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Iron Mike, the smartest April Fool, and the Old Man
Mike Shea was admired by many and known to all, from his immigrant kin in the old First Ward to the heights of Hollywood. In his early days as an ironworker, 'Iron Mike' had a reputation for fighting atop steel bridges. Those same friends from the First Ward stayed close even after his decades of show business, with one remarking on the occasion of Mike Shea's birthday: "Mike, if you're a fool, even if you were born on April Fool's Day, then you're the smartest one I've ever met!"
To the employees of the Shea's theaters, he was "The Old Man" and many had stayed with the Shea's theaters for more than 25 years (although it was a safe bet that he has fired each of those veterans at least once every year as well). One young usher, not recognizing Mr. Shea, told him to put out his cigar in the theater - and Michael Shea took him to the manager's office, insisting on promoting the young man. Performers too, clamored to get a run at Shea's theaters. Vaudevillian Eddie Cantor once said "The old tradition used to be that if you were in love and wanted to get married, Buffalo would be the place because Mike was always there to help you. If you were feeling rotten and wanted a rest cure, Buffalo was the place because Mike Shea was there to help you. No matter what you did backstage, Mike Shea was on hand. That's what made Buffalo a good show town. Mike did more for every trouper, including myself, than any other man."
To most at Shea's Buffalo though, Mike Shea could be found standing at the back of the theater, wearing an old hat and a mackintosh, always seeing how his show would "go over". One story recounts how seeing his audience bored with the movie playing, he marched into the projectionist booth to stop the film, and gave him a new movie just purchased from New York to put on instead, delighting his audience with the early antics of Charlie Chaplin. Even as his years in show business became decades, Mike Shea enjoyed his routines (swimming before breakfast, boxing, and walking to theaters daily), had a fondness for detective stories, and kept a 'cat account' on the books to feed the "fat and saucy" theater cats - he delighted in the occasional onstage appearances of one "Kitty Shea" at the Shea's Court Street Theatre.
To the employees of the Shea's theaters, he was "The Old Man" and many had stayed with the Shea's theaters for more than 25 years (although it was a safe bet that he has fired each of those veterans at least once every year as well). One young usher, not recognizing Mr. Shea, told him to put out his cigar in the theater - and Michael Shea took him to the manager's office, insisting on promoting the young man. Performers too, clamored to get a run at Shea's theaters. Vaudevillian Eddie Cantor once said "The old tradition used to be that if you were in love and wanted to get married, Buffalo would be the place because Mike was always there to help you. If you were feeling rotten and wanted a rest cure, Buffalo was the place because Mike Shea was there to help you. No matter what you did backstage, Mike Shea was on hand. That's what made Buffalo a good show town. Mike did more for every trouper, including myself, than any other man."
To most at Shea's Buffalo though, Mike Shea could be found standing at the back of the theater, wearing an old hat and a mackintosh, always seeing how his show would "go over". One story recounts how seeing his audience bored with the movie playing, he marched into the projectionist booth to stop the film, and gave him a new movie just purchased from New York to put on instead, delighting his audience with the early antics of Charlie Chaplin. Even as his years in show business became decades, Mike Shea enjoyed his routines (swimming before breakfast, boxing, and walking to theaters daily), had a fondness for detective stories, and kept a 'cat account' on the books to feed the "fat and saucy" theater cats - he delighted in the occasional onstage appearances of one "Kitty Shea" at the Shea's Court Street Theatre.
