Sammy White

Who was Sammy White?

Sammy White was an American vaudeville song-and-dance comedian who appeared in a few films. He was born in Providence, Rhode Island. He appeared with Lew Clayton, as Clayton and White, in the Broadway show Schubert Gaieties of 1919.

With his first wife, Eva Puck, White appeared in vaudeville as Puck and White. They starred in the original Broadway stage version of the classic musical Show Boat. In Show Boat, he played the role of comic dancer Frank Schultz, and Puck played the role of Ellie May Chipley, who eventually marries Frank. In 1932, they reprised their roles in the first Broadway revival of the show. However, by the time the Universal Pictures film version was made in 1936, White and Puck had divorced, so the role of Ellie went to Queenie Smith, with White repeating his performance as Frank in the film. White later married Broadway actress Beatrice White. White repeated his role as Frank in Show Boat yet again in a 1948 New York City Center revival of the show.

He also had a notable supporting role in the Spencer Tracy - Katharine Hepburn film Pat and Mike, as the man to whom Tracy says, "Not much meat on her, but what there is, is cherce!"