Tom Patricola

Tomasso Patricola, born January 22, 1891, in New Orleans, Louisiana, was an American actor, comedian, and dancer who built his reputation across vaudeville, Broadway, and motion pictures. He died on January 1, 1950, in Pasadena, following brain surgery, three weeks before his fifty-ninth birthday.

Patricola became known primarily as a hoofer and eccentric dancer, with particular distinction as an interpreter of the Black Bottom. He also sang and played the ukulele, frequently performing all three simultaneously, a combination that earned him the description of a "mop gone crazy." His skill as a clog dancer further broadened his reputation as a novelty performer.

His Broadway career spanned from 1923 to 1933. He served as a headliner in George White's Scandals across five seasons — 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, and 1928 — and during that period was coached by African American choreographer Buddy Bradley. In the 1926 edition of the Scandals, he performed the Black Bottom alongside Ann Pennington. He introduced the George Gershwin song "Somebody Loves Me" in the 1924 edition of the revue. Patricola also appeared in George White's Music Hall Varieties in 1932. His final Broadway appearance came in the musical comedy Hold Your Horses in 1933, which ran for 88 performances.

With the rise of sound film, Fox Film Corporation signed Patricola as a contract player. He made his film debut in the comic musical Words and Music in 1929, a production that also marked the first credited screen appearance of John Wayne, then billed as Duke Morrison. Between 1929 and 1931, Patricola appeared in feature-length musicals as well as Spanish-language versions of English-language pictures. Beginning in mid-1931, he transitioned to comic short films produced by the Educational Film Corporation of America and released through Fox, completing his last short for that company in 1938. He subsequently made two confirmed film appearances in uncredited roles, the more notable being Rhapsody in Blue in 1945, in which he recreated his performance of "Somebody Loves Me."

His sister Isabella pursued her own career in vaudeville as a singer and violinist and recorded "Somebody Loves Me" in 1924.