John W. Bubbles

• Name — John W. Bubbles • Occupation — Vaudeville performer and tap dancer • Birth Name — John William Sublett • Born — 19 February 1902 • Birthplace — Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. • Died — 18 May 1986 • Place of death — Baldwin Hills, California, U.S.

Sublett was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on February 19, 1902, but soon moved with his family to Indianapolis. There, he formed a partnership with Ford L. "Buck" Washington in 1919. Their duo was known as "Buck and Bubbles." Buck played stride piano and sang, and Bubbles tapped along. They were so popular that the duo moved to Manhattan, New York City in September of that year. They played together in the Columbia Theater, the Palace and later played with artists Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor and Danny Kaye. They also played at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. They appeared in Lew Leslie's Blackbirds in 1930 at the Royale Theatre. This was followed by performances in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1931 at the Ziegfeld Theatre. They also became the first black artists to perform at the Radio City Music Hall. "Buck and Bubbles" performed live in the first scheduled 'high definition' (240-line) television program on November 2, 1936, at Alexandra Palace, London, for the BBC, becoming the first black artists on television anywhere in the world. Other work on Broadway included the roles of Scipio in Arthur Schwartz's Virginia (1937) and Rum in Oscar Hammerstein II's Carmen Jones (1946). • Illustration — Buck and Bubbles in a movie still Though unable to read music, Bubbles was chosen by George Gershwin to create the role of Sportin' Life in his opera Porgy and Bess in 1935. Since he didn't understand the music score, Gershwin spent the time to teach it to him as a tap rhythm. Sublett caused some problems because he often made up rhythms which caused confusion with other members of the cast. Sublett performed the role occasionally for the next two decades. In 1963, in a studio recording of Porgy and Bess featuring Leontyne Price and William Warfield, he performed Sportin' Life's two main arias from the opera, "It Ain't Necessarily So" and "There's A Boat Dat's Leavin' Soon For New York". In 1920, he gave tap dance lessons to Fred Astaire, who considered Sublett the finest tap dancer of his generation. In the number "Bojangles of Harlem" from Swing Time (1936), Astaire dresses in blackface as the Sportin' Life character and dances in the style of Sublett while ostensibly paying tribute to Bill Robinson. There has long been a widespread misattribution that Sublett was Ethel Waters' uncredited dancing partner in the historic film On with the Show! (1929). However, the pressbook for the film makes it clear that the dancer was Angelus Babe, providing a bio and two photographs. In 2011, Ryan Friedman, supplying no support for his belief that Sublett was the dancer, surmised that "Angelus Babe" was a pseudonym, and published this in a book. The misinformation has multiplied. That Angelus Babe was a real person is shown by a search on the on-line archive of the Los Angeles Times, where he is mentioned seven times. There is also confirmation in the catalog of the American Film Institute.

During the Vietnam War, John Bubbles toured the war zone with the USO. In 1965, he appeared with Eddie Fisher on a USO tour, visiting many outposts and camps in the early war years. He appeared with Judy Garland in her 1967 concerts at the Palace Theatre in New York City, singing "Me And My Shadow." That same year, he became partially paralyzed due to a stroke.

In 1978, John Bubbles spoke at the Variety Arts Theatre in Los Angeles as a participant in a seminar on vaudeville. Someone asked him who the best tap dancer was. Bubbles answered, "You're looking at him." Then he added, "Honestly, if I had to name the best dancer, it would be Fred Astaire. He could tap. He had a good teacher. But he could ballroom, dance with a partner. All in all, he's the best." That same night, Bubbles mentioned that Astaire had brought him into the rehearsal hall to work on "Bojangles of Harlem" and John's chops are right there in the number. He performed at the Newport Jazz Festival in New York in 1979, which was one of his last public appearances. Sublett died on May 18, 1986, at his home in Baldwin Hills, California.

• Varsity Show (1937) • Cabin in the Sky (1943) • Laff Jamboree (1945) • A Song Is Born (1948) • The Lucy Show, guest appearance