E. Abdo = Edward Abdo on Maloof

Braheen "Edward Abdo" Urban

(musician)

Braheen Edward Abdo, 1936. Photo courtesy of the Des Moines Register, 8 May 1940.

Braheen Edward Abdo was born in Douma, Greater Syria, in 25 February 1902. His family, which included four brothers, George Abdo, Thomas Abdo, Andrew Abdo, and Nicolas Abdo, and three sisters, immigrated to the United States in 1912. For a few years, the family lived in New York. In the 1920s, he recorded a host of sides for the Maloof Phonograph Company label under the name E. Abdo. After recording for Maloof, the Abdo’s relocated to Los Angeles, California. Eddie performed in San Francisco and Hawaii in 1926.

E. Abdo, "Bjeel Il Ishreen -The 20th Generation" Maloof #964 https://soundcloud.com/user-387335530/maloof-964-bjeel-il-ishreen-e-abdo-1927


Recordings as E. Abdo on the Maloof Record label, 1920s. Photo courtesy of Richard M. Breaux. https://soundcloud.com/user-387335530/ibrahim-abdo-tiara-maloof-950-951


Edward or Eddie, as he was called by friends, became a naturalized US citizen in May 1927. On his naturalization forms, Abdo noted that he used the name Edward Abdo, Edward Urban, and Abraham Abdo.


This 1934 Petition for Citizenship lists the various names Braheen Edward Abdo Urban used including Edward Abdo.
 Courtesy of Ancestry.com
In April 1930, Edward performed a series of “Arabian Concerts” at the Century Club in Reno, Nevada. He traveled back to New York and from 1930 to 1937, he sang with the Toronto Opera Company in Ontario province, Canada.  He also seems to have been a student at the Major School of Acting and regularly performed on KOH radio. On May 4, 1933, Eddie married Marie Balady, a Syrian-born Canadian, who worked a dressmaker and early fashion designer. Because Edward earned a living as a singer he traveled quite regularly.

Concert Ad, 23 April 1930, Nevada State Journal.

In late 1936, a rare opportunity arose for Abdo. His siblings were all living in southern California and while visiting family he earned a part in the motion picture “Ali Baba Goes to Town” starring Eddie Cantor. Abdo gained the role of a muezzin in a number of scenes throughout the movie. The film, as might be expected, is crammed with Orientalist stereotypes about the Middle East, Arabs, and Africans, which became standard fare in Hollywood films of this type, as Cantor played a character who fell asleep on the set of a film and is transported back to tenth century Baghdad. “Ali Baba Goes to Town” opened in theaters in 1937.


Shortly after filming “Ali Baba Goes to Town” in Los Angeles, Abdo caught the eye of wealthy-widow Mrs. Edith Gaines and the two started an affair. Mrs. Marie Adbo suspected her husband of having an affair and hired private investigators to look into the matter. In a San Francisco apartment Gaines and Abdo rented together, Marie Abdo, accompanied by two private detectives, confronted the couple and had the two arrested on morals charges. In a scandalous trial with nation-wide coverage, Mrs. Abdo then sued Mrs. Gaines for $100,000 for stealing her husband. Mrs. Gaines, all the while, claimed her interest in Edward Abdo was only business and investment related. Even with eye-witness testimony from Gaines’ housekeeper, proof that the two shared a room although not a bed when they traveled, the judge ordered Gaines to pay Marie Adbo $2500 in damages.

Braheen Edward Abdo Urban, Courtesy of the Los Angeles Times, 1 May 1940.

Edward Abdo performed very little after the trial. The negative and far-reaching news of his affair should have made his several aliases all the more useful, but accounts of additional film or concert appearances by Abdo disappeared from the press despite some fourteen other uncredited roles including minor parts in The Rains Came (1939), Lost in a Harem (1944), Temptation (1946), and Sinbad, the Sailor (1947).

WW II Draft card for Braheen A. Urban. Courtesy of Ancestry.com


At some point in his life, perhaps in the 1920s, but equally as likely in the 1930s or 1940s, Tri-Arts Productions released at least three 78 RPM recordings by "Braheen Abdo Urban". There seems to have been a Tri-Art Production film company in the 1920s, but there was also a more contemporary record company of the same name. The particular Tri-Art Productions that released Abdo Urban's music had locations in San Francisco and Hollywood, California. Perhaps other record collectors who have seen this unique label might assist us with more detailed information about Tri-Art Productions.

Braheen Abdo Urban's rendition of "God Bless America."
https://youtu.be/Nn_q8sN_ADU

Two of at least three of Braheen Abdo Urban's release on Tri-Art Productions. Collection of Richard M. Breaux.


Nevertheless, on Thursday, June 8, 1961, a brief story in the “Pasadena Independent” noted the death of the “well-known sports fisherman” Eddie Abdo Urban. The column mentioned Abdo Urban had been born in Douma, Lebanon and his funeral services were to be held at the Saint Nicholas Syrian Orthodox Church in Los Angeles. The article contained no mention of Abdo’s singing or acting career, however, the story did mentioned his surviving relatives: four brothers, three sisters – all married, and a wife living in San Diego named Edith G. Adbo Urban

Richard M. Breaux

© Midwest Mahjar 
Location: La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA La Crosse, WI, USA

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