Tammany Young (1886-1936) made regular appearances on Broadway throughout the 1920s, including creating the role of Schwartz in the original production of The Front Page in 1928. He was well-known enough in the theatre world to have his caricature in the collection at Sardi’s restaurant.
Young’s parallel career as a film actor began way back in 1911, and in 1914 he appeared in a D W Griffith short. In 1914-15, he starred in thirteen short films as Bill the Office Boy. Altogether, he acted in over 100 silent pictures.
In the sound era, he made many uncredited appearances, but also had featured roles in films such as She Done Him Wrong (1933), Hallelujah, I’m a Bum (1933), Tugboat Annie (1933) and It’s a Gift (1934).
Young was only in one MGM musical, playing a taxi driver in Stage Mother. His career and well-publicized hobby of gatecrashing high-profile events were ended by his sudden death from a heart attack.
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