Scatman Crothers

Benjamin Sherman Crothers (May 23, 1910 – November 22, 1986), known professionally as Scatman Crothers, 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

He 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, he formed a band, spent eight years living in Akron, Ohio, and performed 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. 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.

Film and television career

Crothers made his 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). He 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).

He became the first black person to appear regularly in a Los Angeles television show when he joined ''Dixie Showboat''. After ''The Aristocats'' in the 1970s, he found voice acting jobs as Meadowlark Lemon in the '' Harlem Globetrotters'' cartoon series and as the title character in ''Hong Kong Phooey''. For four years, he played the role of Louie the garbage man on ''Chico and the Man''. During his appearance on ''Sanford and Son'' he joined Redd Foxx for two musical numbers. One was a version of the standard " 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 a cool Cheshire cat. The special was followed by an audio adaptation for HB Records, but since Davis was signed to Reprise, Crothers provided the cat's voice for the album.

Crothers had guest roles on ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' in 1958, '' Dragnet'' in 1967, ''Bewitched'' and ''McMillan & Wife'' in 1971, '' Adam-12'' in 1972 (as "George Strothers"), ''Kojak'' and '' Ironside'' in 1973, '' Kolchak: The Night Stalker'' and '' Sanford and Son'' in 1974, '' Starsky and Hutch'' in 1977, '' Charlie's Angels'' and ''The Love Boat'' in 1978, ''Magnum, P.I.'' in 1980, ''Benson'' in 1982, and ''Taxi'' in 1983. Also in 1980, he was on two episodes of '' Laverne & Shirley'' as a porter. In the 1980s, he provided the voice of the Autobot Jazz on the television series '' The Transformers''. He starred in three short-lived 1980s television series: ''One of the Boys'' (1982), ''Casablanca'' (1983), and ''Morningstar/Eveningstar'' (1986).

Death

On November 22, 1986, Crothers died at the age of 76 at his home in Van Nuys, California, after struggling with lung cancer for nearly four years. He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Awards and honors

* Best Supporting Actor, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror, for ''The Shining'' (1980)
* Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, 1981
* NAACP Image Award
* Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, 1987 (posthumous)

Filmography

* ''King Cole Trio & Benny Carter Orchestra'' (1950) (short subject) as Himself
* ''Yes Sir, Mr. Bones'' (1951) as Scathman
* '' The Return of Gilbert and Sullivan'' (1952)
* '' Meet Me at the Fair'' (1953) as Enoch Jones
* ''Surprising Suzie'' (1953) (short subject)
* ''East of Sumatra'' (1953) as Baltimore
* '' Walking My Baby Back Home'' (1953) as Smiley Gordon
* ''Johnny Dark'' (1954)
* ''Team Berlin'' (1955) (short subject)
* '' Between Heaven and Hell'' (1956) as George (uncredited)
* ''The Gift of Love'' (1958) as Sam the Gardner (uncredited)
* ''Tarzan and the Trappers'' (1958) as Tyana
* ''Alias Jesse James'' (1959) as a railroad porter (uncredited)
* ''Porgy and Bess'' (1959) as Crabman
* ''The Sins of Rachel Cade'' (1961) as Musinga
* ''Lady in a Cage'' (1964) as the junkyard proprietor's assistant (uncredited)
* '' The Patsy'' (1964) as the Shoeshine Boy
* '' The Family Jewels'' (1965) as an airport employee (uncredited)
* ''Three on a Couch'' (1966) as a jazz band member (uncredited)
* ''Alvarez Kelly'' (1966) as Bellhop (uncredited)
* '' Hook, Line & Sinker'' (1969) as a corpse (uncredited)
* '' Hello, Dolly!'' (1969) as Mr. Jones, a porter (uncredited)
* ''Bloody Mama'' (1970) as Moses the caretaker
* ''The Great White Hope'' (1970) as a carnival barker (uncredited)
* ''The Aristocats'' (1970) as Scat Cat (voice)
* '' Chandler'' (1971) as Smoke
* '' Lady Sings the Blues'' (1972) as Big Ben
* ''The King of Marvin Gardens'' (1972) as Lewis
* ''Detroit 9000'' (1973) as Reverend Markham
* ''Slaughter's Big Rip-Off'' (1973) as Cleveland
* ''Black Belt Jones'' (1974) as Pop Byrd
* ''Truck Turner'' (1974) as Duke
* '' Win, Place or Steal'' (1975) as the Attendant
* ''Linda Lovelace for President'' (1975) as Super Black
* ''The Fortune'' (1975) as the Fisherman
* '' Coonskin'' (1975) as Pappy / Old Man Bone (voice)
* '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (1975) as Mr. Turkle
* ''Friday Foster'' (1975) as Noble Franklin
* ''Stay Hungry'' (1976) as William
* ''The Shootist'' (1976) as Moses Brown
* ''Chesty Anderson, USN'' (1976) as Ben Benson
* '' Silver Streak'' (1976) as Ralson, a railroad porter
* ''Mean Dog Blues'' (1978) as Mudcat
* ''The Cheap Detective'' (1978) as Tinker
* ''Scavenger Hunt'' (1979) as Sam
* ''Banjo the Woodpile Cat'' (1979) as Crazy Legs (voice)
* '' The Shining'' (1980) as Dick Hallorann
* ''Bronco Billy'' (1980) as Doc Lynch
* ''The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island'' (1981) (made for TV) as Dewey Stevens
* ''Zapped!'' (1982) as Coach Dexter Jones
* '' Deadly Eyes'' (1982) as George Foskins
* '' Twilight Zone: The Movie'' (1983) as Mr. Bloom (segment "Kick the Can")
* '' Two of a Kind'' (1983) as Earl
* ''The Journey of Natty Gann'' (1985) as Sherman
* '' Morningstar/Eveningstar'' (1986) (TV Series) as Excell Dennis
* '' The Transformers: The Movie'' (1986) as Jazz (voice)
* ''Rock Odyssey'' (1987) as Jukebox (voice), posthumous release

