Salem Tutt Whitney

Biography

Salem Tutt Whitney started out with his younger brother Homer singing and dancing for nickels and dimes on the streets of their home town of Logansport, Indiana. A graduate of Manual High School in Indianapolis, like his brother, Salem studied for the ministry, but eventually went with his brother into vaudeville. From 1904 to 1906, they appeared in S. H. Dudley's Smart Set company; from 1906 to 1909, they were the leading performers in the Black Patti's Troubadors company; afterwards, they organized the Smart Set Company No. 2, and after gaining full financial and creative control of the company in 1916, they called it the "Smarter Set" company, and traveled the country for over a decade. Both Whitney and Tutt were known throughout the African-American theatrical world as pioneers and innovators; Whitney himself either composed the music or the lyrics for over fifty songs and wrote (in whole or in part) twenty-five musical comedies. Starting in 1930, Salem Tutt Whitney appeared in 640 Broadway performances of "Green Pastures"; he portrayed Noah.