Russell Williams

Russell Williams aka/Rashul Ali was a dancer with Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers who won the Harvest Moon Ball competition with partner Connie Hill in 1940. They are shown dancing together in the famous photo above by Cornell Capa. After WW2, known as “Ali”, he  danced in Frankie Manning’s Congaroos Dancers. His untimely death occurred in the 1960s when he attempted to split up a fight between two other men.

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Films

Cootie Williams and his Orchestra (1943)
Killer Diller (1948)