Biography for
Scatman Crothers More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

23 May 1910, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA

Date of Death

22 November 1986, Van Nuys, California, USA (pneumonia and lung cancer)

Birth Name

Benjamin Sherman Crothers

Height

5' 10" (1.78 m)

Mini Biography

Songwriter ("Dearest One"), actor, composer, singer, comedian, and guitarist who, after high school, appeared in night clubs, hotels, films, and on television. He made many records, including his own compositions. He joined ASCAP in 1959, and his popular-song compositions also include "The Gal Looks Good," "Nobody Knows Why," "I Was There," "A Man's Gotta Eat," and "When, Oh When."

IMDb Mini Biography By: Hup234!

Spouse

Helen Crothers

(1937 - 22 November 1986) (his death) 1 child

Trivia

Some sources erroneously credit him as Billie Holiday's jilting lover in the 1936 Duke Ellington one-reeler, "Symphony In Black", a role actually portrayed by Earl 'Snake Hips' Tucker. The song Billie sang was "Saddest Tale".

He is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood, California

He appeared as a guest musician on the local music program, "The Spade Cooley Show" (1958). Cooley, a white Western swing musician, hosted the show for a local Los Angeles TV station.

Was close friends with Jack Nicholson

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives." Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 215-216. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.

Continued to work after being diagnosed with lung cancer in 1985, but it then spread to his esophagus.

He and his wife Helen had one child, a daughter named Donna (born 1949).

Personal Quotes

"That movie was all right to make, but you know Stanley likes to do a lot of takes. It gets kind of boring, but when you take a job you do it." (on working with director Stanley Kubrick on "The Shining")