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NOT FORGOTTEN
Coley Wallace (ex-Savoy Bouncer and star of the bio-pic film of one of the most famous heavy weight boxing champions ever - Joe Louis ) is standing at the location where the Savoys entrance used to be situated
One misleading myth that continues to circulate is that the Savoy and the Lindy Hop were forgotten, after it closed, for many years until this or that person came along and "re-discovered" either or the both of them, depending on which version you read or hear! In reality neither were forgotten, but were celebrated in many different ways although they should have received better publicity than they did, which is why the current campaign to install a plaque is so important. At the auction on September 29, 1958 when the fixtures and fittings were sold off, four of the regular dancers staged a "last dance" at the Savoy to make it clear that it's memory would not fade. And it didn't in many different ways. Annual events like the Harvest Moon Ball preliminaries and the Beaux Arts Balls continued to be staged elsewhere, as did the activities of the many other black organisations that had held "formals" at the Savoy. There were occasional performances that featured the Savoy and since the new interest in Lindy Hop emerged in the early 1980's a growing number of new activities that commemorate the ballroom along with TV programmes, magazine articles, even books and films. The music played in those days keeps being replayed, and pop records like the disco hit by the group Chic called "Le Freak" spoke of "Stompin' At The Savoy". This list could go on and on, but what looks clear from even just the material assembled so far is the fact that the Savoy was never forgotten and its memory cherished in Harlem along with many other places. Above all the songs, music and dancing of that era alone would have ensured that the memory of the Savoy would not die.
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Coley
Wallace who died on January 30, 2005 of heart failure, was
almost certainly the last of the Savoy Ballroom bouncers.
He had lived a full and generous life. The great advantage
of being so utterly devoid of social pretensions as he was,
meant he could and did associate with anyone and everyone.
He never mentioned that he was a distant cousin of the present
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, but talked enthusiastically
about the cops, the gangsters, the boxers, the lindy hoppers,
his fellow bouncers and in fact the whole profusion of life
that characterizes New York City.
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| Coley Wallace |
Born in Jacksonville Florida his amazing strength and superb body was quickly noticed when he took a summer holiday job as a baggage handler at the local rail terminus. He was quickly on his way to train as a heavy weight boxer in New York. He made rapid progress as an amateur that was marked by a series of knock-out wins until he came up against Rocky Marciano who he only managed to defeat on points. Marciano learned from this reverse that the wisest move was to put down all his future opponents decisively, which he did and became world champion.
Despite becoming the Golden Gloves champion in 1948, there was no glittering boxing career for Coley. Deep down inside he was just a really nice guy, and although having the strength didn't have that killer instinct necessary to get to the top. Charles Buchanan the Manager of the Savoy Ballroom, was a well known frequenter of the boxing world who employed many current and former contenders to keep order at the Savoy. The personable Coley soon came to his attention. As a professional contender Coley carried on boxing whilst bouncing at the ballroom. Contrary to some accounts the Savoy was swinging again in the 1950s with its old fervor, and as before there was the inevitable stream of potentially unruly customers to be kept in line. The Savoy bouncers specialized in ejecting miscreants in 30 seconds if they wouldn't listen to reason. If it took longer Mr B wanted to know why?
Coley took to this work quite naturally only using his charm far more often than his fists. He had many amusing stories to tell. On one occasion he intervened to stop a man physically ill-treating a woman who turned out to the man's wife. She promptly turned on Coley and tried to hit him for interfering with "her husband" so Coley finished up throwing both of them out. Together with his two buddies Bobby Jones and Bobby Wilson they upheld the Savoy's legendary social etiquette in the 1950s although in Coley's case at least with ineffable charm and graciousness. If he spotted a wilting "wallflower" Coley was always willing to complete her evening by twirling her around the floor. In a sense that was Coley's problem, in that although he continued for a while with his boxing career he wasn't destined to win. However his last major fight, and defeat at the hands of Jimmy Bivins, led to him being selected to play the lead in the 1953 bio-pic "The Joe Louis Story" with the then little known Cicely Tyson playing his wife, and Ethel Waters his mother. His resemblance to Louis and his boxing physique more than made up for his limited acting abilities. Several years later he was to reprise the same role in Martin Scorsesse's "Raging Bull."
The contribution the "bouncers" made to the development of the Lindy Hop, possibly the USA's widest spread dance form round the world is seldom understood. Without the mutually respectful ethos of the Savoy, which the bouncers ensured, it would have been a lot more difficult to experiment so freely and widely with different partners from many different areas without trouble emerging. Like many ballrooms round the world, the Harlem ones tended to be clannish in that people stuck with others from their own areas - and in some cases breaching these circles could lead to confrontations. In the Savoy though this was nothing to worry about. If a promising new dancer took to the floor few constraints were felt about asking them for a dance.
Besides his various film appearances Coley was involved in more activities than we probably will ever know about. He was a bouncing at the Audubon Ballroom the night Malcolm X was assassinated, and mentioned how carefully everyone was searched when they came in, except for the women. He was an invited "boxing star" when Ali fought in Zaire. He remained loyal to the memory of the Savoy and not only identified where the entrance to the Savoy was once located for the campaign to "Mark the Savoy" but attended the eventual un-veiling ceremony when it was finally installed. His inherent modesty sadly will probably have prevented us from fully appreciating the extent of his magnificent spirit. In his later years he wryly noted that the signed photos of him on sale on E-Bay were usually priced around $80 a time. The irony was that whilst he could have used some of that money in his later years he was happy to sign photos for anyone, for nothing at all. It would have been hard to find a more generous person. He was married four times, but found the greatest happiness with his last wife Pearlie Mae, yet another old time Savoy Ballroom dancer. By Terry Monaghan
 From left to right: Coley Wallace, Pearly Mae with Warren Heyes and Russell Sargeant |
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