Tabbert, William
Actor, singer
b. Oct. 5, 1921 (Chicago, IL) - d. Oct. 19, 1974 (New York, NY)
This handsome baritone won fame on Broadway playing young military men in several World War II musicals, including What's Up? (1943) and Follow the Girls (1944). After a civilian stint as Rocky in Billion Dollar Baby (1945), he originated the role of Lt. Joe Cable in South Pacific (1949), introducing Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's "Younger Than Springtime" and "You've Got to Be Taught." As the original Marius in Fanny (1954), he introduced Harold Rome's soaring title tune. Tabbert withdrew from performing for more than a decade, and was rehearsing for a nightclub comeback when he died of a heart attack at age 53.

Talbot, Howard
(b. Richard Lansdale Munkittrick)
Composer
b. Mar. 9, 1865 (New York City) - d. Sept. 12, 1928 (Reigate, UK)
American-born but raised in London, Talbot composed eighteen West End musical comedies, three of which had extraordinary runs in the early 20th Century – A Chinese Honeymoon (1901 - 1000 perfs), The Arcadians (1909 - 809) and The Boy (1917 - 801). His melodies ranged from the sweet to the lively, somewhat in the tradition of Arthur Sullivan. Talbot's best works also succeeded on Broadway, but The Arcadians is the only one still performed today.

Tanguay, Eva
Singer, comedienne, vaudevillian
b. Aug. 1, 1878 (Marbleton, Canda) - d. Feb. 11, 1947 (Hollywood, CA)
By her own admission, this dynamic vaudeville star was not particularly gifted or beautiful, but her exuberant personality fascinated audiences for more than three decades. Describing Tanguay, critics often resorted to words like "whirlwind," which fits her fiery reputation both on and off stage. Appearances in amateur contests led to small roles with touring companies. She made her New York vaudeville debut at Hammerstein's Victoria in 1904. Tanguay eventually commanded the highest salary in vaudeville, earning as much as $3,500 a week by 1910. During World War I, when a so-called "decency craze" forced every other act in the business to clean up its material, Tanguay merely stopped using posters of herself in action. Her act frequently exploited her own outrageous reputation, with songs like "Its All Been Done Before But Not the Way I Do It" and "I Don't Care."

When a smart-mouthed stagehand once asked Tanguay how she would react if someone flirted with her, she picked him up and threw him against a backstage wall, leaving him unconscious. When he threatened to sue, Eva settled the issue by pulling a wad of bills out of her purse and peeling off a $1000 bill. Tanguay often publicized her seemingly unlikely devotion to Christian Science, adding the slogan "Naught can disturb - God is Peace" to her ads in Variety. Popular through vaudeville's final years, she spent her final years forgotten, sickly and impoverished.

Templeton, Fay
Actress, singer
b. Dec. 25, 1865 (Little Rock, AK) - d. Oct. 3, 1939 (San Francisco, CA)
Although Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) has kept Templeton's name alive, she was nothing like the statuesque soprano depicted in that film. Short, feisty, and  throaty-voiced, the real Templeton was one of Broadway's most beloved comediennes from the 1880s onwards. She began performing as a child in her family's touring theatrical troupe, and made her New York debut at age 20 in a revival of Evangeline (1885). Templeton first achieved stardom in Edward Rice's burlesque extravaganza Excelsior Jr. (1895). Audiences adored her strong contralto voice and comic timing. She appeared in several popular Weber and Fields extravaganzas, introducing the hit song "Ma Blushin' Rosie" in Fiddle-dee-dee (1900).

Her most memorable role was in George M. Cohan's Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway (1906), where she played New Rochelle housemaid Mary Jane Jenkins, who gives up a fortune to marry the impoverished man she loves. In that show, she introduced both "Mary's A Grand Old Name" and "So Long Mary." Templeton was married three times, and her final union in 1906 (to industrialist William Patterson) made her one of the wealthiest women in America. She withdrew from performing for several years, then made selective vaudeville appearances and co-starred in the final Weber and Fields musical, Hokey Pokey (1912). She headlined an all-star bill of old-timers at the Palace in 1925. After her husband's death in 1931, Templeton made a final trip to Broadway as Aunt Minnie in Roberta (1933), introducing the sentimental Jerome Kern-Otto Harbach ballad "Yesterdays." Beset by financial problems and poor health, she spent her final years in the Actors Fund Home in Englewood, New Jersey.

