Trivia

Gave tap lessons to Fred Astaire, and coached Astaire for his "Bojangles of Harlem" performance in the film Swing Time.

Inducted into the International Tap Dance Hall of Fame in 2002 (inaugural class).

Known as the "Father of Rhythm Tap," he was the first tapper to drop his heels, adding complex rhythms and syncopations.

He could not read music; composer George Gershwin had to teach him the music for the role of Sportin' Life in "Porgy and Bess" note by note.

Although he appeared in the original production, John "Bubbles" Sublett did not sing the role of Sportin' Life in the so-called "original cast album" of "Porgy and Bess", made in 1940. He was replaced on that 78-RPM album by Avon Long, who then went on to sing the role in both the 1942 Broadway revival of "Porgy and Bess", and in the first 3-LP recording of the work, made in 1951, the most complete version recorded up to that time. Sublett finally recorded his two big songs from "Porgy and Bess" on the 1963 hi-fi/stereo LP of excerpts from the opera, starring Leontyne Price and William Warfield.

At an early point in his career had to sign to be legally responsible for partner Buck Washington as he was then underage.

Retired from show business in 1967 after a stroke that left him partially paralyzed.

Singer, comedian and rhythmic tap dancer

Angelus Babe was a well known dancer in Los Angeles in the 1920s and '30s, who is mentioned seven times in the LA Times. There are pictures of him in Google Images from the film On with the Show! (1929) dancing with Ethel Waters, but he is misidentified as John W. Bubbles. It is not known whether he ever made another film.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 138-139. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.