Bert Firman

Who was Bert Firman?

Bert Firman was an English bandleader of the 1920s, 30s and 40s.

He was born as Herbert Feuerman in London. His mother was of Polish stock and his father was a professional musician who had settled in Britain from Austria-Hungary in the late 1880's. His three elder brothers were also musicians. He took up the violin at an early age and won a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music.

Firman’s first job, at the age of thirteen, was at the Playhouse Theatre, London, where he was part of a quintet playing entr'acte music. A year later his father negotiated a position for him in the orchestra at the Victoria Hotel in Northumberland Avenue. After only three months in this job he secured the part of Sascha, a gypsy violinist in the musical Sally at the Winter Garden Theatre, Drury Lane. The production opened on 10 September 1921, running for 383 performances. During this run, at the suggestion of the producer, George Grossmith Jr, Feuerman changed his name to Bert Firman, apparently so as to make it easier to bill in lights outside the theatre. When the run of Sally finished, Firman got a job as a violinist with the Midnight Follies Orchestra at the Metropole Hotel. Shortly after beginning this job, the current bandleader was indisposed, and Firman was offered the job. He was then only sixteen, and he would thereafter claim to have been the youngest bandleader in the world.