Stump and Stumpy

Stump and Stumpy were a tap dance/comedy/acting duo popular from the mid-1930s to the 1950s, consisting of James "Stump" Cross, and either Eddie Hartman or Harold J. Cromer as "Stumpy". Their act was mostly jazz tap, and comedy expressed through song and movement.{{cite news |author=Bruce Weber |title=Harold J. Cromer, Vaudeville Duo's Stumpy, Is Dead |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/14/theater/harold-j-cromer-the-stumpy-of-vaudevilles-duo-stump-and-stumpy-dies.html |quote=Harold J. Cromer ... died on June 8 at his home in Manhattan. He was in his early 90s. |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 13, 2013 |access-date=2014-12-10 }}

History

James "Jimmy" Cross and Edward "Eddie" Hartman traveled around the United States, managed by Nat Nazarro, on what was often called the "Black Vaudeville" circuit. On the circuit, Cross met Norma Catherine Greve, with whom he had a daughter, June Cross (born in 1954).{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/21/nyregion/norma-storch-is-dead-at-81-subject-of-tv-documentary.html |title = Norma Storch Is Dead at 81; Subject of TV Documentary - The New York Times| work=The New York Times | date=21 September 2003 | last1=Martin | first1=Douglas }} Cross was cast in the United States Army's This Is the Army (1943) film, with William Wycoff as his "partner". Stump and Stumpy's first big success was appearing in the movie Boarding House Blues (1948), after which Hartman had become unreliable as a performer and was replaced with Cromer.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

Appearances

Apollo Theater, Harlem, New York City, Cab Calloway headlining (May 17–23, 1940)
Flatbush Theatre, Brooklyn, New York, Duke Ellington headlining (Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 1940){{cite news|url=http://www.depanorama.net/dems/04dems2b.htm|title=On the Road and On the Air with Duke Ellington|work=New York Post|date= December 5, 1940}}
Windsor Theatre, New York City (Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 1940){{cite news|url=http://www.depanorama.net/dems/04dems2b.htm|title=On the Road and On the Air with Duke Ellington|work=New York Post|date= December 5, 1940}}
Regal Theatre, Chicago, the Inkspots headlining (Nov. 8, 1942){{cite news|url=http://inkspots.ca/ispress.htm|work=Chicago Defender |title=Ink Spots|date= November 9, 1942}}
The Strand, New York City, Billie Holiday headlining with Count Basie (1948)The New York Times (July 17, 1948)
Cromer was the M.C. for numerous Irvin Feld-produced rock and roll package tours in the late 1950s. He danced with LaVern Baker as she sang "Jim Dandy" and thus was billed as Harold "Jim Dandy" Cromer for most of these tours.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

Filmography

*Nautical Knights (1938), a short film
Ship Ahoy (1942)
This is the Army (1943)
Boarding House Blues (1948)

Television

Cavalcade of Bands (1950)

Worked with

References

Category:American comedy duos

Category:American comedy jazz ensembles

Category:American tap dancers

Category:American vaudeville performers