Bernard J Fagan (1850-1937) acted, sang, composed, choreographed and directed throughout the last decades of the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth.
As a performer, Fagan was particularly noted for his clog dancing and for minstrelsy, including blackface. As a composer, his songs are noted by historians of music as important contributions to the development of ragtime. In later life, Fagan performed in and directed musical theatre, including an appearance in the first production of Samson Raphaelson’s The Jazz Singer in 1925.
Fagan’s only film appearance was when he performed a soft-shoe shuffle for the abandoned MGM musical The March of Time in 1930. The footage was used three years later in Broadway to Hollywood.
