Berry Brothers

The Berry Brothers were an American dance trio specializing in exotic, acrobatic soft shoe performance, active in the entertainment industry for more than three decades. The group was composed of three brothers: Ananias, known as Nyas and nicknamed "King of the Strut" (August 18, 1913 – October 5, 1951), James (July 9, 1915 – January 28, 1969), and Warren (December 25, 1922 – August 10, 1996). Ananias and James were born in New Orleans to Ananias John Willington Berry Sr. and Redna Ross Berry, while Warren was born in Denver, where the family had relocated. By 1919, the two older brothers were already performing in Chicago before the family settled in Denver. In 1924 the family moved to Los Angeles, where Nyas, James, and Warren each appeared as child actors in several films.

Nyas and James formed the dance duo the Berry Brothers in 1929, quickly establishing themselves in prominent venues. That year they performed alongside Duke Ellington in "Rhythmania" at the Cotton Club and traveled to London as featured performers in the all-African-American revue Blackbirds of 1928, a critically acclaimed production. Also in 1929, they became the first African American act to perform at the Copacabana. Their Broadway career began in 1930, and their credits included the Radio City Music Hall Inaugural Program, Rhapsody in Black, Blackbirds, and Star Time, with appearances spanning through 1944. They performed in the musical Rhapsody in Black in 1931.

In 1932, nineteen-year-old Nyas left the act to marry Valaida Snow, a popular African-American entertainer eight years his senior. His father Ananias, who disapproved of the match, investigated Snow and discovered she had a prior marriage to Knappy Brown that he believed had not been legally dissolved. The resulting press scandal subsided when Snow produced divorce documents, though Nyas and Snow separated shortly afterward. When the marriage ended in 1935, Nyas persuaded his brothers to form a trio, with Warren, who had replaced Nyas during his absence, remaining in the act alongside James.

In 1938, a celebrated dance competition took place at the Cotton Club between the Berry Brothers and the Nicholas Brothers. Accounts of the event noted that the Berry Brothers demonstrated greater athleticism, while the Nicholas Brothers were regarded as more effective at engaging the audience. At the height of their popularity in the 1940s, the trio also appeared in Hollywood films, including Panama Hattie in 1942, in which they performed twice — once independently and once alongside singer Lena Horne — as well as Lady Be Good in 1941, Boarding House Blues in 1948, and You're My Everything in 1949.

The trio's run came to an abrupt end when Nyas died of heart failure in 1951. James and Warren continued to perform together and individually for several more years. James died in 1969. Warren went on to work as a film editor for more than fifteen years before his death in 1996.