He continued to work at nightclubs throughout the decade, and remained in demand for television variety shows. He performed with a trio at military installations as part of the USO. He landed bit parts in a couple of 20th Century Fox movies: Between Heaven and Hell, starring Robert Wagner, in 1956, and The Gift of Love in 1958. As the 1950s continued, quality work became scarce. In spite of these accomplishments, however, genuine stardom continued to elude Crothers.
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Made movie debut in 1951, and became a character actor with numerous roles in films throughout 1950s to mid 1980s and - due to his rich, gravelly voice - voice-overs in animation series such as "The Aristokats", "Harlem Globetrotters" and "Hong Kong Phooey".
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Crothers recorded two more hits later that year: "On the Sunny Side of the Street" and "Dead Man's Blues." He became a regular guest on Harris's show, and the pair continued to collaborate on records and in films for years to come.Ĭrothers became first black performer to host a TV Program in Los Angeles in 1948. Together Crothers and Harris recorded a song called "Chattanooga Shoeshine Boy," which they introduced on Harris's NBC radio show The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show. He and Harris-like Crothers a native of Indiana-immediately hit it off. Made a bunch of records starting in 1947, in 1948 Crothers was introduced to Phil Harris, a radio star and regular on Jack Benny's program. He also worked occasionally as a sideman in other people's bands.ĭuring a very slow period in 1946, Crothers took over from the brilliant but unreliable Leo Watson as drummer of Slim Gaillard's Trio in 1946 after settling in Los Angeles. Settling with Helen in Hollywood, he found scattered bookings in Los Angeles and San Francisco, sometimes as a solo act, other times as leader of his own small combo.
In about 1945, Crothers decided to ditch his Midwestern band and head westward. His band, which included Oliver Michaux on piano, Jimmy Harris on alto sax, and Leroy Nabors on trumpet, was dabbling in bebop, the new jazz style being pioneered by the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, by this time. Crothers was playing drums and singing at this point. Their marriage remained intact for the rest of Crothers's life.īy the early 1940s, Crothers was a regular at the popular jazz clubs in Chicago, both in the Loop and on the South Side.
While performing in Canton, Ohio, in 1936, Crothers met Helen Sullivan, a white woman from nearby Steubenville. His wide repertoire then included love songs, bebop, blues, swing, scat, and old jazz. In the 1930's, he played with T-Bone Walker and Louis Armstrong, and formed a big band in 1936, getting the nickname "Scatman." Sam "The Man" Taylor began working with Scat Man Crothers and the Sunset Royal Orchestra in the late '30s. Scatman learned music and played drums in various jazz and novelty groups in the late 20s and 30s. He received no salary at the roadhouse, but the lavish tips made him "the richest kid in high school," Crothers recalled in a 1981 Jet article. Still in his teens, Crothers landed a job entertaining customers at one of the local speakeasies, a place frequented by Chicago mobsters trying to lie low. At the age of 14, Crothers began teaching himself to play both drums and guitar, and to sing in the scat style later made popular by Louis Armstrong and others. His father was a cobbler and the proprietor of a second-hand clothing store. BENJAMIN SHERMAN "SCATMAN" CROTHERS (by Tapio Vaisanen)īorn 23rd May 1910 in Terre Haute, Indiana.ĭied 26th November 1986 in Van Nuys, California.
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