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 on July 16, 1911. She signed over 2,000 autographs at this event. The home is currently being restored and will be open to the public in 2018. An annual Ginger Rogers Day Festival is held in July in Independence. The current owner of the house is Three Trails Cottages, Inc. and the museum director is Marge Padgitt. Plans have begun for a second building to accommodate Ginger Rogers memorabilia. She made her last public appearance on March 18, 1995, when she received the Women's International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award. For many years, Rogers regularly supported, and held in-person presentations,