Theatre Register

Ralph Dumke

Shows · Ralph Dumke

Actor 1899–1964 On stage 19421946

Ralph Ernest Dumke (July 25, 1899 – January 4, 1964) was an American comedian and actor who had an active career from the early 1920s up until his death in 1964. He rose to fame as part of a comedy duo with Ed East, performing nationally in vaudeville on the B. F. Keith Circuit from 1922 to 1932 and then headlining the nationally popular daily afternoon radio program "Sisters of the Skillet" on NBC Radio. In the 1940s Dumke worked as a character actor in Broadway musicals, and from 1949 to 1964 he worked in American film and television.

On stage 7 productions, 4 years

1942 By Jupiter Shubert Theatre · Original · directed by Joshua Logan 427 perf.
1943 The Merry Widow Majestic Theatre · Revival · directed by Felix Brentano 322 perf.
1944 Helen Goes to Troy Alvin Theatre · Original · directed by Herbert Graf 97 perf.
1944 Sadie Thompson Alvin Theatre · Original · directed by Edward Caton 60 perf.
1944 The Maid as Mistress / The Secret of Suzanne Alvin Theatre · Revival 2 perf.
1945 Mr. Strauss Goes to Boston New Century Theatre · Original · directed by George Balanchine 12 perf.
1946 Show Boat Ziegfeld Theatre · Revival · directed by Hassard Short 418 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

Worked with more than once12 names

William Vaux 3 productions
Babs Heath 3 productions
Andrea Downing 3 productions
Vivian Cherry 2 productions
Virginia Meyer 2 productions
Virginia Macwatters 2 productions
Stanley Zompakos 2 productions
Ruth Matteson 2 productions
Rose Inghram 2 productions
Nancy Kenyon 2 productions
Milada Mladova 2 productions
Michael Mann 2 productions

Both names in the same cast list, more than once. It is not evidence of a partnership — a long-running company puts the same forty people together every night — but it is where one would start looking. 12 of these names are not links because we hold no record behind them; the name is set from the identifier and its punctuation may be wrong.

In the literature3 passages

  • Cast: Ray Bolger, Constance Moore, Benay Venuta, Ronald Graham, Bertha Belmore, Ralph Dumke, Vera Ellen, Margaret Bannermanebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • Cast: Jan Kiepura, Marta Eggerth, Melville Cooper, Ruth Matteson, Robert Rounseville, David Wayne, Ralph Dumke, Gene Barry, Lubov Roudenko, Milada Mladovaebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • Cast: Jan Clayton, Ralph Dumke, Carol Bruce, Charles Fredericks, Buddy Ebsen, Colette Lyons, Kenneth Spencer, Pearl Primus, Talley Beattyebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — actor — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

Something wrong here? Correct a field or report the problem. Every change is recorded in public under the contributor licence.