Sam White (film producer) Sam White (film producer) Sam White was an American film producer, film director and actor. White was born in Los Angeles on to parents who had immigrated from Austria and Hungary. In 1937, he married Claretta Ellis, a studio contract dancer. They were married for 65 years until her death in 2002. For much of the 1930s, Sam White directed numerous musical sequences in films such as "Roberta" with Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Irene Dunne; "Old Man Rhythm" with Betty Grable and Buddy Rogers; "Top of the Town" with George Murphy; and "Hooray for Love", with Ann Sothern. During
Ginger Rogers Broadway actress for her debut stage role in "Girl Crazy". This success led to a contract with Paramount Pictures, which ended after five films. Rogers had her first successful film role as a supporting actress in "42nd Street" (1933). Throughout the 1930s, Rogers made 9 films with Astaire, among which were some of her biggest successes, such as "Swing Time" (1936) and "Top Hat" (1935). After two commercial failures with Astaire, Rogers began to branch out into dramatic films and comedies. Her acting was well received by critics and audiences, and she became one of the biggest box-office draws of