Ruth Tester

Ruth Tester (August 17, 1903 – March 21, 1993) was an American singer and dancer whose Broadway career spanned from 1924 to 1931.

Tester's stage work encompassed both musicals and dramatic productions. Her earliest Broadway credit was the musical Lollipop at the Knickerbocker Theatre, where she performed in the ensemble from January 21 to May 31, 1924. The following year she took on the role of Claudia in the play A Lucky Break at the Cort Theater in August 1925. In 1926 she appeared in Bunk of 1926 at the Heckscher Theater and Broadhurst Theatre, running from February 16 to May 19 of that year. That same year she played Jenny Wren in the musical The Ramblers at the Lyric Theatre, a production that ran from September 20, 1926 through May 28, 1927.

Tester appeared twice in The Garrick Gaieties of 1930 at the Guild Theatre in New York City, performing as herself on June 4, 1930, and again for ten performances beginning October 16, 1930. In that production she sang "Sing Something Simple" and shared the stage with Rosalind Russell and Imogene Coca. Later in 1930 she joined the cast of the revue Second Little Show at the Royale Theatre, which ran from September through October. Her final Broadway credit was the drama The Gang's All Here at the Imperial Theatre, where she played Peggy during its run from February 18 to March 9, 1931.

Beyond the stage, Tester appeared in the 1929 short subject film Makers of Melody, in which she danced with Allan Gould and performed the Rodgers and Hart song "Manhattan." Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart appeared in the film as themselves. "Manhattan" was the songwriting duo's first hit.

Tester was married for 59 years to Fredrick Carothers, who worked as a sales executive and died in 1990. In her later years the couple lived in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts. Tester died on March 21, 1993, at the age of 89, in a nursing home in Weston, Massachusetts.