Scatman Crothers

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about Scatman Crothers. For the later jazz musician and singer named "Scatman", see Scatman John.
Scatman Crothers
Terre Haute, Indiana, U.S.
DiedNovember 22, 1986(1986-11-22) (aged 76)
Van Nuys, California, U.S.
Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park - Hollywood Hills, California
Occupations
  • Actor
  • musician
Years active1932–1986
Spouse
Helen Sullivan
​
​
(m. 1937)​
Children1

Benjamin Sherman “Scatman” Crothers (May 23, 1910 – November 22, 1986)[1] was an American actor and musician. He is known for playing Louie the Garbage Man on the TV show Chico and the Man, and Dick Hallorann in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980). He was also a prolific voice-over actor who provided the voices of Meadowlark Lemon in the Harlem Globetrotters animated TV series, Jazz the Autobot in The Transformers and The Transformers: The Movie (1986), the title character in Hong Kong Phooey, and Scat Cat in the animated film The Aristocats (1970).

Music career

Crothers began his musical career as a teenager. He sang and was self-educated on guitar and drums. He was in a band that played in speakeasies in Terre Haute, Indiana.[2][3] During the 1930s, Crothers formed a band, spending eight years living in Akron, Ohio, and performing five days a week on a radio show in Dayton, Ohio. The station manager thought he needed a catchier name, so Crothers suggested "Scatman" for his scat singing. He married Helen, a native of Steubenville, Ohio, in 1937. In the 1940s, the couple moved to California.[4]

He performed in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York City.[citation needed] Capitol released several of his singles, including "I'd Rather Be a Hummingbird", "Blue-Eyed Sally", and "Television Blues". High Fidelity Records released his album Rock and Roll with Scatman Crothers. He went on USO tours with Bob Hope.[5] Crothers also performed with bandleader Slim Gaillard. According to the jacket notes of the Let Freedom Sing CD set, Crothers was part of the music group The Ramparts, who sang "The Death of Emmett Till" (1955), a song by A. C. Bilbrew.[6][7][8]

Film and television career

Crothers appearing with Redd Foxx on Sanford and Son

Crothers made his film debut in the movie

fable-telling convict in the animated film Coonskin (1975), a train porter in Silver Streak (1976), a liveryman in The Shootist (1976), Mingo in Roots[5] (1977), Tinker the piano player in Neil Simon's The Cheap Detective (1978), a ringmaster in Bronco Billy (1980), a baseball coach in Zapped! (1982), and angels in Two of a Kind (1983) and Twilight Zone: The Movie
(1983).

Crothers became the first black person to appear regularly in a Los Angeles television show when he joined Dixie Showboat.

All of Me", in which he accompanied Foxx on tenor guitar. In 1966, Hanna-Barbera aired an animated special called The New Alice in Wonderland (or What's a Nice Kid like You Doing in a Place like This?), an updated version of the Lewis Carroll story featuring Sammy Davis Jr. as the Cheshire Cat. The special was followed by an audio adaptation for HB Records, but since Davis was signed to Reprise Records
, Crothers provided the cat's voice for the album.

Crothers had guest roles on

One of the Boys (1982), Casablanca
(1983), and Morningstar/Eveningstar (1986).

Death

On November 22, 1986, Crothers died at age 76 at his home in

Van Nuys, California after struggling with lung cancer for nearly four years.[3] He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.[10]

Awards and honors

Discography

  • Rock 'N Roll With "Scat Man" (1956)
  • 4 A.M. (1960)
  • Comedy Sweepstakes (1961)
  • Big Ben Sings (1973)

Filmography

Film

Television

References

  1. ISBN 978-0313344237
    .
  2. ^ "Scatman Crothers Dies at 76; Actor Got Start in Speakeasies". The New York Times. Associated Press. 23 November 1986. p. 1045. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d Cohen, Jerry (23 November 1986). "Versatile Entertainer, 76, Began Long Career in Speak-Easy at 14: Singer-Actor Scatman Crothers Dies of Cancer". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  4. GateHouse Media, LLC. Archived from the original
    on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-538795-7
    . Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  6. Dootone Records
    . 1955. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  7. ^ Berger, Brian (May 23, 2012). "Scatman Crothers". HiLoBrow. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  8. ^ "Ballad of Emmett Till Released by Record Firm". The Carolina Times. December 31, 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 19 April 2019 – via North Carolina Newspapers.
  9. ^ "Mannix". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2024-05-16.
  10. ISBN 978-1-58843-286-5
    . Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  11. ^ "Scatman Crothers". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Archived from the original on Apr 3, 2016. Retrieved 2016-10-04.

External links

Preceded by
Role originated
 Voice of Jazz
1984–1986
Original Series and Animated Movie 		Succeeded by