George Tapps; Ballet and Tap Dancer

George Tapps, 85, ballet and tap dancer whose trademark was performing to Ravel’s “Bolero.” In more than half a century of dancing, Tapps appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” in programs with Bob Hope, Sophie Tucker and Ruby Keeler among others, and with his troupe around the world. A one-man show of film clips and anecdotes that Tapps assembled about his life in entertainment--”Whatever Happened to Georgie Tapps?”--had a two-week run at the Westwood Playhouse in 1992. Born Mortimer Alphonse Becker in New York City, Tapps first performed in public when he was 7. After studying ballet on a scholarship, he became the first dancer to publicly pair ballet with tap when he created his “Bolero” routine in 1937. He was befriended by George M. Cohan and danced in several of Cohan’s Broadway shows, beginning with “I’d Rather Be Right.” On Saturday in Burbank after a stroke.