Quick Facts
Biography
Thomas Edward "Tommy" Rall (born December 27, 1929 in Kansas City, Missouri) is an American 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.
Biography
Rall was 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.
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.
Rall joined Donald O'Connor, Peggy Ryan and Shirley Mills in several light wartime Andrews Sisters vehicles including Give Out, Sisters (1942) Get Hep to Love (1942) Mister Big, and others. He appeared in the films The North Star and Song of Russia (1944).
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."
He is best known for his acrobatic dancing in several classic musical films of the 1950s, including jeffry codoberKiss Me, Kate as "Bill" (1953), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers as "Frank" (1954), Invitation to the Dance (1956), Merry Andrew as "Giacomo Gallini " (1958), and My Sister Eileen as "Chick" (1955).
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. 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). 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."
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.”
Personal life
Rall was briefly married to his Juno co-star, Monte Amundsen. He is now married to former ballerina Karel Shimoff.
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.
Filmography
Sources: TCM; MasterWorks Broadway
Features:
- What's Cookin'? (1942)
- Private Buckaroo (1942)
- Give Out, Sisters (1942)
- Get Hep to Love (1942)
- It Comes Up Love (1943)
- Mister Big (1943)
- Always a Bridesmaid (1943)
- The North Star (1943)
- Song of Russia (1944)
- Ziegfeld Follies (1945)
- Good News (1947)
- Kiss Me Kate (1953)
- Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
- My Sister Eileen (1955)
- The Second Greatest Sex (1955)
- World in My Corner (1956)
- Invitation to the Dance (1956)
- Walk the Proud Land (1956)
- Merry Andrew (1958)
- Funny Girl (1968)
- Pennies from Heaven (1981)
- Dancers (1987)
- Saturday the 14th Strikes Back (1988)
- Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age (2014) (documentary)
Short Subjects:
- Vendetta (1942)
- Trumpet Serenade (1942)
Stage work, Broadway
Source: MasterWorksBroadway; Internet Broadway Database
- Ballet Theatre (1946)
- Look Ma, I'm Dancin'! (as Tommy) (1948)
- Small Wonder (1948)
- Miss Liberty (as The Boy, The Dandy, Another Lamplighter) (1949)
- Call Me Madam (Principal Dancer) (1950) (also understudy for Russell Nype)
- Juno (as Johnny Boyle) (1959)
- Milk and Honey (as David) (1961)
- Cafe Crown (as David Cole) (1964)
- Cry for Us All (as Petey Boyle) (1970)