Obituary: Tommy Rall

I decided to repeat this post from last night and give him a separate post:

 An obituary I missed:  Back in October, dancing great Tommy Rall had undergone heart surgery, but sadly, he passed away on October 6.  He had suffered from congestive heart failure.  He was 90 years old.

He was one of the greatest dancers ever to step in front of a camera, but he had bad timing.  He should have been as big as Kelly or Astaire, but he was too young at the peak of the Hollywood musical.  He concentrated much of his career on stage.    His film work when it appeared is very memorable, including his work in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.  I'd like to see Astaire or Kelly, even in their prime, be able to do those dangerous backflips Rall seemingly did with ease.  They couldn't do it, and they wouldn't have ever tried.    He was right up there with the great Nicholas Brothers in pure physical ability but more versatile than they were.  

Snip from the link:

Born December 27, 1929, in Kansas City, Missouri, Mr. Rall began taking dance lessons, enrolled by his mom, at the age of four and would go on to perform as a child in Seattle vaudeville acts. Incidentally, one of his first Broadway credits was the 1948 musical comedy Look, Ma, I’m Dancin’!, choreographed by Jerome Robbins. (Two years prior, he appeared in the Robbins-choreographed Fancy Free and Interplay as part of a Broadway engagement with Ballet Theatre). His onstage collaboration with Robbins continued into the 1950s with Miss Liberty and Call Me Madam.

Having appeared in a number of bit film roles before heading to Broadway, Mr. Rall returned to the big screen as Bill Calhoun in the 1953 adaptation of Kiss Me, Kate; his performance of “Why Can’t You Behave?” opposite Ann Miller, including a rooftop-set tap sequence, remains a hallmark movie musical moment.

Mr. Rall followed up the movie with more memorable—and agile—turns, as Frank Pontipee in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and dancing alongside Bob Fosse in My Sister Eileen. Never short on notable dance partners, he’d go on to appear in such films as Funny Girl (appearing as a ballet dancer opposite Barbra Streisand’s Fanny Brice) and Pennies From Heaven (tapping with Steve Martin).

Prime Rall:

And of course this.  Rall was in the red shirt, as if he needed to be pointed out.  As good as the other dancers were, he was just that much better:

And this, with Bob Fosse:

Tommy Rall was out of this universe.

Rall was also an accomplished opera singer.  

Despite his obvious talent and notoriety on film and on stage, the New York Times STILL hasn't published an obituary of Rall, two months after his death.

I wrote and posted this last night but this morning I decided to make it a separate post for today.

Rall talked about how dangerous that "barn raising" dance was in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers: