The Ritz Brothers

From Wikipedia

The Ritz Brothers were an American comedy team who appeared

in films, and as live performers from 1925 to the late 1960s.

Although there were four brothers, the sons of Austrian-born

haberdasher Max Joachim and his wife Pauline, only three of them performed

together. There was also a sister, Gertrude. The fourth brother, George, acted

as their manager. The performers were:

    Al Ritz (August

27, 1901 – December 22, 1965)

    Jimmy Ritz

(October 4, 1904 – November 17, 1985)

    Harry Ritz (May

22, 1907 – March 29, 1986)

The family name was Joachim (pronounced

"joe-ACK-him", as Harry himself explained on a Joe Franklin TV interview),

but eldest brother Al, a vaudeville dancer, adopted a new professional name

after he saw the name "Ritz" on the side of a laundry truck. Jimmy

and Harry followed suit when the brothers formed a team. The Ritzes emphasized

precision dancing in their act, and added comedy material as they went along.

By the early 1930s they were stage headliners.