Bryant, Marie, 1917-1978

June 8, 1929, p. 6: Bryant listed as one of the dancers at Mary Bruce's annual Classic at Eighth St. Theater;

May 30, 1931, p. 2: Bryant listed as one of the dancers at Mary Bruce's annual Classic at Eighth St. Theater;

Apr. 7, 1934, p. 9: Bryant performing at the Indiana Club;

Sept. 22, 1934, p. 9: mother of Grand Terrace dancer Marie Bryant could pass as her sister;

Mar. 7, 1936, p. 15: Bryant one of the chorines at Club Alabam, Los Angeles;

June 29, 1940, p. 20: account of Bryant's popularity during Duke Ellington's Apollo Theater dates'

July 26, 1941, p. 20: photos of stars of "Jump for Joy" including Bryant;

Jan. 12, 1952, p. 13: itinerary of Manhattan Paul and his company of 26 en route to Colombo;

June 6, 1953, p. 18: Bryant's success in High Spirits; satirical song about Malan; p. 19: will entertain during Coronation celebrations;

1930 United States Federal Census [Most probable match]
Name: Marie Bryant; Birth Year abt 1918; Age in 1930: 12; Birthplace: Mississippi; Relation to Head of House: Daughter; Home in 1930: Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA; Street Address: 4542 Indiana Avenue; Father's Birthplace: Missouri; Mother's Birthplace: Louisiana; Household Members: Marie Bryant, 28, Head; Marie Bryant, 12 Daughter;

U.S., Departing Passenger and Crew Lists, 1914-1966:
Name: Marie Bryant; Gender: Female; Departure Age: 34; Birth Date: abt 1918; Birth Place: Meridian. Miss; Departure Date: 18 Jan 1952; Departure Place: New York, New York, USA; Ship: FRANCONIA; Address: 1458 W 36th Pl., Los Angeles, Cal:



California, U.S., Death Index, 1940-1997: Name: Marie B Rajkumar; Birth Date: 6 Nov 1917; Birth Place: Mississippi; Death Date: 23 May 1978; Death Place: Los Angeles;

U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014: Name: Marie Rajkumar; Birth Date: 6 Nov 1917; Last Residence: 90018, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA; Death Date: May 1978

Marie Bryant; born November 6, 1917 in Meridian, Mississippi, USA; died: May 23, 1978 (age 60) in Los Angeles, California, USA: Films (as actress) The Duke Is Tops (1938); Gang War (1940); Broadway Rhythm (1944); 1944 When Strangers Marry (1944); Carolina Blues (1944); Ziegfeld Follies (1945); They Live by Night (1948); 1950 Wabash Avenue; Fancy Pants (1950); 1952 The Return of Gilbert andSullivan (Short); Cross-Up (1954); The Gilded Cage 1955 ; Basin Street Revue (1956)

While conducting research at the USC Libraries Cinematic Arts Library, Kraut found a note among the Assistant Director's daily progress reports from the production files for "On the Town" in the Arthur Freed papers, which indicated that two performers were scheduled to be on set August 10, 1949 to post-dub vocals, one of whom was listed as a “Marie Bruant." Believing this to be a typo or misspelling of Marie Bryant's name, Kraut went back to review the footage in the film and was able to identify Bryant as a chorus dancer in the Club Dixieland scene.

Marie Bryant; American dancer, singer and choreographer; born November 6, 1919 in Meridian, Mississippi; moved with her family as a child to New Orleans, Louisiana; early dance teacher, Mary Bruce; performed in Los Angeles with Lionel Hampton; was a featured attraction at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, and toured nationally with Duke Ellington; performed in Ellington's 1941 musical revue Jump For Joy, featuring the hit number "Bli-Blip" in Los Angeles; appeared as the head of a dance troupe in the movie Carolina Blues; sang in the short film Jammin' the Blues, accompanied by Lester Young, Barney Kessel and others, 1944; starred in the musical show Beggar's Holiday, with music by Ellington and lyrics by John LaTouche [sic], 1946; worked as a teacher at the dance schools run by Katherine Dunham; was a headline act at the Florentine Gardens (aka The Cotton Club) and taught dancers in the chorus line; appeared in They Live By Night and Wabash Avenue; toured US in The Big [sic] Show of 1951 (Sarah Vaughan and Nat 'King' Cole); continued to teach dance to film actors;Gene Kelly called her "one of the finest dancers I've ever seen in my life"; worked as a dance coach and choreographer for Paramount, 20th Century Fox, MGM and Columbia; developed her own dance teaching style which she called "controlled release"; married John A. Rajakumar, 1952; appeared in London in High Spirits, 1953 and performedsatirical anti-apartheid calypso song, which created controversy at the time of South African Prime Minister D. F. Malan's visit to Britain to attend the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II; returned to the US after Rajakumar became ill; he died in 1965; ran the Marie Bryant Dance Studios in 1970s; was understudy to Pearl Bailey in the stage show Hello, Dolly!; continued to work as a choreographer in Los Angeles and Las Vegas;died of cancer in Los Angeles in 1978

