Tomasso Patricola (January 22, 1891 – January 1, 1950) was an American actor,

comic a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicat ...

and dancer who starred in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

and motion pictures. Born in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, Patricola established his fame as a hoofer, becoming a leading interpreter of the Black Bottom dance. Besides excelling at

eccentric dance Eccentric dance is a style of dance performance in which the moves are unconventional and individualistic. It developed as a genre in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a result of the influence of African and exotic ...

s, Patricola also sang and played the

ukulele The ukulele ( ; ); also called a uke (informally), is a member of the lute (ancient guitar) family of instruments. The ukulele is of Portuguese origin and was popularized in Hawaii. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and con ...

. Marketing himself as a novelty act, Patricola was described as a "mop gone crazy" as he danced while simultaneously singing and playing the ukulele. He was also a noted

clog dancer Clogging, buck dancing, or flatfoot dancing is a type of folk dance practiced in the United States, in which the dancer's footwear is used percussively by striking the heel, the toe, or both against a floor or each other to create audible rhythm ...

Career

His fame as a song and dance man was assured by five seasons as a headliner with ''

George White's Scandals ''George White's Scandals'' were a long-running string of Broadway revues produced by George White that ran from 1919–1939, modeled after the ''Ziegfeld Follies''. The "Scandals" launched the careers of many entertainers, including W. C. ...

'', a Broadway musical revue, from 1923 to 1926 and 1928. He was noted for dancing the Black Bottom with Ann Pennington in the 1926 version of ''Scandals''. While employed by George White, Patricola was coached by the African American choreographer

Buddy Bradley Harold "Buddy" William Bradley Jr.,Peter Bagge ''Hate (comics), Hate'' #6, 1991 Fantagraphics; page 6, panel 3. generally referred to as Buddy Bradley, is a comic book character created by Peter Bagge and the main protagonist in several of his co ...

. With the advent of the talkies, Fox Film Corp. signed Patricola on as a contract player. He made his movie debut in the comic musical '' Words and Music'' (1929), which was the first credited screen appearance of

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne, was an American actor. Nicknamed "Duke", he became a Pop icon, popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood' ...

(billed as "Duke Morrison"), but unlike The Duke, he never became a star, let alone a cinematic legend. From 1929 to 1931, he appeared in feature-length musicals and several Spanish-language versions of English-language pictures. After mid-1931, he began appearing in comic shorts made by the Educational Film Corp. of America that were released by Fox. Patricola made his last short for Educational in 1938. Thereafter, he only made two confirmed appearances in movies, in uncredited bit parts. In the more notable of the two, (''

Rhapsody in Blue ''Rhapsody in Blue'' is a 1924 musical composition for solo piano and jazz band by George Gershwin. Commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman, the work combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects and premiered in a concer ...

'', 1945), he recreated the George Gershwin hit "

Somebody Loves Me "Somebody Loves Me" is a popular song, with music written by George Gershwin, and lyrics by Ballard MacDonald and Buddy DeSylva. The song was published in 1924 and featured in ''George White's Scandals'' of 1924. This is not to be confused wit ...

" that he introduced in ''

'' of 1924. He made one final appearance on Broadway in the musical-comedy ''Hold Your Horses'', which ran for 88 performances in 1933. He reportedly appeared in George White's 1932 Broadway revue ''Music Hall Varieties''.

Death

Patricola died on New Year's Day, 1950 in

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

, three weeks before his 59th birthday, after undergoing brain surgery. His sister,

Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpo ...

, had a successful career in vaudeville as a singer and violinist. She recorded "Somebody Loves Me" in 1924.

Filmography

References

External links

* * * 1891 births 1950 deaths American male film actors American male dancers American male comedians American vaudeville performers 20th-century American male actors Male actors from New Orleans Eccentric dancers 20th-century American comedians 20th-century American dancers {{US-film-actor-1900s-stub