Gary "Pete" Nugent (July 16, 1909 – April 25, 1973) was an American tap dancer known as "Public Tapper, Number 1".
He danced with many of the greats including Honi Coles, Bunny Briggs, Charles 'Cookie' Cook, and Peg Leg Bates.
[8] He worked as messenger at a store in Harlem, until Paul Ford offered Nugent his start as part of his production for $30/week, twice what he had been making before.
[4] Known not only for their “precision-line military drill”,[4] but also for their various sharply dressed looks, each member of the group was said to have 26 suits, 26 pairs of shoes, and 300 ties.
[9] They performed with a number of solos interspersed with moments of unison all of which culminated in a “one man exit” where they lined up behind each other and walked of stage in sync.
In 1935 they performed as part of Connie's Hot Chocolates of 1935 and were called to the International Dance Congress at Broadway and appointed to the faculty of staff.
[10] Around the same time, it was noted that the group left shows rapidly after they ended, leaving the public in confusion as to why Pete, Peaches, and Duke were not participating in the nightlife scene.
[11] After Duke's untimely death in 1937, Pete and Peaches performed a few times together, but never reformed as a tap trio and the two remaining dancers set out on their own.
These included opening the Dance Craft studio on Fifty-Second Street in New York City with Charles 'Honi' Coles,[4] serving as the road manager of The Temptations,[4][5][page needed] being part of the original group of Copasetics founded in memory of Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson,[4][5][page needed] worked with the Sidewalks of New York,[31] and worked at Henry LeTang's downtown dance studio starting in November 1947.
"[4][5][page needed] Throughout his career, Pete Nugent had a focus on the soft shoe side of tap and had a particular aversion to the loud noises and trick steps that the younger generations seemed to be using.
in terms of costume, deportment, cleanliness-- all of these things-- beauty, giving a message, a message as far as dancing was concerned-- Pete had all of these things.”[4] Very few examples of his choreography remain today due to the lack of video recordings (the only known tape of any kind that has a recording of Nugent on it is an audio tape that was made by Voice of America[5][page needed]), but those existing include Nugent’s "Breezin'.” This is a routine from 1953 that builds on syncopation and movement.
Although there is no record of a marriage, Virginia Ryon sent him a telegram on his 26th birthday and was known to be his, “favorite heart throb.”[60] Towards the end of his life, Nugent became rather solitary[59] and is buried in the Long Island National Cemetery.