Willie Covan

William McKinley "Willie" Covan (March 4, 1897 – May 7, 1989) was an American tap dancer, actor, vaudeville performer best known for being a member of the tap quartet The Four Covans and a choreographer for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Willie Covan was born on March 4, 1897 in Atlanta, Georgia. Shortly after, his family moved to Chicago. By 1902, Willie was already tapping to the rhythms of the city. When was six years old, he began a six-year career as a pickaninny in the numerous vaudeville shows around the city. There he watched dancers and began to pick up technique from miming them. By age 12, hew was tired of pick tapping and started out to make a name for himself in the vaudeville circuit.[1]

Covan got his first big break winning an amateur tap contest around 1910. From that he was taken under the wings of legendary tap dancers "Slow Kid" Thompson, and Leonard Ruffin. In 1917, he formed the tap quartet, The Four Covans. They became an instant sensation in the United States and in Europe. In 1922, the Four Covans appeared in the historic all-black Broadway musical show, Miller and Lyle's Shuffle Along.[1]

In the early 1930s, Covan moved to Hollywood where he began working with screen stars such as Shirley Temple, Mae West, Mickey Rooney, and Anne Miller. It was at Eleanor Powell's insistence the Covan become head dance instructor for MGM studios. His best known work being The Duke Is Tops.[2]

While at MGM, he opened his own dance studio in Los Angeles, The Willie Covan Dance Studio, where he taught for 35 years. Later in life he was seen in films such as The Big Fox, and Finian's Rainbow. Covan is most credited for creating many classic tap dance steps, including the Rhythm Waltz Clog, and Around the World. Covan died on May 7, 1989 in his home in Los Angeles and is interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 Frank, Rusty E. (1994). The Greatest Tap Dance Stars and Their Stories 1900-1955. New York: Da Capo Press. pp. 24–27. ISBN 0-306-80635-5.
  2. ↑ "Willie Covan". IMDb. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  3. ↑ BOYER, EDWARD J. (1989-05-11). "Stylish Performer Taught Stars to Do His Steps : Willie Covan, 92; Veteran Tap-Dancer". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
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