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][4] 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.[5]
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.[6] 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.[7][8][9]
Crothers became the first black person to appear regularly in a Los Angeles television show when he joined Dixie Showboat.[4] After The Aristocats in the 1970s, Crothers 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 Crothers 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 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.
Around 1985, Crothers was diagnosed with an inoperable malignant tumor in his lung which metastasized to his esophagus. He was bedridden weeks before his death and had slipped out of a coma. On November 22, 1986, Crothers died at age 76 at his home in Van Nuys, California after struggling with lung cancer.[4] He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.[11]
Awards and honors
Best Supporting Actor, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror, for The Shining (1980)[6]
Beany and Cecil (1959–1962) (multiple episodes and bumpers) - Go Man Van Gogh / Wildman of Wildsville (singing voice only at first, then regular voice)
Bonanza (1961) (Season 3 Episode 1: "The Smiler") – Jud
(Season 8 Episode 15: "Santa, Santa, Santa/Another Dog Gone Christmas/Noel's Christmas Carol") (segment: "Santa, Santa, Santa") (1984) - Malcolm, a Shakespearean actor competing with Ray Walston and Avery Schreiber in the Christmas-themed vignette
^Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues - A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishers. p. 136. ISBN 978-0313344237.
^"Scatman Crothers: Speakeasies to Stardom -". 12 September 2020.
^"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.
^ a b c dCohen, 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.
^Price, Mark J. (27 February 2017). "Local history: Scatman Crothers strolled to fame while living in Akron hotel". Akron Beacon Journal. GateHouse Media, LLC. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
^ a b c d e f gLouis, Henry; Brooks Higginbotham, Evelyn (2009). Harlem Renaissance Lives from the African American National Biography. Oxford University Press. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-19-538795-7. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
^"The Ramparts. The Death of Emmett Till". Dootone Records. 1955. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
^Berger, Brian (May 23, 2012). "Scatman Crothers". HiLoBrow. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
^"Ballad of Emmett Till Released by Record Firm". The Carolina Times. December 31, 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 19 April 2019 – via North Carolina Newspapers.
^"Mannix". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2024-05-16.
^White, Robert; White, Phyllis (1 March 2011). Hollywood and the Best of Los Angeles. Hunter Publishing. pp. 568–. ISBN 978-1-58843-286-5. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
^"Scatman Crothers". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Archived from the original on Apr 3, 2016. Retrieved 2016-10-04.