Eddie Rector

Eddie Rector (December 25, 1890 – January 7, 1963) was an American tap dancer and master of ceremonies born in Orange, New Jersey. Known as a soft shoe expert, he is credited with inventing the Slap Step as well as originating variations on the waltz clog and a percussive cakewalk. His career as a performer extended from the 1910s through the 1950s, taking him across Harlem, the broader United States, and Europe.

Rector began performing at age 15 in Mayme Remington's vaudeville troupe, with his first theatrical role as a pickaninny. In 1913 he was cast as Red Cap Sam in the revue Darktown Follies. Following that engagement, he toured the T.O.B.A. Circuit with partner Toots Davis, with whom he performed a dynamic step described as dancing "over the tops and in the trenches," combining upright jumps over the legs with deep waist bends and floor-level foot slides. It was during this period that he met his wife, Grace. Rector had been a protégé of John Leubrie Hill earlier in his development as a performer.

In the 1920s, Rector, his wife, and new partner Ralph Cooper began touring vaudeville circuits together. The Rector-Cooper act performed at Connie's Inn in New York, where Rector developed a military precision drill routine danced to The Parade of the Tin Soldiers, a routine that utilized the full stage and departed from the more stationary tap style common at the time. As a regular Cotton Club performer, he further developed his style, incorporating the use of big drums. The Rector-Cooper act was a featured attraction at the Lafayette Theatre, where they regularly performed to standing-room-only audiences. Contemporary accounts described them as one of the sharpest dance teams in the country, known as much for their elegant dress — including raccoon coats noted in the Baltimore Afro-American — as for their technical skill.

Rector shared the stage with many prominent figures in the entertainment world. In 1922 he performed with Duke Ellington at the Ziegfeld Theatre. In 1924 he danced in Dixie to Broadway alongside Florence Mills and Willie Covan, introducing in that production the Bambalina, described as a traveling time step that used the whole body and emphasized clean and precise footwork. In 1925 he performed alongside Ethel Waters, and in 1926 he appeared with Fats Waller in Tan Town Topics. In 1928 he joined the international tour of Blackbirds of 1928, replacing Bill Robinson in the production. For the Paris engagement, Rector performed a stair dance similar to Robinson's celebrated version from the original show, which prompted Robinson to send cables to producer Lew Leslie objecting to the use of the routine abroad and threatening legal action. Despite the controversy, Robinson described Rector in a 1931 interview as the best straight tap dancer he knew. After the Blackbirds tour, Rector returned to the United States and resumed performing with Duke Ellington at the Cotton Club.

Rector's Broadway career ran from 1930 to 1932 and encompassed three productions. Hot Rhythm, a revue, opened in 1930 and received largely negative critical notices, though Rector's dancing was singled out as the peak attraction of the show. Rhapsody in Black followed in 1931. Yeah Man, also a revue, came in 1932 and was similarly panned by critics, with the Baltimore Afro-American identifying Rector's dancing as the production's only redeeming feature. In 1957, writer Dan Burley ranked Rector seventh on a list of the twelve greatest tap dancers of all time.

Rector came from a performing family; his sister Julia was a noted singer and his brother also danced. He suffered from depression and alcoholism. On February 19, 1934, he was arrested in the office of Lafayette Theatre manager Frank Schiffman for carrying a loaded gun. Schiffman had called police out of concern following previous mental health episodes, and other performers including Bill Robinson came to the theatre to help defuse the situation. Rector was sent to Bellevue Hospital for observation after being charged with violation of the Sullivan Law. Following his release he attempted to resume his partnership with Cooper, but their subsequent shows did not connect with newer audiences.

In 1942, Rector and Cooper headlined the Murrain's Lounge and Cabaret Show alongside Christopher Columbus and his orchestra. In 1945, Rector performed in the Atlantic City Follies with Peg Leg Bates. In 1952, Flournoy Miller persuaded Rector to return to Broadway for the revival of Shuffle Along, in which Rector performed a sand dance. Though the revival ran only one week, critics and audiences responded enthusiastically to his performance, with his sand dance described as the only number that roused the audience. In 1962, in the latter years of his life, Rector worked as a night watchman in New York City. He died in 1963 at the reported age of 66.

The American Tap Dance Foundation credits Rector as an influence on the soft shoe styles of the Nicholas Brothers and Pete Nugent. His soft shoe also influenced the Copasetics, a group of male tap dance artists formed to honor the legacy of Bill Robinson.