Paul McCullough
Paul Johnston McCullough (March 27, 1883 – March 25, 1936) was an American actor and comedian who was one half of the comedy duo Clark and McCullough, along with fellow comedian Bobby Clark.
Early life and career
Born in Springfield, Ohio, McCullough met his future partner Bobby Clark in elementary school. The two became friends and attended tumbling classes at a local YMCA together. Their childhood friendship grew into an adult partnership when they decided to pursue a career as a comedic duo. Billing themselves as "Clark and McCullough", they began their career performing in minstrel shows in the early 1900s. From 1906 to 1912, the pair performed in circuses before entering vaudeville in 1912. Due to the White Rats strike of 1916, Clark and McCullough were forced to enter into the burlesque circuit to continue working. During their time in burlesque, the duo would create some of their most well known sketches.
In their act, Clark was the dominant, motor-mouthed comedian and McCullough was the quieter straight man. In 1922, the team achieved mainstream stardom in Irving Berlin Broadway show Music Box Revue. They went on to appear in the Broadway hit The Ramblers, which was filmed as the 1930 musical comedy The Cuckoos, a vehicle for Wheeler & Woolsey. In mid-1928, Clark and McCullough went to Hollywood where they signed with Fox Films Corporation for a reported $8,000 a week. The studio hoped the duo's stage popularity would transition to films and set about casting them in a series of two-reel comedies known as The Clark & McCullough Comedies. According to the July 1931 issue of Picture Play magazine, the films were poorly received by critics and audiences alike. Around the Fox studio lot, the duo's film series were mockingly referred to as The Clark and McCullough Tragedies. After filming fourteen shorts, Fox dropped Clark and McCullough in early 1929.