Georgie Tapps (born Mortimer Alphonse Becker; 1907–1997) 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 perf ...
r. He appeared in a number of films and
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
productions. He was known for his repertoire of ballet-tap and toured the
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
circuit during the 1930s and 1940s, performing in many cabarets and nightclubs.
Early life
Mortimer Alphonse Becker was born in 1907
in New York City.
At the age of seven, his dancing at a church benefit was noticed by a theatrical producer who offered him a scholarship to study
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
.
He received a three-year dance scholarship from choreographer
Ned Wayburn
Ned Wayburn ''(né'' Edward Claudius Weyburn; 30 March 1874 – 2 September 1942) was an American choreographer.
Career
Wayburn was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Elbert Delos Weyburn and Harriet Landon Beach. Ned Wayburn spent much of ...
. Upon its completion, Wayburn offered to sign the 10-year-old Becker to a twenty-year contract, but the offer was rejected by his parents.
When he was 16, he performed at a club in New York City. The club's owner called him "Georgie Tapps".
However, a 1945 article in ''
Dance Magazine
''Dance Magazine'' is an American trade publication for dance published by the Macfadden Communications Group. It was first published in June 1927 as ''The American Dancer''. ''Dance Magazine'' has multiple sister publications, including '' Point ...
'' credits New York politician
Sol Bloom
Sol Bloom (March 9, 1870March 7, 1949) was an American song-writer and politician from New York City who began his career as an entertainment impresario and sheet music publisher in Chicago. He served fourteen terms in the United States House of ...
with suggesting the nickname.
Career
Alongside
Paul Draper, Tapps was among the first tap dancers to popularize dancing to classical music.
Tapps travelled the
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
circuit and performed in
cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...
s and nightclubs throughout the 1930s and 1940s.
By the mid-1930s, vaudeville had become less popular,
and Tapps started taking roles in Broadway plays. His Broadway debut was in the revue ''
Americana
Americana may refer to:
*Americana (music), a genre or style of American music
*Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States
Film, radio and television
* ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...
''
in 1932 where he performed the number "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime".
Tapps was friends with Broadway producer
George M. Cohan
George Michael Cohan (July 3, 1878November 5, 1942) was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer.
Cohan began his career as a child, performing with his parents and sister in a vaudev ...
and danced in several of his productions. He danced and had a small speaking role in the 1937 musical ''
I'd Rather Be Right
''I'd Rather Be Right'' is a 1937 musical with a book by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, lyrics by Lorenz Hart, and music by Richard Rodgers. The story is a Depression-era political satire set in New York City about Washington politics an ...
''.
Beginning in 1935, Tapps also took film roles. He appeared in the December 4, 1935 film short ''Katz Pajamas'', part of the
Broadway Brevities
Broadway Brevities are two-reel (17–21 minutes long) musical and dramatic film shorts produced by Warner Bros. between 1931 and 1943. The series continued as Warner Specials in later years.
Overview
Other titles used for these black and white ...
series produced by
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
, and the 1937 musical comedy film ''
Vogues of 1938
''Walter Wanger's Vogues of 1938'' (also known by its shortened form, ''Vogues of 1938'') is a 1937 musical comedy film produced by Walter Wanger and distributed by United Artists. It was directed by Irving Cummings, written by Bella Spewack and S ...
''.
That same year Tapps debuted his routine to
Maurice Ravel's ''
Boléro'', fusing ballet with tap.
He performed ''Bolero'' at the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
. Afterwards, his weekly salary went from $150 to $750.
Tapps was involved in a legal case by the labor union
Actors Equity
The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a boo ...
in 1939.
In 1941 Tapps was cast in the musical ''
Pal Joey'' by
Rodgers Rodgers is a patronymic surname of Old English origin derived from the Norman personal name "Roger", with the addition of the genitive suffix "-s" and meaning “son of Roger.” The intrusive “d” in Rodgers is either a Welsh or Scottish ...
and
Hart
Hart often refers to:
* Hart (deer)
Hart may also refer to:
Organizations
* Hart Racing Engines, a former Formula One engine manufacturer
* Hart Skis, US ski manufacturer
* Hart Stores, a Canadian chain of department stores
* Hart's Reptile Wo ...
as a replacement for
Gene Kelly, who was leaving for Hollywood.
