Erik Rhodes (actor, born 1906)
Erik Rhodes (born Ernest Sharpe; February 10, 1906 – February 17, 1990) was an American film and Broadway singer and actor. He is best remembered today for appearing in two classic Hollywood musical films with the popular dancing team of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers: "The Gay Divorcee" (1934) and "Top Hat" (1935). Early years. The son of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest A. Sharpe, he was born at El Reno, Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, Rhodes attended Central High School and the University of Oklahoma. While he was a student at the university, he earned a scholarship  that enabled him to spend a year in New York studying voice. During World War II, Rhodes was a language specialist in the intelligence service of the Army Air Force. Career. Rhodes started performing on the Broadway stage in "A Most Immoral Lady" (1928) using his birth name, Ernest R. Sharpe. This was followed by two musicals, "The Little Show" (1929) and "Hey Nonny Nonny!" (1932). He first used the name Erik Rhodes when he appeared on Broadway in "Gay Divorce" (1932) and again in London in 1933. In this show, he gave a memorable comic portrayal of a spirited , feather-brained, thick-accented Italian character that impressed RKO executives enough to bring him to Hollywood to reprise the role in the film version, "The Gay Divorcee" (1934). Between 1947 and 1964, he was back on Broadway in "The Great Campaign", "Dance Me a Song", "Collector's Item", "Shinbone Alley", "Jamaica", "How to Make a Man", and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum". In the Cole Porter musical "Can-Can", he appeared as a lecherous art critic, and introduced the song "Come Along With Me". In 1946, he was called in to take over a role  in the Vernon Duke musical "Sweet Bye and Bye" during its tryout, but the show closed before reaching Broadway. Rhodes also acted in regional theater, including Playhouse on the Mall in Paramus, New Jersey, and the Forrest Theatre in Philadelphia. On radio, Rhodes was heard regularly on the variety show "51 East 51st". On television, he was co-host of "Second Cup of Coffee", which debuted on WJZ in New York City on October 15, 1952. The Monday-Friday 15-minute daytime program combined talk and music. Among his other TV appearances, he performed in the variety program "Wonder Boy  and played the role of murder victim Herman Albright in the 1961 Perry Mason" episode, "The Case of the Violent Vest." Death. Rhodes died of pneumonia in an Oklahoma City nursing home on February 17, 1990, at age 84 and is interred with his wife in the El Reno Cemetery in El Reno, Oklahoma.