David Montogomery

b. 21 April 1870, St. Joseph, Missouri, USA, d. 20 April 1917, Chicago, Illinois, USA. A skilled acrobatic dancer, he first came to fame as a partner of Fred Stone. This was in 1894 and soon their song and dance double act was touring Keith circuit vaudeville theatres across the country. They headlined for a number of years before appearing on Broadway in The Girl From Up There (1901), which they then played in London the following year. It was the year after that when Montgomery and Stone had their greatest success. This was in the Broadway production of The Wizard Of Oz in which Montgomery played The Tin Man while Stone was The Scarecrow. After a long Broadway run, the show toured extensively. More hit Broadway shows followed, among them The Red Mill (1906), in which the duo sang Victor Herbert’s ‘The Streets Of New York’, The Old Town (1909), The Lady Of The Slipper (1912) and Chin-Chin (1914). Owing to these shows and numerous national tours, Montgomery and Stone retained their standing as one of the country’s best and most popular song and dance double acts until Montgomery’s sudden death, after which Stone built a successful solo career.