Tommy Wonder (dancer)

Tommy Wonder (March 7, 1914 in Montana – December 11, 1993 in Riverdale, Bronx, New York City) was an American dancer, actor, choreographer, and artist manager. He was a principal dancer in the 1943 Ziegfeld Follies.[1]

As a child, Wonder had an unspecified physical disability which hindered his ability to walk; to help him, his mother used clothes and a broomstick to build a puppet on which he could support himself. Wonder named the puppet "Suzanne", and with its help he was able not only to learn to walk, but to dance at a professional level; an upgraded version of "Suzanne", designed by members of the Westmore family, with human hair, and Wonder's mother's original broomstick, is in the Smithsonian Institution.[2]

  1. ^ Tommy Wonder; Actor and 'Ziegfeld Follies' Dancer, in the Los Angeles Times; published December 12, 1993; retrieved July 28, 2015
  2. ^ American Puppetry: collections, history and performance, p. 209, edited by Phyllis T. Dircks, 2004; volume 23 of the Performing Arts Resource Series of the Theatre Library Association; via Google Books