California Eagle (Los Angeles, California) 31 Jul 1936, Fri Page 10: Dance team Cheesman and Perry turn producer on a show at the Paradise Club downtown; Lionel Hampton’s band providing the music; singers Marie Bryant and Billy Brown are featured

The Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) 12 Jun 1937, Sat Page 2; listed among the “sepia extras who are carving their names in filmdom’s sun in Artists and Models”

California Eagle (Los Angeles, California) 11 Aug 1938, Thu Page 14: Ad for the Paradise Club (633 South Main Street) with Gladys Bently and “Peg Leg” Bates headlining; guest stars include Marie Bryant, “that little package of dynamite”

The Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) 11 Feb 1939, Sat Page 20: Earl J. Morris gossip: “Marie Bryant, charming little comedienne, may be in Chicago by the time you read this”

The Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) 18 Mar 1939, Sat Page 21: "Marie Bryant has been received in true Hollywood fashion in Chicago. She along with Billy and Charles will have stellar roles at the Terrace"

Daily News (Los Angeles, California) 06 Oct 1939, Fri Page 32: Review of live show by Count Basie and his orchestra at the Paramount; the audience “urged on the movements of Marie Bryant who furnished the pep session of the dance, and beat out the time of the tapping High Hatters”

The Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) 29 Jun 1940, Sat Page 21: Appearance at Atlantic City in a show by Leonard Harper (dance director at the Apollo) at the Paradise. Bryant described as one of “Duke Ellington’s discoveries who just finished an Apollo engagement with the Ellington band”

Daily News (Los Angeles, California) 11 Jul 1941, Fri Page 29: “Jump for Joy” review

The Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) 14 Mar 1942, Sat Page 20: On East Coast tour with Ellington, Washington, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia

California Eagle (Los Angeles, California) 10 Jun 1943, Thu Page 3: Brief review of “Africana”

California Eagle (Los Angeles, California) 12 Aug 1943, Thu Page 10: Bryant knocks it out in those flashy Club Alabam shows

California Eagle (Los Angeles, California) 30 Dec 1943, Thu Page 11: Ad for “Sweet ‘N Hot,”Mayon Theatre[sic] (1044 S. Hill Street)

The Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) 04 Jan 1947, Sat Page 17: Review of Beggar’s Holiday

Mirror News (Los Angeles, California) 12 Feb 1949, Sat Page 28: Review of Cotton Club revue: “The exotic (and that’s a nice word for it) dancing of Marie Bryant with the Calypso Boys is about as earthy as you can get in one show. But it’s all in apparent fun.”

The Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) 16 Apr 1949, Sat Page 20: Notice of closure of Cotton Club in Los Angeles amid general downturn in nightclub business booking "sepia" acts

California Eagle (Los Angeles, California) 20 Apr 1950, Thu Page 15: No credit for “Wabash Avenue” and only a demeaning role as “just another maid”

Los Angeles Evening Citizen News (Hollywood, California) 24 Aug 1950, Thu Page 24:Bryant joins Eugene Loring’s American School of Dance for the fall term as a guest instructor in jive and Afro-Cuban techniques

California Eagle (Los Angeles, California) 28 Sep 1950, Thu Page 16: Preparations for opening of Florentine Gardens on Oct. 15; Bryant teaching routines to the chorus

The Times Record (Troy, New York) 21 Sep 1951, Fri Page 21:
Ad for The Biggest Show: “Marie Bryant Dancers”

California Eagle (Los Angeles, California) 14 Feb 1952, Thu Page 10: Bryant sailed via NY on the Franconia for India, Ceylon, and Australia. Destination: Colombo Plan Exhibition

California Eagle (Los Angeles, California) 12 Mar 1953, Thu Page 9-10: “Chazz” Crawford column: “Congrats to our pet rave Marie (Bryant) Raj Kumas [sic] on the British Broadcasting Company’s Club Ebony show, and she’ll read this over there in foggy ol’ Londontown”

The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) 20 Oct 1954, Wed Page 18:Ad for her appearance at the Palladium

California Eagle (Los Angeles, California) 28 Jul 1955, Thu Page 9: Ad for Marie Bryant’s dance lessons, no school name or address; just phone number

California Eagle (Los Angeles, California) 24 Nov 1955, Thu Page 9: Giving Kay Thompson a few dance cues for Ciro’s appearances

