May 9, 2000

By Christian Boone

Comedian Leo Gallagher -- the original Gallagher -- and his new hair style.

DETROIT (APBnews.com) -- Gallagher, the comedian who smashes watermelons on stage, is suing his younger brother, claiming his sibling has stolen his act and violated the performer's trademark name.

The dispute has led the Gallaghers' father to disown his famous son.

According to a complaint filed in a Michigan court, "Ron Gallagher [the comedian's brother] and his promoters have violated Gallagher's right of publicity and trademark rights and have engaged in false advertising and unfair competition, thereby creating consumer confusion."

The complaint seeks damages and a court injunction to halt Ron Gallagher from taking his act on the road and passing himself off as Leo Gallagher.

'I'm just a pimple on your ass'

"People are confused -- they think they're going to a Gallagher show," said Leo Gallagher, whose shows can be seen on television in late-night slots on the cable network Comedy Central.

"He used to say to me, 'I'm just a pimple on your ass.' But that pimple's infected now, and I can't sit down. It's been five years that I've realized [my family is] trying to steal my life from me -- my dad more than my brother. He's behind the whole thing. They're ruining the Gallagher image, which is creative. My shows survive in a time when things are just thrown away."

Gallagher claims he gave his brother a job being, well, Gallagher, sending him out to smaller venues as "Gallagher 2."

"He was out of a job," Gallagher said. "I was following the old maxim: Instead of giving a guy fish, teach him how to fish. I had him go work in little clubs but told him to stay out of my way. Go to the places I couldn't possibly go because of the size."

Problems arose, he said, when his little brother started promoting his act under the name "Ron Gallagher," which he alleges causes confusion because most people don't know his first name.

"He was defrauding the audience and pretending he was me," Leo Gallagher said. "Now when I say Gallagher's coming, they don't know if it's my brother or me. Now I shaved my head. I don't even look like him. I don't look like me. It's not about hair; it's about my mind.

"How can you be egotistical and not be talented?"

Fulfilling a wish?

	Related Link: Gallagher's Official Web Site

Ron Gallagher claims he's just fulfilling his brother's wishes, saying he quit his job 10 years ago to help his sibling handle a busy workload.

"This was his idea," Ron said. "People make mistakes, wanna change their minds. If you wanna change your mind, you should be the one to pay for it, not someone else. I have a career, a family. ... For him to come up now, that's not acceptable. He ought to be suing himself.

"He's garnered a lot of publicity by suing me. If it is [a publicity stunt], it's pretty sick. I'm just a small-time comic. I'm nowhere near the caliber of entertainer he is."

Dispute over 'Sledge-O-Matic'

No matter what the court decides -- a decision is expected soon -- the Gallagher brood seems divided for good. The parents have taken the side of their younger son, saying what was once a family operation has been ruined by Leo Gallagher's greed.

"This is a heartbreaking situation for me," Ron Gallagher said. "I still love my brother."

Both sides say they have tried to settle the matter out of court, with the comedian's manager saying that Ron Gallagher refused to give up the "Sledge-O-Matic" part of his act (the comic's term for smashing melons). Ron Gallagher and his father, Leo Gallagher Sr., say the "Sledge-O-Matic" was a joint discovery by the brothers and therefore shouldn't be limited to one act.

'I feel my son has died'

"They got together and got all of the food out of our icebox and smashed everything all over the place," Leo Gallagher Sr. said. "They were very close in their earlier years. We were always a close family."

But now, "I feel my son [Leo] has died. He's no longer my son," the father said.

For his part, Gallagher, a leper among critics but a fan favorite for more than two decades, claims melon smashing wasn't apart of his act until 1975, long after he moved away from his family's South Florida home.

"I never smashed a melon in Florida," he said. "The first melon I ever smashed was on New Year's Eve 1975, never in Florida. My first appearance on the Mike Douglas show in 1972 -- I don't smash a melon, I just threatened to do it.