Stump and Stumpy


Stump and Stumpy were a dance/comedy/acting duo popular from the mid-1930s to the 1950s, consisting of James "Stump" Cross, and either Eddie Hartman or Harold J. Cromer as "Stumpy". Their act was mostly jazz tap, and comedy expressed through song and movement.

History

James "Jimmy" Cross and Edward "Eddie" Hartman traveled around the United States, managed by Nat Nazarro, on what was often called the "Black Vaudeville" circuit. On the circuit, Cross met Norma Catherine Greve, with whom he had a daughter, June Cross. Cross was cast in the United States Army's This Is the Army film, with William Wycoff as his "partner". Stump and Stumpy's first big success was appearing in the movie Boarding House Blues, after which Hartman had become unreliable as a performer and was replaced with Cromer.

Appearances