BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — As we await the start of the 2023 women’s season, the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) continues to remind fans of past athletes/coaches/staff from league institution’s that made a mark on the game of water polo or in their post collegiate careers. One such individual is former City of Philadelphia Mayor Robert Eneas Lamberton (1886-1941) who competed in water polo while a student at the University of Pennsylvania.
The captain of the water polo team in 1906 prior to serving as right guard on the Penn football team in 1908 and 1909, he served as class president in 1908-09 and 1909-10 for Penn’s Law School class of 1910.
A native of Bethlehem, Pa., he was elected as a City Councilman in 1915 and served as the 114th mayor of Philadelphia from 1940 to 1941.
In 1934, he ran an unsuccessful campaign for Pennsylvania Governor in 1934. However, he successfully claimed the 1939 Philadelphia mayoral race against Robert White, a Democrat, garnering 398,384 votes to White’s 361,143.
His tenure as mayor was short-lived as Lamberton suffered from Parkinson’s Disease and, died while recovering at his shore house in Longport, New Jersey on August 22, 1941, at the age of 54. City Council President Bernard Samuel succeeded him as mayor. Samuel served from 1941-to-1952 and holds the historical mark of being the last Republican elected mayor of Philadelphia
Several years later, a school was named after him in Philadelphia’s Overbrook Park section. The school has been called Robert E. Lamberton Public School, Lamberton Public School, Robert E. Lamberton High School, Robert E. Lamberton Eastern Early College High School, and Lamberton High School.
Lamberton has a unique connection to pop culture as his nephew John Zacherle became known as a monster movie host in Philadelphia under the name Roland. In 1958, he cut a record – with the backing of American Bandstand host and friend Dick Clark – called “Dinner with Drac” about a dinner with Dracula. He moved to New York in 1959 and continued his monster appearances as “Zacherley,” hosting Shock Theater. His appearances and presentation – including cutting in with skits during movies – were the direct inspiration for later shows Dr. Shock, Elvira, and Mystery Science Theatre 3000.
