Classic Movie Travels: Nick Long, Jr.
While the name Nick Long may be obscure to many, Long’s talent as a dancer is well worth celebrating. In fact, Long was seen as a potential rival to Fred Astaire, though he never connected with audiences in the same way as Astaire.
Nick Long, Jr. was born on August 14, 1904, to vaudeville and theatre actors Nick and Idalene Long in Greenlawn, New York. As his entertainment career went on, Long shaved off two years from his birthday, typically listing that he was born in 1906.
By the age of three, Long was traveling along with his parents on their performance tours, visiting locations like Winnipeg and San Francisco. In 1907, Long and his parents were involved in a car accident in Huntington, New York, with his mother breaking her leg and Long being hurled into the air.
Once they recovered, Long and his parents were back on the road. He toured with his parents as they performed in The Banker and the Thief at the Wigwam Theatre and Managerial Trouble at the Empress Theater, both in San Francisco. By 1914, his parent filed for bankruptcy.
Soon, Long himself entered the entertainment world as a performer. He performed as part of the Hotel Astor Benefit for the Theater Club with two scenes from Things That Count as well as performances of Things That Count, co-starring his parents,at the DeKalb Theater in New York and the Belasco Theater in Washington, D.C. While working as a performer, he also attended the Professional Children’s School with Milton Berle. His first performance on camera occurred in the silent film Hearts of Men (1915) as a “Bad Little Boy.”
Long would go on to perform in Pollyanna at the Hudson Theater in New York before more steadily transitioning to films with The Corner Grocer (1917). He participated in independent plays and Broadway musicals in the 1920s before retiring from acting altogether in the 1930s.
In the 1930s, he took on three roles that were secondary and typically participated in dance numbers. From 1934 to 1939, he resided in London, where he worked as an actor and dancer with Danny Kaye. He went on to dance in Autumn Leaves of Frederick Ashton in both London and Manchester.
By far, Long was an active dancer and actor on Broadway. Though his film career was relatively short, his most famous acting and dancing role was in Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935). Moreover, his contemporaries considered him a rival to the likes of Astaire, but Long failed to connect with moviegoing audiences. As a result, Long was more interested in appearing in nightclubs and stage revues.
Long appeared in the pioneer BBC Television broadcast of “Autumn Laughter” in 1938 with Kaye.
In 1939, Long was recruited for service in World War II but was ultimately released after seven months.
Long passed away from severe head injuries following an automobile collision on August 31, 1949, in New York. The accident occurred on August 29, 1949, when he was returning from night club and vaudeville engagements in New England during a storm.
Long was laid to rest at Cypress Hills Cemetery in New York in the family plot, though his name is not on the family marker as he was the last family member to pass. He was 45 years old.
Today, some points of interest relating to Long remain. In 1920, he lived at 213 W. 109th St., New York, New York. In 1936, he lived at the Bristol Hotel at 129 W. 48th St., New York, New York. Both of these buildings have been razed.
In 1942, he lived at the Bryant Hotel. Today, this is the Ameritania Hotel and is located at 230 W. 54th St., New York, New York.
At the time of his passing, Long resided at the Markwell Hotel. Though the building is no longer functioning as the Markwell Hotel, it stands at 220 W. 49th St., New York, New York.
The automobile accident occurred on the corner of 236th St. and Henry Hudson Pkwy. in New York, New York.
Afterwards, Long was taken to Jewish Memorial Hospital, where he passed away. The hospital was razed in 1982.
Cypress Hills Cemetery is located at 833 Jamaica Ave., Brooklyn, New York.
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–Annette Bochenek for Classic Movie Hub
Annette Bochenek pens our monthly Classic Movie Travels column. You can read all of Annette’s Classic Movie Travel articles here.
Annette Bochenek, Ph.D., is a film historian, professor, and avid scholar of Hollywood’s Golden Age. She manages the “Hometowns to Hollywood” blog, in which she profiles her trips to the hometowns of classic Hollywood stars. She has also been featured on the popular classic film-oriented television network, Turner Classic Movies. A regular columnist for Classic Movie Hub, her articles have appeared in TCM Backlot, Silent Film Quarterly, Nostalgia Digest, The Dark Pages Film Noir Newsletter, and Chicago Art Deco Society Magazine.
