Biography for
Chubby Checker More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

3 October 1941, Spring Gulley, South Carolina, USA

Birth Name

Ernest Evans

Nickname

Checker (NOT Chubby)

Spouse

Catharina Johanna Lodders

(12 April 1964 - present) 3 children

Trade Mark

Popularized the Twist; a dance craze that swept the world in the early 1960s.

Trivia

His wife, Catherina, was the 1962 Miss World from Holland.

His name, "Chubby Checker", is a play on the name of another famous singer of his era, Fats Domino. The name was suggested by the wife of "New American Bandstand 1965" (1952) host Dick Clark.

Rumor always had it that he was a chicken-plucker in Philadelphia before he made it big with "The Twist".

His daughter, Mistie Williams, plays basketball at Duke University.

According to his guardian, in 1962 he earned approximately $200,000.

Had first charted hit with "The Class" (1959). which is noted for his impersonations of Fabián Forte and Fats Domino.

Attended Southern High School in Philadelphia, PA, where one of his classmates was Larry Chance, later to become lead singer of the rock group Larry Chance & The Earls.

Personal Quotes

[To Bill Takacs (an IMDb biography writer), who in 1979 met him on a flight to New York from Johannesburg, South Africa (he had been performing in nearby Swaziland) and who addressed him as Mr. Evans (his real name)] "Don't call me Mr. Evans; only my minister can call me that."