During World War II, Tapps performed for American troops at the
American Theatre Wing
The American Theatre Wing (the Wing for short) is a New York City–based non-profit organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre", according to its mission statement. Originally known as the Stage Women's War Relief ...
's
Stage Door Canteen
The Stage Door Canteen was an entertainment venue for American and Allied servicemen that operated in the Broadway theatre district of New York City throughout World War II. Founded by the American Theatre Wing (ATW) in 1942, the entertainers we ...
venue in New York City in 1943. He was also part of a
USO
The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...
tour in 1945, performing for military personnel in Oahu, Guam, Tinian, and Saipan.
In 1945 Tapps performed for the dinner show of the Persian Room nightclub in the
Plaza Hotel. His opening night performance included five encores. Paul Ross, writing for ''
The Billboard
The Billboard () is a massive granite monolith in the Sarnoff Mountains of the Ford Ranges of Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica, standing just west of Mount Rea between Arthur Glacier and Boyd Glacier. It was discovered in November 1934 by a Secon ...
'', described Tapps routine in a review as including soft-shoe, a ballet-taps routine, a version of ''
Ritual Fire Dance'' by
Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla y Matheu (, 23 November 187614 November 1946) was an Andalusian Spanish composer and pianist. Along with Isaac Albéniz, Francisco Tárrega, and Enrique Granados, he was one of Spain's most important musicians of the first ...
, and a piece incorporating
flamenco
Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...
.
In September 1951 Tapps appeared as a guest on the variety television show ''
This Is Show Business
''This Is Show Business'' is an American variety television program that was broadcast first on CBS and later on NBC beginning July 15, 1949, and ending September 11, 1956. It was CBS-TV's first regular series broadcast live from coast to coast. It ...
''. During the show, guests perform their acts and receive advice from a three-judge panel for show business-related problems. During the show, Tapps' "problem" was that he hadn't been considered for the remake of ''Pal Joey''. After performing his act, the panel informed him that the show's producers had been viewing the telecast and thought that he would be ideal for a role in the remake.
On March 9, 1952, Tapps was a guest on ''
The Colgate Comedy Hour
''The Colgate Comedy Hour'' was an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show featured many notable comedians and entertainers of the era as guest stars. Many of the scripts of the series ...
''. That year he also participated in a demonstration of the
Eidophore, a new cinema video projector.
He made an appearance on ''
The Ed Sullivan Show
''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the '' CBS Sunday Night M ...
'' on May 18, 1958.
After the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
sent a ballet troupe to
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...
in 1959, Tapps was sent there by the United States Dance Panel in 1961. From December 1961 to April 1962 he performed tap routines in
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
and other countries.
Later career
Audience interest in tap dancing had begun to decline by the 1950s,
and Tapps had difficulty finding employment. He moved to Los Angeles in 1967. There he gave singing and dancing classes and worked as a salesperson in a Beverly Hills clothing store.
Tapps appeared alongside singer
Maxine Sullivan
Maxine Sullivan (May 13, 1911 – April 7, 1987), born Marietta Williams in Homestead, Pennsylvania, United States, was an American jazz vocalist and performer.
As a vocalist, Sullivan was active for half a century, from the mid-1930s to just b ...
in a cabaret program for the
Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...
Out-of-Doors Festival in August 1979. He also performed at the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
in May 1981 as part of a Museum of American History festival.
In 1992 Tapps put on the one-man show ''Whatever Happened to Georgie Tapps?'' at the
Westwood Playhouse
The Geffen Playhouse (or the Geffen) is a not-for-profit theater company founded by Gilbert Cates in 1995. It produces plays in two theaters in Geffen Playhouse, which is owned by University of California Los Angeles. The Playhouse is located i ...
.
Tapps died at St. Joseph's Center Hospital on November 1, 1997, in
Burbank, California following a stroke.
Fellow tap dancer
Bill Robinson
Bill Robinson, nicknamed Bojangles (born Luther Robinson; May 25, 1878 – November 25, 1949), was an American tap dancer, actor, and singer, the best known and the most highly paid African-American entertainer in the United States during the f ...
called Tapps "tops in the field of straight tap."
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tapps, Georgie
1907 births
1997 deaths
American tap dancers
American male film actors
American male stage actors
Dancers from New York (state)