Tommy Rall

Thomas Edward Rall (December 27, 1929 – October 6, 2020) was an American actor, ballet dancer, tap dancer and acrobatic dancer who was a prominent featured player in 1950s musical comedies. He later became a successful operatic tenor in the 1960s, making appearances with the Opera Company of Boston, the New York City Opera, and the American National Opera Company.

Tommy Rall
Born
Thomas Edward Rall

(1929-12-27)December 27, 1929
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
DiedOctober 6, 2020(2020-10-06) (aged 90)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
OccupationActor, dancer
Years active1942–1988
Spouse(s)Monte Amundsen (1959–?)
Karel J. Shimoff (1967–2020)

Life and career

Rall was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and raised in Seattle. As a child he had a crossed eye which made it hard for him to read books, so his mother enrolled him in dancing classes. In his early years he performed a dance and acrobatic vaudeville act in Seattle theaters and attempted small acting roles.[1]

His family moved to Los Angeles in the 1940s, and Rall began to appear in small movie roles. His first film appearance was a short MGM film called Vendetta. He began taking tap dancing lessons and became a member of the jitterbugging Jivin' Jacks and Jills at Universal Studios.[2][1]

Rall joined Donald O'Connor, Peggy Ryan and Shirley Mills in several light wartime Andrews Sisters vehicles including Give Out, Sisters (1942)[3] Get Hep to Love (1942)[4] Mister Big, and others. He appeared in the films The North Star and Song of Russia (1944).[5]

Rall took ballet lessons and danced in classical and Broadway shows, including Milk and Honey, Call Me Madam and Cry for Us All. Jerry Herman said of Rall in Milk and Honey: "[Donald] [Saddler] did extraordinary choreography for Tommy Rall, who was suddenly so admired by the audience that [the producer] put his name on the marquee under the three stars. It was very, very earned by him. He was a terrific singer and dancer."[6]

He is best known for his acrobatic dancing in several classic musical films of the 1950s, including Kiss Me, Kate as "Bill" (1953),[7] Seven Brides for Seven Brothers as "Frank" (1954),[8] Invitation to the Dance (1956),[9] Merry Andrew as "Giacomo Gallini" (1958),[10] and My Sister Eileen as "Chick" (1955).[11]

Rall's film career waned as movie musicals went into decline. He had a role in the movie Funny Girl, as "The Prince" in a parody of the ballet Swan Lake.[12] On Broadway he danced to acclaim as "Johnny" in Marc Blitzstein and Joseph Stein's 1959 musical Juno (based on Seán O'Casey's play Juno and the Paycock).[2] Ken Mandelbaum wrote: "DeMille provided two fine ballets: her second act 'Johnny' in which Tommy Rall danced out Johnny's emotions...was the evening's highlight."[13]

He took the title role in a production of Massenet's Le Jongleur de Notre Dame by the New England Opera Theatre in Boston in 1961 in a role which required both singing and juggling and dancing.[14]

Rall was highly respected by his contemporaries—including dance greats Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor—with the latter describing Rall as one of the “greatest dancers living...above Astaire and Kelly.”[15]

Personal life

Rall was briefly married to his Juno co-star Monte Amundsen.[13] He was married to former ballerina Karel Shimoff.[1]

In 2007, a dance instructor by the name of Fredric Brame was found to have been posing as Tommy Rall since the late 1960s. His biographies, resumes, and playbills all support that Brame was Fredric Brame aka Tommy Rall by the credits listed. When Rall found out about the masquerade decades later, through a friend of the family, Rall contacted the Montgomery County (Texas) Sheriff's office. No legal action was taken against Brame since he technically did not commit a crime. Rall only wanted Brame to stop taking credit for his work and if he continued or did it again a lawsuit would be filed.[16]

Death

In September 2020, Rall had heart surgery and recovered at the Fireside Health Center in Santa Monica, California. Subsequently, in October, he had additional heart surgery at Providence Saint John's Health Center, also in Santa Monica. He died around 5 P.M. on October 6 of congestive heart failure.[17]

Filmography

Sources: TCM;[18] MasterWorks Broadway[1]

Features:

Short Subjects:

  • Vendetta (1942) as Bit Part (uncredited)
  • Trumpet Serenade (1942) as Himself - Member, 'The Jivin' Jacks and Jills'

Stage work, Broadway

Source: MasterWorksBroadway;[1] Internet Broadway Database[19]

References
  1. "Tommy Rall" .masterworksbroadway.com, accessed December 24, 2016
  2. "Full Biography: Tommy Rall". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  3. Give Out, Sisters tcm.com, accessed December 24, 2016
  4. Get Hep to Love tcm.com, accessed December 24, 2016
  5. Song of Russia tcm.com, accessed December 24, 2016
  6. Jones, Kenneth. "'Like a Young Man': Jerry Herman Talks About 'Milk and Honey'" Playbill, October 17, 2011
  7. Kiss Me Kate tcm.com, accessed December 24, 2016
  8. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers tcm.com, accessed December 24, 2016
  9. Invitation to the Dance tcm.com, accessed December 24, 2016
  10. Merry Andrew tcm.com, accessed December 24, 2016
  11. My Sister Eileen tcm.com, accessed December 24, 2016
  12. Funny Girl American Film Institute, accedded December 25, 2016
  13. Mandelbaum, Ken. Juno Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops, Macmillan, 1992, ISBN 0312082738, p. 312
  14. William Allin Storrer. Report from Boston. Opera July 1961, Vol.12, No.7, p450.
  15. Aloff, Mindy. "Remembering a Hoofer. An Interview with Donald O'Connor, 1979" Dance View Times, 2003, accessed December 24, 2016
  16. Lee, Renee. "Dance Teacher: decades of lies weren't my fault." Houston Chronicle 24Jun2007. n. pag. Weborn 15 October 2011.
  17. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tommy-rall-dancer-in-kiss-me-kate-and-seven-brides-for-seven-brothers-dies-at-90
  18. "Tommy Rall Overview" tcm.com, accessed December 24, 2016
  19. "Tommy Rall Broadway" ibdb.com, accessed December 24, 2016

Sources
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