Tutt Brothers

Salem Tutt Whitney (né Salem Tutt; 15 November 1875 – 12 February 1934) and J. Homer Tutt (né Jacob Homer Tutt; 31 January 1882 – 10 February 1951),^[1] known collectively as the Tutt Brothers, were American vaudeville producers, writers, and performers of the late 19th and early 20th century. They were also known as Whitney & Tutt, Tutt & Whitney and the Whitney Brothers. They were prominent in black vaudeville and created over forty revues for black audiences.

Salem Tutt Whitney was born in Logansport, Indiana (birth-year varies: 1869, 1875, 1876, or 1878),^[2] as was his brother J. Homer Tutt.^[3] They referred to themselves as brothers, and may have been half-brothers.^[4] Whitney originally intended to become a minister but later decided to become a performer, and left college.^[3] He attended the National School of Journalism and gained amateur experience in acting, comedy and writing.^[3]

From 1888 through 1905, the brothers performed in their traveling tent show called Silas Green from New Orleans.^[5] The show, which ran until the 1940s, was bought by circus owner Ephraim "Eph" Williams although the brothers never received payment.^[5][6]

They formed the Smart Set Company in the 1910s,^[7] possibly taken over from Sherman H. Dudley.^[4][a] From 1910 to 1925 Whitney and Tutt produced more than 40 revues for black performers and audiences, writing and performing in the shows themselves.^[4] Some of their performers found fame in their own right, including blues singer Mamie Smith, who danced in the brothers' Smart Set as a teenager.^[4][8]

One of the Brothers' main productions was a musical farce called George Washington Bullion. Starring Whitney as a tobacco plantation owner, it was popular with audiences and ran for two decades.^[6] Their musical Oh Joy! played on Broadway for four weeks.^[6] It had originally starred Ethel Waters when performed in Boston. But when the only theatre space the Brothers could find in New York City was on a tennis court under a tent, Waters pulled out and was replaced by Ethel Williams.^[4] Both of the brothers performed in Marc Connelly's play The Green Pastures (1930).^[6]

They also acted in films, spanning both silent films and talkies, including Birthright (1924), directed by Oscar Micheaux and adapted from a novel of the same name by T. S. Stribling; Marcus Garland (1925), The Broken Violin (1927), and A Daughter of the Congo (1930).

Salem Tutt Whitney died in Chicago, February 12, 1934, and J. Homer Tutt died in Los Angeles, February 10, 1951.^[4][9][10]

Salem Tutt Whitney was married three times, his first to Emma A. Baynard (maiden; 1872–1908) (her second marriage). They married May 6, 1903, in Philadelphia at Crucifixion Episcopal Church – Rev. Henry Laird Phillips (1848–1947), officiating. Rev. Phillips, in 1877, became the first African-American rector of the Crucifixion Church in 1877. Baynard was a sister of William Andrew Baynard, a pianist, who, with Salem and Emma, had, in 1900, performed with the Oriental Troubadours.^[12] Emma was a soporano and prima donna with the Troubadours. She previously, on March 17, 1897, in Williamstown, Pennsylvania, married Lewis E. Puggsley (1858–1935), an operatic tenor soloist, with whom she had a son, Baynard Lewis Puggsley (1898–1956). Lewis Puggsley was a brother of Charles Henry Puggsley (1868–1932), who, in 1900, was second tenor and soloist with the Oriental Troubadours.

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tutt Brothers.

• Salem Tutt Whitney at IMDb
• J. Homer Tutt at IMDb