Tucker, Sophie
(b. Sonia Kalish)
Singer, actress, vaudevillian
b. Jan. 13, 1884 (Poland) - d. Feb. 9, 1966 (New York City)
Born in Poland as her Russian-Jewish mother was fleeing religious persecution in Tsarist Russia, this powerhouse singer was belting songs for tips at age 10 in her family's working class New Haven restaurant. She toured in burlesque as a blackface "coon shouter," and Tucker's talents eventually took her out of burnt cork and into Florenz Ziegfeld's 1909 Follies. She quickly became one of the top stars in vaudeville, billing herself alternately as "The Queen of Ragtime" and "The Last of The Red-Hot Mommas." Tucker popularized many songs, with "Some of These Days" and "My Yiddishe Momme" becoming trademarks.

Although Tucker is primarily remembered as warm hearted and generous, she had a tough side – an essential for anyone who wanted to survive in the hard nosed world of show business. Tucker could silence managers or hecklers with streams of unprintable language, or burst into vulnerable tears -- opting for whichever tactic seemd most likely to win a particular argument. At one point, she refused to talk to longtime friend Harry Richman for several years because he had walked out of a nightclub during one of her solos. When Richman explained that he was just trying to settle his bill, Tucker responded, "Listen to me, kid, and never forget what I'm telling you. Not even Jesus Christ himself walks out on Tucker." She was so obviously sincere that Richman apologized, and their friendship resumed.

Tucker's Broadway appearances included the 1924 Earl Carroll Vanities and playing the politically ambitious Mrs. Goodhue in Leave It to Me (1938) – introducing Cole Porter's "Most Gentlemen Don't Like Love." Her films were mostly forgettable. After vaudeville faded Tucker remained a popular performer in nightclubs, radio and television. Her club act was famous for its risqué humor, with songs like "You've Got to Be Loved to Be Healthy (and I'm the Healthiest Gal in Town)." She specialized in bawdy humor, but the outrageous "Sophie Tucker jokes" Bette Midler tells are often apocryphal. Tucker continued performing into the 1960s, and saw her life depicted in the unsuccessful Broadway musical Sophie (1963). She personally maintained a file of seven thousand friends and fans she remained in touch with until her death at age 82.

Tune, Tommy
Actor, dancer, singer, director, choreographer
b. Feb. 28, 1939 (Wichita Falls, Texas)
Tune's nine Tonys include awards for acting, direction and choreography. After dancing on screen in Hello Dolly (1969), he won his first Tony as Best Featured Actor in the Cy Coleman- Dorothy Fields Broadway musical Seesaw (1973), introducing the showstopper "It's Not Where You Start (It's Where You Finish)." Moving behind the scenes, he choreographed and co-directed The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1978), the first in a string of long-running hits. His witty staging of A Day In Hollywood/A Night In The Ukraine (1980) was followed by Maury Yeston's innovative Nine (1982), which brought Tune a Tony for Best Director. He shared a Tony for Best Choreography with Thommie Walsh for the Gershwin pastiche My One And Only (1983), which Tune co-starred in with Twiggy.

Tune tempered traditional show business razzmatazz with an array of fresh staging ideas, giving audiences surprises and showstoppers galore. The long-running Grand Hotel (1989) brought Tune twin Tonys for direction and choreography. He triumphed with Will Rogers Follies (1991) winning still more awards. Tune's nightclub appearances culminated in a limited solo run at Broadway's Gershwin Theatre in 1992. He was "Production Supervisor" for the long-running revival of Grease (1994) – the same season that he directed the disastrous sequel The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public. Tune starred in Busker Alley (1995) until his fractured toe forced the show to close on the road. Since then, he has performed in Las Vegas, made occasional special appearances, and had a brief run of his club act Off-Broadway. Musical buffs hope to see his name on a Broadway marquee again.

