Sammy White (né Samuel Kwait; May Providence, Rhode Island â€"
March Beverly Hills, California) was an American vaudeville
song-and-dance comedian who appeared in a few films. He appeared with
Lew Clayton, as Clayton and White, in the Broadway show Schubert
Gaieties of .With his first wife, Eva Puck, White appeared in
vaudeville as Puck and White. They starred in the original Broadway
stage version of the classic musical Show Boat (). In Show Boat, he
played the role of comic dancer Frank Schultz, and Puck played the
role of Ellie May Chipley, who eventually marries Frank. In , they
reprised their roles in the first Broadway revival of the show.
However, by the time the Universal Pictures film version was made in ,
White and Puck had divorced, so the role of Ellie went to Queenie
Smith, with White repeating his performance as Frank in the film.White
later married Broadway actress Beatrice Curtis (â€"), the daughter of
vaudeville actress Anna Chandler (â€"). White repeated his role as
Frank in Show Boat yet again in a New York City Center revival of the
show.He also had a notable supporting role in the Spencer Tracy -
Katharine Hepburn film Pat and Mike (), as the man to whom Tracy says
(when talking about Hepburn), "Not much meat on her, but what there
is, is cherce!" White and Puck also appeared in a short film made by
Lee De Forest in his Phonofilm sound-on-film process, and premiered at
the Rivoli Theater in New York City on April . This film records
their comic routine "Opera Vs. Jazz" and is preserved in the Maurice
Zouary collection at the Library of Congress.
March Beverly Hills, California) was an American vaudeville
song-and-dance comedian who appeared in a few films. He appeared with
Lew Clayton, as Clayton and White, in the Broadway show Schubert
Gaieties of .With his first wife, Eva Puck, White appeared in
vaudeville as Puck and White. They starred in the original Broadway
stage version of the classic musical Show Boat (). In Show Boat, he
played the role of comic dancer Frank Schultz, and Puck played the
role of Ellie May Chipley, who eventually marries Frank. In , they
reprised their roles in the first Broadway revival of the show.
However, by the time the Universal Pictures film version was made in ,
White and Puck had divorced, so the role of Ellie went to Queenie
Smith, with White repeating his performance as Frank in the film.White
later married Broadway actress Beatrice Curtis (â€"), the daughter of
vaudeville actress Anna Chandler (â€"). White repeated his role as
Frank in Show Boat yet again in a New York City Center revival of the
show.He also had a notable supporting role in the Spencer Tracy -
Katharine Hepburn film Pat and Mike (), as the man to whom Tracy says
(when talking about Hepburn), "Not much meat on her, but what there
is, is cherce!" White and Puck also appeared in a short film made by
Lee De Forest in his Phonofilm sound-on-film process, and premiered at
the Rivoli Theater in New York City on April . This film records
their comic routine "Opera Vs. Jazz" and is preserved in the Maurice
Zouary collection at the Library of Congress.
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