>>>>>>>(like Buddy Epson - but he went on to do other stuff I've seen - what was that ageing private dick or cop he did?)
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Ebsen. Barbaby Jones.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>IIRC, he was in the original cast for the Wizard of Oz as the tin man, but had a bad reaction to whatever they were using to make his skin silver and had to bow out.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Tamar
>>>>>
>>>>>Didn't know about the Wizard story but I certainly believe it. According to my parents he started as a song and dance man. I also remember him as Davy Crockett's sidekick on the Disney episodes.
>>>>
>>>>He was a knock-out song and dance man. He had one of the oddest dancing styles I've ever seen, but it was great to watch.
>>>>
>>>>A lot of actors that we know better from non musical roles are also musical folk. James Cagney, Dan Dailey, George Raft, Angela Lansbury, Hugh Jackman, Will Smith, Treat Williams, Paul Sorvino. There are lots of them. The one that surprised me the most when I found out was Christopher Walken.
>>>
>>>Alan;
>>>
>>>Ray Bolger, who played the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz also had a peculiar dance style. I saw him dance when he was 80. I could not believe how flexible he was!
>>>
>>>
>>>Oh and speaking of George Raft, he was a partner of Rudolph Valentino. They worked as "tearoom dancers", the male version of a dance hall girl and sometimes called a gigolo.
>>>
>>>Tom
>>
>>Yes, Ray Bolger was boneless, or maybe he as made out of rubber, but he also was a joy to watch. One of my all time favourites (barring Astaire and Eleanor Powell, of course) was Donald O'Connor. Interestingly I saw him in a very early movie - he must have been in his teens, and he did dance, but everybody around him danced more front and center. He was one of the stars, but as a dancer, he played about 5th fiddle. The movie was called "Private Buckaroo" (not to be confused with "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th dimension").
>
>Donald O’Connor is one of my favorite dancers! As a child I enjoyed his movies about Francis, the talking mule.

I just remembered that he was in a movie when he was a kid with Fred McMurray and Bing Crosby. Fred McMurray sang too. I knew McMurray was a musician (sax player) but until that movie, I didn't know he sang. It's interesting to remember some of these oddball things. Sid Caesar also started as a musician in jazz bands. He played sax too and I think he may also have played the clarinet.

One of the most interesting is Alan Greenspan who is just about to retire from the FED. He was a professional jazz musician (also sax) back in the 1940's.

Clint Eastwood's son Kyle is a terrific bass player with his own jazz band. He does an excellent version of a thing called 'Big Noise From Winetka' on which Clint whistles.