Urban, Joseph
Set designer, architect
b. May 26, 1872 (Vienna, Austria-Hungary) - d. July 10, 1933 (NY City)
This ingenious designer's work embodied the art deco style at its best. He designed the sets for Florenz Ziegfeld's Follies from 1915 to 1931, giving them a definitive period elegance. While the Follies had always been lavish, Urban elevated them to a new level of visual artistry. He designed other productions for Ziegfeld, including Show Boat (1927), The Three Musketeers (1928) and Whoopee (1928). He was architect for the spectacular Ziegfeld Theatre, designing a unique egg-shaped auditorium noted for its extraordinary acoustics and a sweeping art deco mural.

Urban was artistic director of the Metropolitan Opera from 1917 to 1931, contributed set designs for various plays and films, and designed select private homes. He also designed the interiors of several art deco restaurants, including the posh St. Regis Roof in New York. He died barely a year after Flo Ziegfeld. The Ziegfeld Theater was demolished in 1966 to make way for a skyscraper and a movie house that uses the same name. All that survives of Urban's work today are his eye-filling set sketches for the Follies, and the loveably outlandish lower floors of the Heart Organization's office building at Broadway and 57th Street.

Vera-Ellen
(b. Vera Ellen Wesmeyr Rohe)
Dancer, actress
b. Feb. 16, 1921 (Norwood, OH) - d. Aug. 30, 1981 (Los Angeles, CA)
After getting her start on the Major Bowes Talent Show, this petite blonde danced with the Radio City Rockettes. She made her Broadway debut in the chorus of Very Warm For May (1939), and then danced in such hits as Panama Hattie (1940) and the revival of A Connecticut Yankee (1943). Film producer Sam Goldwyn brought her to Hollywood, where she was featured with Danny Kaye in Wonder Man (1945) and The Kid From Brooklyn (1946).

Vera-Ellen signed with MGM in the late 1940s, opening the way to her most memorable screen performances. She danced with Gene Kelly in both Words and Music (1948) and On The Town (1949), and shared memorable dance duets with Fred Astaire in Three Little Words (1950) and The Belle of New York (1952). Few knew that all of her screen singing was dubbed -- a common practice at the time.

During Vera-Ellen's post-MGM career, she partnered Donald O'Connor in Call Me Madam (1953), and was reunited with Danny Kaye in White Christmas (1954). After the disappointing Let's Be Happy (1957), she realized that big screen musicals were passing out of vogue. Vera-Ellen did some nightclub work, but there was limited demand for a non-singing dancer. She soon retired from show business. Long plagued by obsessive eating disorders and arthritis, she continued to dance in private, staying out of the public eye until cancer ended her life at age 60. For more, see David Soren's Vera-Ellen: The Magic and the Mystery (Baltimore: Limelight Press, 2003).

Verdon, Gwen
Dancer, actress
b. Jan. 13, 1926 (Culver City, CA) - d. Oct. 17, 2000 (Woodstock, VT)
After a brief but unhappy marriage to an alcoholic gossip columnist, Verdon went to work as assistant to choreographer Jack Cole. As a chorus dancer at MGM, she helped Carol Haney dub the taps for Gene Kelly's waterlogged "Singin' in the Rain" solo, and made brief appearances in such films as The Merry Widow (1952). After winning a Tony for her show-stealing appearance as the sexy Claudine in Broadway's Can-Can (1953), Verdon starred in a triumphant series of musicals staged by Bob Fosse. Her combination of vulnerability and sleek sexuality made her the prototypical Fosse dancer. 

Verdon starred as the demonic Lola in Damn Yankees (1955) (the only stage role she repeated on film) – the prostitute Anna in New Girl In Town (1957), and the warmhearted Essie in Redhead (1959). She won Tonys for each of these musicals, and became Fosse's third wife in 1960. After taking time off to raise her daughter, Verdon returned to Broadway in two more Fosse productions. She played the title role in Sweet Charity (1966), introducing "If They Could See Me Now." Librettist Neil Simon wrote that Verdon "was a beautiful woman but never used her sex onstage except in a humorous way, which only made her more sexy." 

