Scatman Crothers Biography
- Home /
- Scatman Crothers /
- Biography
- Born May 23, 1910
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. 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.
He performed in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York City.[citation needed] Capitol released several of his singles: "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. 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.
Crothers made his film debut in the movie Meet Me at the Fair (1953). He had roles in the film musicals Hello Dolly! (1969) and The Great White Hope (1970) before providing the voice of "Scat Cat" in the animated film The Aristocats (also 1970). Crothers appeared in four films with Jack Nicholson: The King of Marvin Gardens (1972), The Fortune (1975), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), and The Shining (1980). He had the part of a 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 (1977), 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).
Return to Scatman Crothers Autograph Profile
Stats
Join the RACC Facebook Group!
The Real Autograph Collectors Club (RACC) on Facebook is the largest community of in person autograph collectors and fans in the world, with 25,000 members and growing!
When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Useful Links
WORLDWIDE RACC (Our Top Cities)
New York, NY
USA
Los Angeles, CA
USA
London
United Kingdom
Chicago, IL
USA
Toronto, ON
Canada
