Gary "Pete" Nugent (July 16, 1909 – April 25, 1973) was an American tap dancer known as "Public Tapper, Number 1". He was also part of the class act, Pete, Peaches, and Duke.
Nugent performed all over the world including across Europe in World War II and in Mexico, but had a focus on New York and Harlem in particular. He danced with many of the greats including Honi Coles, Bunny Briggs, Charles 'Cookie' Cook, and Peg Leg Bates.
Early life
Nugent was born in Washington, D.C., July 16, 1909 to Pauline Minerva Bruce, the offspring of a Scottish Loyalist and Richard H. Nugent, Jr., an elevator man. After their father's death, Nugent's mother who could pass as white in New York at the time, boarded her two sons, Pete and Richard Bruce Nugent, who could not pass as white, in Harlem, New York. He started dancing at the age of fourteen while hanging around hoofer’s clubs and then ran away from home and started tapping on the "Black circuit" at age sixteen. While he drew from a great variety of dancers, his biggest influence was Eddie Rector. Nugent was known for his ability to pick up steps from others, particularly George Walker. He worked as messenger at a store in Harlem, until Paul Ford offered Nugent his start as part of his production for $30/week, twice what he had been making before.
Career
The tap dance trio, Pete, Peaches, and Duke, often known as the “Sepia Sons,”[24] was formed by Pete Nugent at age 19 in Chicago with Irving "Peaches" Beaman, with the addition of Duke Miller in 1931. Known not only for their “precision-line military drill”, but also for their various sharply dressed looks, each member of the group was said to have 26 suits, 26 pairs of shoes, and 300 ties. These were accompanied by a great number of accessories including socks, collars, and buttons that numbered well into the hundreds. They performed with a number of solos interspersed with moments of unison all of which culminated in a “one man exit” where they lined up behind each other and walked of stage in sync. A “class act,” the trio stayed away from, “temptation to let go with some flash steps,” and instead leaned into precision and continuity.
In 1935 they performed as part of Connie's Hot Chocolates of 1935 and were called to the International Dance Congress at Broadway and appointed to the faculty of staff. They were only the third people of color to receive this honor. Around the same time, it was noted that the group left shows rapidly after they ended, leaving the public in confusion as to why Pete, Peaches, and Duke were not participating in the nightlife scene. As it turns out, they had been going back to their newly acquired library from Broadway columnist Mark Hellinger and reading.
After Duke's untimely death in 1937, Pete and Peaches performed a few times together, but never reformed as a tap trio and the two remaining dancers set out on their own.
Pete, Peaches, and Duke performances
At the Cotton Club, October 1931
At the Howard Theatre, November 1931
As part of Irving Mills', “Harlem Scandals,” 1932
At Lafayette Theatre in Harlem, December 1932
Performed with Don Redman and his orchestra in Detroit, March 1933
In the Elida Webb Show at Harlem Opera House, July 1934
In the Battle of Revues at the Harlem Opera House, July 1934
At the Apollo Theater, September 1934
Had the finale in Shuffle Along in Providence, October 1934
Performed at the Apollo, February 1935
Performed in Fats Waller's “Song Shop Revue,” February 1934
At Connie's Inn, Spring 1935
Performed in the Mammoth Revue at Loew’s State Theater, May 1935
Played with Lou Holtz, Block and Sully and Belle Baker at Loew’s Fox in Washington, October 1935 At the Stanley Theatre, October 1935 At Loew's Theatre, October 1935 Performed under producer Clarence Robinson at the Douglas Theater in Philadelphia, November 1935 In Chicago, January 1936 In Mexico for six weeks at the Theater Almeda, April 1936
On July 15, 1942, Nugent was inducted into the army. As part of the first integrated unit in the army due to the casting that Irving Berlin wanted for his show. Throughout his time in the army, Nugent toured Europe as part of the show, This Is The Army in an octet that he trained. In 1944 he was stationed in the fifth army in Italy and was a corporal. He was honorably discharged from the army sometime between 1944 and 1946.