As the deadly housewife Roxie Hart in Chicago (1975), Verdon sang "Me and My Baby" and shared "Nowadays" with co-star Chita Rivera. When arthritis curtailed Verdon's ability to dance, she continued to act in various non-musical films, including Cocoon (1985). She assisted Fosse in staging new shows and revivals. Although many assumed that Verdon had divorced the promiscuous Fosse, the couple remained married and close – in fact, she was at Fosse's side when he collapsed from a fatal heart attack in 1987. Verdon's efforts to preserve her late husband's artistic legacy culminated in Fosse (1999), a Tony-winning compendium of his most memorable dances. The show was still running when Verdon died unexpectedly at age 74.

Walters, Charles
Actor, dancer, choreographer, film director
b. Nov. 17, 1911 (Pasadena, CA) - d. Aug. 13, 1982 (Malibu, CA)
Although Walters is rarely discussed, he helped shape some of Hollywood's most popular musical films. He made his Broadway debut dancing in New Faces (1934), and won attention dancing to "Begin the Beguine" and singing "Just One of Those Things" in Cole Porter's Jubilee (1935). After featured roles in I Married and Angel (1938) and DuBarry Was a Lady (1939), Walters choreographed Let's Face It (1941), Banjo Eyes (1941) and St. Louis Woman (1946). He combined tap, ballet and specialty dances in his shows, a novel approach that became an industry standard.

Gene Kelly encouraged MGM to sign up Walters, who made his mark in Hollywood staging dances for Girl Crazy (1943), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) and The Harvey Girls (1945). He proved a capable director, helming a series of musicals for MGM, including Good News (1947), Easter Parade (1948) and Lili (1953). Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, and other top stars found Walters' steady, professional approach reassuring. His best remembered dance routine is probably Garland's jazzy "Get Happy" in Summer Stock (1950).

As the number of screen musicals declined, Walters directed High Society (1956), Jumbo (1962) and the underrated screen version of The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964). He also directed numerous non-musical films. His final movie was the comedy Walk, Don't Run (1966), the only screen project he worked on outside of MGM. Walters lived a relatively open homosexual life through Hollywood's most closeted decades.

Warren, Harry
(b. Salvatore Guaragna)
Composer
b. Dec. 24, 1893 (Brooklyn, NY) - d. Sept. 22, 1981 (Los Angeles, CA)
Possibly the most prolific composer Hollywood would ever know, this son of Italian immigrants played piano in silent movie houses and worked briefly for Vitagraph studios before he began composing. After providing numbers for the forgettable Spring is Here (1930), he teamed up with lyricist Al Dubin to provide the score for the film hit 42nd Street (1933). "Shuffle Off to Buffalo" and the sardonic title tune became tremendous hits. 

Warren & Dubin went on to compose a series of classic screen scores for Warner Brothers, many directed by the innovative Busby Berkeley, including Gold Diggers of 1933, Footlight Parade (1933), Dames (1934) and Go Into Your Dance (1935).  These songs made no attempt to develop plot or character -- they were stand-alone numbers Berkeley could build into eye-popping production numbers.

When Dubin's dependence on alcohol and illegal drugs made him unreliable, Warren worked with a succession of top lyricists, including Johnny Mercer, Arthur Freed, Samy Cahn and Ira Gershwin. As popular tastes changed, Warren's versatility kept his melodies fresh, extending his career over three decades and more than sixty film scores. He composed three Academy Award winning songs – "Lullaby of Broadway," "You'll Never Know" and "On the Atchison Topeka and the Santa Fe." His one stab at composing for Broadway was Shangri-La (1956), an unsuccessful adaptation of Lost Horizon. However, he did live to see his music conquer Broadway in Gower Champion's stage version of 42nd Street (1981).

Waters, Ethel
Singer, actress
b. Oct. 31, 1896 (Chester, PA) - d. Sept. 1, 1977 (Chatsworth, CA)
Waters was the daughter of Louise Anderson, an unmarried 13 year old who claimed she had been raped by pianist John Wesley Walters. Anderson forced Ethel to marry at age 13, then divorce a year later. Ethel got her start in black vaudeville in 1915 billed as "Sweet Mamma Stringbean." Her magnetic interpretations of jazz and blues songs soon brought her to the big time vaudeville circuits, and she made her Broadway debut in the revue Africana (1927). She married again at this time, but it soon ended in another divorce.