California Eagle (Los Angeles, California) 29 Dec 1955, Thu Page 9: “Chazz” Crawford column: He and Bryant’s husband John Raj Kumar (“a prince of a guy”) will take up golf in the new year; “helping to stage a deuce [sic] of numbers for Marge and Champion Gower’s [sic] opening at Cocoanut Grove

California Eagle (Los Angeles, California) 01 Aug 1957, Thu Page 9: Marie is choreographer for Nat King Cole’s [television] shows

Los Angeles Evening Citizen News (Hollywood, California) 24 Aug 1957, Sat Page 6: Ad for her inclusion in faculty at Marge and Gower Champion school

California Eagle (Los Angeles, California) 16 Jul 1959, Thu Page 11: Review of Pearl Bailey’s “interracial” Cocoanut Grove show, with Pearlettes troupe

Marie Bryant (1919-1978); dancer, singer, choreographer, dance instructor; born in 1919, in Meridian, Mississippi; father, John R. Bryant, was a railroad chef; Mary Bruce was her dancing teacher, and as a child she danced in Bruce’s annual show in Chicago; made professional debut with Louis Armstrong at Chicago’s Grand Terrace Café hotels, ballrooms, and theaters; Duke Ellington and a group of Hollywood notables created Jump for Joy in which Bryant performed; Bryant developed her own teaching style and method she called “controlled release”; Bryant starred with Cyril Ritchard and Diana Churchill in the English revue High Spirits, which opened in London’s Hippodrome, 1953; married John A. Rajakumar on the boat to Bombay; their honeymoon took them across the Indian subcontinent, they were off on a successful tour of Australia and New Zealand; husband died in 1965; during the 1970s Bryant operated her own dance studio, the Marie Bryant Dance Studios; understudy to Pearl Bailey in the stage show Hello Dolly!; alternating between Hollywood and Las Vegas, she worked with Gower and Marge Champion





Marie Bryant died of cancer in Los Angeles, California on May 23, 1978, at the age of fifty-nine. She is survived by her daughter and three grandchildren. Her talent and success opened many doors for African Americans in the entertainment industry and her performances touched the lives of people across the globe.

Extensive analysis of Bryant's "position within Hollywood's dance economy," specifically, her role in shaping Grable's perfomance in Wabash Avenue; choreography credited to the white dance director Billy Daniel (sometimes Daniels); Bryant also worked as assistant dance director to Jack Cole on Meet Me After the Show (1951) with Grable; "controlled release" as a technique for warming up the body; in her emphasis on training Grable's "buns," Bryant worked to "cultivate an explicitly Africanist aesthetic in Grable;

Beggar's Holiday (1946) as [The Cocoa Girl]; Hello Dolly on Broadway (during all or part of Pearl Bailey's run, Nov 12, 1967 - Dec 20, 1969) as Mrs. Rose and Standby for Mrs. Dolly Gallagher Levi; touring, May 25, 1971 - Jul 24, 1971 as [Mrs. Rose]

Marie Bryant; made professional debut with Louis Armstrong at Grand Terrace Cafe; was audience favorite at Apollo Theater when she performed with Duke Ellington; Jump for Joy ran for three months in Los Angeles; Bryant a highlight in "Bli-Blip"; in film, "Jammin' the Blues"; Broadway show, "Beggar's Holiday"; choreographer on films for major film studios; "High Spirits" in London, 1953; married tour manager John A. Rajkumar in India; husband had a rheumatic heart condition, becoming a semi-invalid during their marriage; he died in 1965; died at County-USC Medical Center at age 59

Movie Dance Director: Gene Kelly first to hire Bryant to assist on films; coached Vera-Ellen on Words and Music; taught shimmy to Paulette Goddard for Anna Lucasta; Bryant as first African American to "crack the technical side of Hollywood with the official title of assistant dance director; on staff of top dance director Billy Daniels; "controlled release" technique helps performers prepare for a day of shooting; credits her dance style to Mary Bruce, who taught her from the time she was six; later studied the Dunham method; discussion of "controlled release"; Marie Teaches Stripteasers More Art and Less Come-On: contacted by Belasco Theatre to work with their burlesque dancers after closing of Cotton Club; started a class as well for Afro-Cuban, blues and striptease; Stars Usually Ask for Her Help in Staging Routines: Betty Grable requested her services for Wabash Avenue after seeing Bryant perform at Cotton Club; hired by Daniels to be part of the team staging and rehearsing numbers in the film; Bryant born in Mississippi; daughter of railroad chef John R. Bryant; family left town when Marie was six after she got into a fight with a white child hurled a racial slur at her light-skinned mother who was shopping in a white only grocery store; Bryant's dance teacher, Mary Bruce, instilled pride in her African American heritage into young Bryant