Appeared in two 1920s films which were also famous as Broadway musicals: The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927) and Show Boat (1929). Both were shot as silent films, although the 1929 "Show Boat" was eventually released as a part-talkie.
The day after his death, the Times Recorder reported that en route to the premiere of 'Snow White' he suffered a stroke from which he never fully recovered.
As a kid he would entertain his classmates by standing on the teacher's desk at recess and singing songs.
He has appeared in three films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: King of Jazz, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, & Bambi.