I thought I had a new record today; that I was shut out on the photos of our TIGers. But I hit on the last one.
Songwriter Sam H. Stept (1897) was born in Russia but moved to Pittsburgh at age three. As a songwriter, he co-wrote one of the definitive songs of the 1920s, I’m told, THAT’S MY WEAKNESS NOW with Bud Green. Helen Kane had the hit with that one, using the “boop-a-doop” line Betty Boop would soon make famous. In the 1940s, he and Lew Brown and Charles Tobias wrote a song we all know, DON’T SIT UNDER THE APPLE TREE… Why is he a TIGer? He, Bud Green, Sidney Clare, and Bee Palmer wrote PLEASE DON’T TALK ABOUT ME WHEN I’M GONE, which was used in THE WOMEN (1939). The sheet music standing in for Stept doesn’t list Green, but other references do, so I’m going with it.
Henry Arthur (1912) was an actor and dancer with very few credits. His biggest role was top billing in a film called ROAD DEMON (1938). The Fox film was one of three featuring the Gambini Family, but they were apparently supporting characters in all their films, since Henry, Tony Martin, and TIGer Michael Whalen were each leads in one of the films. Henry’s entry is described on IMDb this way: “At the Indianapolis Speedway mobsters try to bump off a young racer just as they did his dad. Junk yard owner tap dances.” Henry was a tap dancer himself in THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1937 and so here are some dancers from the film, although none are Henry.
Kenneth Wilson (1925) is credited for six films on IMDb, but he made his first and last ones count. He played Alvin Savage in CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS in 1937 and Quentin in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS in 1944. In between he has a wishy washy credit for BEST FOOT FORWARD (1943). It reads, “Cadet (Uncredited, unconfirmed).” We’ll accept it anyway and assume he’s one of the guys in this shot.
Finally, we come to Patricia Roe (1928). She played Polly in THE YOUNGEST PROFESSION (1943) for her only listed credit in a major movie prior to 1981 (she had a small role in TATTOO) and I assumed I was going to go with the photo of Ginny on the front steps of the school with her autograph club or the one of Ginny on the phone with her club listening in as she tries to trick someone into giving up information about one of the stars she’s stalking. Amazingly, a soap opera webpage had a photo of Patricia from her time on either GUIDING LIGHT or ONE LIFE TO LIVE in the late 1960s and early 1970s. By the way, does anyone know if Patricia was related to Raymond Roe, who was also in TYP and was recently TIGerized?