After Blackbirds (1930) and Rhapsody in Black (1931), Waters appeared in the stellar revue As Thousands Cheer (1933), where she introduced the Irving Berlin classics "Heat Wave" and "Suppertime." She had the distinction of being the first black star to headline a mixed cast on Broadway in the revue At Home Abroad (1935). Waters enjoyed her greatest musical role as housewife Petunia Jackson in Cabin in the Sky (1940), introducing "Taking a Chance on Love." She repeated the role in the 1943 screen version, the best of her few musical screen appearances.

Aside from frequent nightclub performances, Waters was a powerful dramatic actress, getting an Academy Award nomination for Pinky (1949). In the stage and screen hit Member of the Wedding, she sang a moving rendition of "His Eye Is on the Sparrow." A heavy drinker and active bisexual throughout much of her career, Waters became a devout born-again Christian in her later years, living abstemiously and making appearances with preacher Billy Graham.

Watson, Susan
(b. Elizabeth Watson)
Actress, singer
b. Dec. 17, 1938 (Tulsa, OK)
One of the most popular stage ingénues of the late 20th Century, Watson originated several key roles in the musical comedy repertoire. After appearing as Velma in the London cast of West Side Story (1958), she charmed Broadway as the original Kim MacAfee in Bye, Bye Birdie (1960) introducing "One Boy." She took over the lead in the original production of Carnival (1962), and appeared as the French maiden Janine Nicolete in the unsuccessful Ben Franklin in Paris (1964) and A Joyful Noise (1966). Her delightful performance as "The Girl" in an all-star TV production of The Fantasticks led its composers to cast her in their experimental musical Celebration (1969). Watson ended her reign as Broadway's top ingénue playing the title role in the revival of No, No Nanette (1971) -- in which she sang the title tune and shared "I Want to Be Happy" with Jack Gilford. In recent years, she has lived and worked in California.

Wayburn, Ned
(b. Edward Claudius Weyburn)
Director, dance director
b. Mar. 30, 1874 (Pittsburgh, PA) - d. Sept. 2, 1942 (New York City)
Wayburn dabbled in architecture and real estate and worked as a vaudeville performer & stage manager before becoming a dance director for the top theatre managers of the early 1900s. The first person to take musical comedy dance routines seriously, he founded the Studio of Stage Dancing in 1905 and developed the first crude form of dance notation. Wayburn coached hundreds of vaudevillians, including Eddie Cantor, Al Jolson and even Fred Astaire. An early proponent of precision chorus dancing, he developed the kick lines and geometric formations that are still familiar in musical staging today.

In a 41 year career, Wayburn (who took his stage name spelling from a program typo) staged hundreds of stage productions. He worked frequently for producer Florenz Ziegfeld, doing much to define the look of the classic Broadway show girl by dividing chorus girls according to height and inventing the trademark "Ziegfeld Walk." Balancing the forward thrust of each hip with a thrust from the opposite shoulder, this walk made it possible for chorus girls to descend stairs while wearing huge headpieces. Wayburn remained active after Ziegfeld's death, staging traveling movie house revues.

Wayne, David
(b. Wayne McMeekan)
Actor, singer
b. Jan. 30, 1914 (Traverse, MI) - d. Feb. 9, 1995 (Santa Monica, CA)
This gifted comic actor was working as a statistician when he joined a Shakespearean repertory troupe in Cleveland.  Wayne worked his way to New York, where he made his musical debut as the diplomatic aide Nish in a long-running Broadway revival of The Merry Widow (1943). His inspired performance as Og, the transplanted leprechaun in Burton Lane and Yip Harburg's Finian's Rainbow (1947) made him the first actor to win a Tony Award for a performance in a musical. Wayne cemented his reputation with a series of superb character performances, including Ensign Pulver in Broadway's Mister Roberts and the Kate Hepburn's effeminate yet amorous neighbor in the film Adam's Rib (1949).

His musical stage roles included Jack Jordan in Say, Darling (1958), Ezra in The Yearling (1965) and Granpere in John Kander and Fred Ebb's The Happy Time (1968). He relocated to California in 1977, making frequent guest appearances on television, where his roles included Digger Barnes on Dallas (1978), and Blanche's "Big Daddy" on The Golden Girls (1986). From 1941 onwards, he was married to Jane Gordon, with whom he had twin daughters. Wayne died of lung cancer at age 81.

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