Paul Hartman

Paul Hartman (March 1, 1904 – October 2, 1973) was an American dancer, stage performer, composer, and television actor whose Broadway career spanned from 1932 to 1963. Born in San Francisco, California, he was the son of Ferris Hartman, a theatrical producer sometimes referred to as the "Ziegfeld of the Pacific Coast," and actress Josie Hart. Hartman began dancing at the age of four, performing alongside his sister. He later attended the University of California and subsequently worked for a San Francisco newspaper, starting as a copy boy and advancing to reporter before leaving the profession for the theater, which offered higher pay. He also worked as a laborer in Golden Gate Park following his time at UC.

In 1922, Hartman partnered with Grace Barrett in a vaudeville act built around dancing comedy, in which the two paid tribute to and lightly satirized popular dance styles ranging from ballet to swing. The pair married in 1923. Their stage dynamic placed the crisp, witty Grace opposite the gangly, slack-jawed Paul, weaving together dance numbers and musical comedy routines. The Hartmans made their Broadway debut together in Ballyhoo of 1932, sharing the stage with Bob Hope. Paul went on to appear in Cole Porter's Red Hot and Blue in 1936, and the couple later traveled to Hollywood, where Paul appeared alongside Frank Sinatra and Victor Borge in the 1943 film Higher and Higher.

Returning to Broadway, the Hartmans took creative control and wrote their own revue. The result was Angel in the Wings, a 1948 musical revue that brought both Paul and Grace recognition at the second Tony Awards — the first ceremony to honor musical performers — where Paul received the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Following that success, the couple was offered a sitcom on NBC. The Hartmans (at Home) failed to find an audience, as the format gave them little room to display their physical and musical talents. They returned to Broadway and spent three years performing in variety shows and revues. In 1951, Hartman was elected a member of The Lambs, the noted theatrical club. That same year, he and Grace divorced. Grace was diagnosed with cancer in 1952 and died in 1955. Paul married actress Ann Buckles on March 14, 1953; that marriage ended in divorce in 1963.

Among Hartman's verified Broadway credits are Of Thee I Sing, Tickets, Please!, Angel in the Wings, Drink to Me Only, and All for Love. He made a final return to Broadway in 1957 but, by then past fifty, found the demands of stage life increasingly taxing. Television work drew him back to Los Angeles, where he took on the role of Albie Morrison, the family patriarch, in the ABC situation comedy The Pride of the Family during the 1953–1954 season. His castmates included Fay Wray as his wife Catherine, and Natalie Wood and Robert Hyatt as his children Ann and Junior Morrison. He was also cast in the 1960 film Inherit the Wind and appeared alongside Robert Morse in the 1967 film adaptation of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Hartman is perhaps most widely remembered for his recurring television role as handyman Emmett Clark on CBS's The Andy Griffith Show and its spinoff Mayberry R.F.D. The character allowed occasional glimpses of his dancing background, including a soft shoe routine performed with costar Ken Berry in the Mayberry R.F.D. episode "All for Charity." Beyond those series, he appeared in episodes of Petticoat Junction, Love American Style, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Hazel, Ben Casey, The Twilight Zone, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Our Man Higgins, and Family Affair. Hartman died of a heart attack in Los Angeles on October 2, 1973, at the age of 69.