Charles Green (November 6, 1919 – March 7, 1997) was an American

tap dance Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perfo ...

r. Green was born in

Fitzgerald The FitzGerald/FitzMaurice Dynasty is a noble and aristocratic dynasty of Cambro-Norman, Anglo-Norman and later Hiberno-Norman origin. They have been peers of Ireland since at least the 13th century, and are described in the Annals of the ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. He would stick bottle caps on his bare feet as a child and tap dance on the sidewalk for money. He won third place in a dance contest in 1925 in which

Noble Sissle Noble Lee Sissle (July 10, 1889 – December 17, 1975) was an American jazz composer, lyricist, bandleader, singer, and playwright, best known for the Broadway musical ''Shuffle Along'' (1921), and its hit song "I'm Just Wild About Harry". Ea ...

was the bandleader. Soon, Green would be touring the South tap dancing. When he was nine he was brought to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

by a talent scout to study tap dancing. A famous talent agent, Nat Nazzaro, signed Green up as a client when he was just twelve years old. He and his childhood friend James Walker teamed up and called themselves "Shorty and Slim". Walker was a talented comic dancer and would be "Slim" to Green's "Shorty". They changed their name to "Chuck and Chuckles," and played New York's Palace Theatre. Described as a modern Buck and Bubbles, Chuckles, an expert i
legomania
played the vibes, while Green performed tap in a breathtaking yet gentle style of John Bubbles, whose protoge' he later became. Up until 1944, "Chuck and Chuckles" toured

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, performing in such venues as

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...

, the Paramount, Apollo, and Capital theatres. Jobs were plentiful and they would double up on performances, averaging five stage shows a day, playing nightclubs until early morning, and touring nonstop with big bands across the country and abroad. In 1944, due to Green's stress, the team broke up and Green was committed to a mental institution where he stayed for fifteen years. Upon his release in 1959, Green had become very introverted but he could still dance. He quickly adapted to bebop and created his own style of tap dancing, experimenting with new harmonies and rhythmic patterns. He could easily ad-lib his dance numbers to the new music. He began performing again, on stage and on television. He appeared at the

Newport Jazz Festival The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hire ...

on July 6, 1963 along with

Honi Coles Charles “Honi” Coles (April 2, 1911 – November 12, 1992) was an American actor and tap dancer, who was inducted posthumously into the American Tap Dance Hall of Fame in 2003. He had a distinctive personal style that required technical prec ...

. Then, in 1964, Green faced tap dancer Groundhog in a tap challenge at the

Village Vanguard The Village Vanguard is a jazz club at Seventh Avenue South in Greenwich Village, New York City. The club was opened on February 22, 1935, by Max Gordon. Originally, the club presented folk music and beat poetry, but it became primarily a jazz ...

. In 1969, Green appeared with members of Harlem's

Hoofers Club The Hoofers Club was an African-American entertainment establishment and dancers' club hangout in Harlem, New York, that ran from the early 1920s until the early 1940s. It was founded and managed by Lonnie Hicks (1882–1953), an Atlanta-born ragt ...

for a series of "Tap Happenings" that were produced in New York City by Letitia Jay. Through the 1970s and 1980s, Green performed with the Copasetics. Honi Coles would introduce him as, "Chuck Green, the greatest tap dancer in the world." In 1979, Green was featured in the documentary film ''

No Maps on My Taps ''No Maps on My Taps'' is a 1979 American documentary film directed by George Nierenberg. The film recounts the history of tap dancing in America through the lives of three influential tap dancers, Chuck Green, Howard Sims, and Bunny Briggs, a ...

.'' In 2003, Green was inducted into the Tap Dance Hall of Fame. Chuck Green died on March 7, 1997 at the Oakridge Care Center in Oakland, Calif.,

Filmography

References

External links

American Tap Dance FoundationChuck Green Oral History Interview

Institute of Jazz Studies The Institute of Jazz Studies (IJS) is the largest and most comprehensive library and archives of jazz and jazz-related materials in the world. It is located on the fourth floor of the John Cotton Dana Library at Rutgers University–Newark in Newa ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Chuck 1919 births 1997 deaths American tap dancers African-American male dancers American male dancers 20th-century American dancers 20th-century African-American people