[3] By 1930, though both their parents were still alive, William and his older brother Spencer were residents of Lawrence Hall, a Chicago institution that sheltered homeless and orphaned boys.

[3] Spencer would go on to serve in the army during the Second World War,[4] while a bout of pneumonia ended William's brief military service.

After his graduation in 1939 Tabbert supported himself as he studied music by performing small parts with the Chicago Civic Opera Company and singing at local area night spots.

In 1954 he hosted the Bill Tabbert Show for ABC television and that same year made his final Broadway appearance in Fanny with Ezio Pinza, Walter Slezak and Florence Henderson.

[6] Of his performance, critic Brooks Atkinson wrote: "Mr. Tabbert pours his familiar vitality into a sort of sea spiritual called "Restless Heart" and a song of despair entitled "Fanny".