Ruth Tester (August 17, 1903 – March 21, 1993) was a singer and dancer in

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 ...

musicals of the 1920s and 1930s.

Biography

Tester was born on August 17, 1903. She was married for 59 years to Fredrick Carothers. In her later years, Tester and her husband, Carothers, lived in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts. Carothers worked as a sales executive, and predeceased Testor in 1990. Tester sang "

Sing Something Simple ''Sing Something Simple'' was a half-hour radio programme, which featured Cliff Adams and The Cliff Adams Singers, with Jack Emblow on accordion. The programme ran for 42 years from 1959 until 2001, initially on the BBC Light Programme and later ...

" in "

The Garrick Gaieties ''Garrick Gaieties'' is a revue with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, the first successful musical by this songwriting team. It debuted in 1925 on Broadway and was the first of three ''Garrick Gaiety'' revues, which were subse ...

" of 1930 at the Guild Theatre in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and performed with

Rosalind Russell Catherine Rosalind Russell (June 4, 1907November 28, 1976) was an American actress, comedienne, screenwriter, and singer,Obituary '' Variety'', December 1, 1976, p. 79. known for her role as fast-talking newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson in the H ...

and

Imogene Coca Imogene Coca (born Emogeane Coca; November 18, 1908 – June 2, 2001) was an American comic actress best known for her role opposite Sid Caesar on '' Your Show of Shows''. Starting out in vaudeville as a child acrobat, she studied ballet and wish ...

. She also sang and danced in the short subject film, "Makers of Melody (1929)", with Allan Gould singing the Rodgers and Hart song "

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

", often called, "I'll Take Manhattan".

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most well-known American ...

and

Lorenz Hart Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include " Blue Moon", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", " Bewitched, ...

appeared in this short as themselves. Manhattan was Rodgers and Hart's first hit and started them as a team. Tester died at the age of 89 in a nursing home in

Weston, Massachusetts Weston is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, about 15 miles west of Boston. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, the population of Weston was 11,851. Weston was incorporated in 1713, and protection of the town's historic resour ...

on March 21, 1993.

Broadway stage credits

*''The Gangs All Here

Imperial Theatre The Imperial Theatre is a Broadway theater at 249 West 45th Street (George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1923, the Imperial Theatre was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was constructed f ...

(February 18, 1931 - March 9, 1931)... as Peggy'' *''The Garrick Gaieties of 1930 Guild Theatre (October 16, 1930 for 10 performances), Ruth Tester... as herself'' *''Second Little Show

Royale Theatre The Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (formerly the Royale Theatre and the John Golden Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 242 West 45th Street (George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the thea ...

(September 2, 1930 - October 1930)'' *''The Garrick Gaieties of 1930 Guild Theatre (June 4, 1930), Ruth Tester... as herself'' *''The Ramblers Lyric Theatre (September 20, 1826 - May 28, 1927)... as Jenny Wren'' *''Bunk of 1926 Heckscher Theater and

Broadhurst Theatre The Broadhurst Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1917, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was built for the Shubert brothers. The Bro ...

(February 16, 1926 - May 19, 1926)'' *''A Lucky Break

Cort Theater The James Earl Jones Theatre, originally the Cort Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 138 West 48th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. It was built in ...

(August 11, 1925 - August 1925)... as Claudia'' *''Lollipop Knickerbocker Theatre (January 21, 1924 - May 31, 1924)... in ensemble''

Filmography

*''Makers of Melody (1929), Ruth Tester... as herself''

External links

* * *Ruth Tester singing the Rodgers and Hart song, "Manhattan" in the short "Makers of Melody" with Allan Gould https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPIgQdOoEV0 *New York Times Obituatary https://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/25/obituaries/ruth-tester-carothers-singer-89.html *Sing Something Simple https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuqVk1S5uks {{DEFAULTSORT:Tester, Ruth American female dancers 1903 births 1993 deaths 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American dancers