Stump and Stumpy were a dance/comedy/acting duo popular from the mid 1930s to the 1950s, consisting of James "Stump" Cross, and either Eddie Hartman or Harold Cromer as "Stumpy". Their act was mostly jazz tap, and comedy expressed through song and movement.

History

James 'Jimmy' Cross and Edward 'Eddie' Hartman, traveled around the United States on what was often called the 'Black Vaudeville' circuit, under management of Nat Nazarro. In 1943, Cross was cast in the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

's This Is the Army

This Is the Army

This Is the Army is a 1943 American wartime motion picture produced by Hal B. Wallis and Jack L. Warner, and directed by Michael Curtiz, and a wartime musical designed to boost morale in the U.S. during World War II, directed by Sgt. Ezra Stone...

film, with William Wycoff as his 'partner'. Stumpy 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.

Appearances

• Apollo Theater
  Apollo Theater
  The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...
  
  , Harlem, New York
  New York
  New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
  
  , Cab Calloway headlining – May 17-23, 1940
• Flatbush Theatre, Brooklyn, New York, Duke Ellington headlining – Nov 28-Dec 4, 1940
• Windsor Theatre, New York
  New York
  New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
  
  , (same as Flatbush show)
• Regal Theatre
  Regal Theater, South Side (Chicago)
  The Regal Theater, located in the heart of Bronzeville, was an important night club and music venue in Chicago.Part of the Balaban and Katz chain, the lavishly decorated venue, with plush carpeting and velvet drapes featured some of the most celebrated black entertainers in America.The Regal also...
  
  , Chicago
  Chicago
  Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
  
  , the Inkspots headlining – Nov 8, 1942
• The Strand, Lakewood, New Jersey (?), Billie Holiday headlining – 1948

Harold Cromer was the M.C. for numerous Irvin Feld

Irvin Feld

Irvin Feld was the head of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and founder Feld Entertainment. He was a music promoter who is credited with discovering Paul Anka.-Biography:...

-produced rock and roll package tours in the late 1950's. He danced with LaVern Baker as she sang "Jim Dandy" and thus was billed as Harold "Jim Dandy" Cromer for most of these tours.

Worked with

• Steve Allen
  Steve Allen
  Steve Allen may refer to:*Steve Allen , American musician, comedian, and writer*Steve Allen , presenter on the London-based talk radio station LBC 97.3...
  
  
• Count Basie
  Count Basie
  William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
  
  
• Milton Berle
  Milton Berle
  Milton Berlinger , better known as Milton Berle, was an American comedian and actor. As the manic host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater , in 1948 he was the first major star of U.S. television and as such became known as Uncle Miltie and Mr...
  
  
• Irving Berlin
  Irving Berlin
  Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
  
  
• Cab Calloway
  Cab Calloway
  Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
  
  
• Duke Ellington
  Duke Ellington
  Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
  
  
• Billie Holiday
  Billie Holiday
  Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
  
  
• Martin and Lewis
  Martin and Lewis
  Martin and Lewis were an American comedy team, comprising singer Dean Martin and comedian Jerry Lewis as the comedic "foil". The pair first met in 1945; their debut as a duo occurred at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 24/25, 1946....
  
  
• Frank Sinatra
  Frank Sinatra
  Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
  
  
• Dizzy Gillespie
  Dizzy Gillespie
  John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
  
  
• The Ink Dots

See also

• [ Stump and Stumpy] Allmusic
• Secret Daughter PBS.org
• Stump and Stumpy in Vaudeville, Old & New