Archie Savage - photographs by Carl Van Vechten, 1942

Archie C. Savage (19 April 1914, Norfolk - 4 February 2003, Los Angeles), American dancer, choreographer, teacher, and actor.  Born in Virginia and raised in Harlem, he joined the "Hemsley Winfield's Dance Troupe" in the mid-1930's, before moving on to the company of Katherine Dunham in 1939. An important figure in the history of African-American dance, in addition to his work with Dunham and running his own troupe, he also performed in seven Broadway productions, most notably in the original production of South Pacific. And he was featured, variously as a dancer/choreographer/actor, in more than two dozen films, perhaps most memorably as the "negro dancer" in La Dolce Vita. In the latter part of his career he focused more on choreography, and eventually devoted his energies solely to teaching. He died two months short of his eighty-ninth birthday.