Dewey Barto

Dewey Barto (June 10, 1896 – January 31, 1973) was best known as half of the comedic and acrobatic dance act, Barto and Mann. He was the father of actress Nancy Walker, known earlier in life as "Nan Barto".

Dewey Barto was baptized on March 28, 1897 with the name Steward Stephen Swoyer, according to Pennsylvania's Church and Town Records, 1708-1985, in Reading, Pennsylvania to Elizabeth and Charles "Roxie" Swoyer, an acrobat, who owned a horse and wagon circus. Barto later adjusted his name to Stewart Steven Swoyer, as per his WWII draft records.

Dewey came from a family of performers. His sisters Estelle and Ida were trapeze artists and contortionists, first as the Miaco Sisters and later as the Delno Sisters. His brother Charles played drums with several well-known bands. By the age of 16, Dewey was the youngest trader on the Curb Market on Wall Street. He gained popularity as a dancer in Liberty bond drives, and when his company collapsed during a financial depression, Dewey joined The Three Bartos acrobatic team. He initially used the name Dewey Swoyer, but later changed his name to Dewey Barto, a name he used for the rest of his life.

In 1919, Barto married another vaudeville performer, Myrtle Lawler, half of the Grazer and Lawler song and dance act. Their elder daughter, Anna Myrtle Swoyer, was born in Philadelphia on May 10, 1922. She later changed her name to Nancy Walker, becoming an actress and comedian of stage, screen, and television. Not long after her birth, Barto was performing in an acrobatic act billed as Barto and Melvin. He began dancing solo in 1924 as the "The Hectic Hoofer" and continued performing as a single with Fanchon and Marco enterprises in 1925.

While performing as a single with Fanchon and Marco in early 1926, Barto (4'11", the same height as his elder daughter) was paired with George Mann (6'6"). Together, they began to develop comedic dance and acrobatic material based on the disparity in their heights that was well received by audiences up and down the West Coast. At the end of 1926, they signed a ten-year contract with Fanchon and Marcho that linked them together as Barto and Mann for over 15 years. William Morris of the William Morris Agency booked them "cold" into the Palace Theatre on March 14, 1927, where they were a great success. With offers from all the major vaudeville circuits, they chose to sign with the Orpheum Circuit. Several months later they had switched to the Keith-Albee Circuit with whom they toured across the U.S. until they signed with Earl Carroll's Vanities from August 1928 to February 1929.

...
Wikipedia