Television

* ''The Adventures of Jim Bowie'' – episode – The Quarantine – Cicero (1957)
* ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' – episode – Don't Interrupt – Timothy (1958)
* ''Beany and Cecil'' - multiple episodes and bumpers - Go Man Van Gogh (singing voice only at first, then regular voice, 1959–1960)
* '' Bonanza'' – episode – The Smiler – Jud (1961)
* '' The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo'' (1964)
* '' Dragnet'' – episode – The Missing Realtor – Dave Richmond (1967)
* '' Harlem Globetrotters'' – George 'Meadowlark' Lemon (1970–71)
* ''The Wonderful World of Disney'' – Disney on Parade – King Louie (voice, uncredited) (1971)
* ''Bewitched'' – episode – Three Men and a Witch on a Horse – Handler (1971)
* ''The Lorax'' – TV special – Singer (voice, uncredited) (1972)
* ''Nichols'' – episode – Eddie Joe – Jack (1972)
* '' The New Scooby-Doo Movies'' – episodes – The Ghostly Creep from the Deep/The Loch Ness Mess/Mystery of Haunted Island (1972–73)
* ''Kojak'' – episode – The Corrupter – Gaylord Fuller (1973)
* ''Hong Kong Phooey'' – 16 episodes – Hong Kong Phooey / Penrod 'Penry' Pooch (1974)
* '' Mannix'' – episode – The Green Man – Mudcat (1974)
* '' ''The Odd Couple'' (1970 TV series)'' – episode – The Subway Show (1974)
* ''McMillan & Wife'' – episode – Downshift to Danger – Floyd (1974)
* ''Chico and the Man'' – Louie the Garbage Man (1974–78)
* '' Sanford and Son'' – episode – The Stand-In – Bowlegs (1975)
* ''Roots'' – TV miniseries – Mingo (1977)
* '' Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Angie Dickinson'' – TV Special – Himself (1977)
* ''Laff-A-Lympics'' – Hong Kong Phooey (1977)
* ''CB Bears'' – Segment title narrator (1977)
* ''The Skatebirds'' – Scat Cat (1977)
* '' Starsky and Hutch'' – episode – Long Walk Down a Short Dirt Road – Fireball (1977)
* ''Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels'' – Additional Voices (1977–80)
* ''NBC Salutes the 25th Anniversary of the Wonderful World of Disney'' – TV Movie documentary – Himself (1978)
* '' Charlie's Angels'' – episode – Angels in Vegas – Jip Baker (1978)
* ''The Love Boat'' – cruise ship passenger (1978)
* ''Vega$'' – episodes – High Roller (Vega$ pilot) , & The Usurper – as Rosey (1978–79)
* ''The Super Globetrotters'' – Nate Branch / Liquid Man (1979)
* ''The Incredible Hulk'' – episode – My Favorite Magician – Edgar McGee (1979)
* '' Laverne & Shirley'' – episode – Murder on the Moosejaw Express Part 1 & Part 2 – Porter (1980)
* ''Magnum, P.I.'' – episode – Lest We Forget – Tickler (1981)
* ''Trollkins'' – Additional Voices (1981)
* ''The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island'' – TV Movie – Dewey Stevens (1981)
* '' Jokebook'' – Main Title Singer (1982)
* ''Benson'' – episode – In the Red – Rev. Tompkins (1982)
* ''Casablanca'' – Sam (1983)
* ''Taxi'' – episode – A Grand Gesture – Walt (1983)
* '' This Is Your Life'' – episode – Scatman Crothers – Himself (1984)
* '' The Transformers'' – voice of Autobot Jazz (1984–86)
* ''Paw Paws'' – Eugene the Genie (1985–86)
* '' The Paper Chase'' – Mr. Sims (1985)
* ''The Wonderful World of Jonathan Winters '' – Himself (1986)

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Crothers, Scatman
1910 births
1986 deaths
Actors from Terre Haute, Indiana
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American singers
African-American male actors
20th-century African-American male singers
American male film actors
American male voice actors
Male actors from Indiana
Singers from Indiana
Scat singers
Challenge Records artists
Deaths from lung cancer in California
Deaths from pneumonia in California
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
20th-century American male singers
American male jazz musicians
Recorded In Hollywood artists
Decca Records artists
Capitol Records artists
Hanna-Barbera people