Stump and Stumpy were a tap 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.[1]
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 (born in 1954).[2] Cross was cast in the United States Army's This Is the Army (1943) film, with William Wycoff as his "partner". Stump and Stumpy's first big success was appearing in the movie Boarding House Blues (1948), after which Hartman had become unreliable as a performer and was replaced with Cromer.[citation needed]
The Strand, New York City, Billie Holiday headlining with Count Basie (1948)[6]
Cromer was the M.C. for numerous Irvin Feld-produced rock and roll package tours in the late 1950s. He danced with LaVern Baker as she sang "Jim Dandy" and thus was billed as Harold "Jim Dandy" Cromer for most of these tours.[citation needed]
