born July 17, 1899, New York, N.Y., U.S.
died March 30, 1986, Stanfordville, N.Y.
U.S. actor.
He toured in vaudeville as a song-and-dance man before starring in the successful Broadway musical Penny Arcade (1929). He played the first in a series of pugnacious criminal roles in the film Public Enemy (1931), followed by Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) and White Heat (1949). As George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942, Academy Award) he showed off his dance skills and streetwise charm. Later films include Mister Roberts (1955) and Ragtime (1981).