving a spot of entertainment or at an outing of the Elks
or some other organization, ever went unheeded.
Mr. HEHN had a varied career since his birth in Walton
Fifty-six years ago. He came to Middletown at the age of ten and played on high
school football teams from 1905 through 1908. He was center on the 1907 county
championship team of which Henry D. SAYER, now president AYRES & GALLOWAY,
was a member. Edwin MASSEY was the coach and Roger VAIL, the assistant coach.
For many years Big Bill was an end man with the famous
George PRIMOSE ? Minstrels. Later he joined the Lou DOCKSTADER Minstrels.
Subsequently, he played in vaudeville on the KEITH and PANTAGES Circuit, where
he was a member of the team of Three Playmates. Other members of the out-sized
company were Anthony T. LEHMANN, now
manager of the Paramount Theater, and the late Howard KAISER. Mr. KAISER was the
chief heavy weight of the trio and Mr. LEHMANN the “lightweight”.
Mr. HEHN appeared briefly in the films and was in the
supporting cast of San Francisco, which starred James CAGNEY.
He returned to Middletown and began operating the Golden
Nugget in 1933. In 1937 he purchased from John M. GAYNOR the building at 48-52
James Street which houses The Nugget.
Long active in the Middletown Lodge of Elks, Mr. HEHN was a
trustee of the lodge. He was also a member of Middletown Post American Legion,
and St. Pauls Methodist Church. His home was at Lake Pocatello.
A son of William C. HEHN and Lorena
CHARLOCK HEHN, he was
married to Dorothy AYERS.
Surviving besides his wife are a brother
Frederick H. HEHN
of Middletown; a son by his first marriage Gene W. HEHN of Ketchikan Alaska.
20 Mar 2001
Christian
Hehn Family Tree
site owner Denise Hehn