July 4
Born Today:
”Shorty George” Snowden
Legendary Harlem-based dancer George "Shorty" Snowden, AKA Shorty George (1904-1982) and his partner Mattie Purnell are credited with inventing the Lindy Hop in the late 1920s. He decided to do a breakaway (where partners separate from each other, but are still connected by one hand, in order to improv and return back to a closed position) and the crowd went wild. Snowden often danced with a much taller dancer, Big Bea and he has a dance step named after him, the Shorty George, which you can see in the movie You Were Never Lovelier (1942), starring Fred Astaire (1899-1987) and Rita Hayworth (1918-1987).
Also Born Today: West End and Broadway actor Gertrude Lawrence (1898-1952) is best known for her starring role in the original stage version of The King and I (1951). She was buried in the gown she wore for the Shall We Dance number. Tap dancing song-and-dance man George Murphy (1902-1992) appeared on Broadway in Roberta (1933) and in movie musicals including The Broadway Melody of 1940 and For Me and My Gal (1942). He later entered politics and served as a US Senator for California. Choreographer Rob Iscove (1947-) is best known for choreographing the movie Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) and for directing/choreographing the enormously popular 1979 revival of Peter Pan on Broadway.
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Broadway Premiere: This Is the Army in 1942, a musical produced by Uncle Sam