|
Inaugurating his performing career in Baltimore,
African-American musical entertainer Cab Calloway organized his
first band in New York. Calloway already had a strong following thanks to
his recordings, when, in 1931, he replaced Duke Ellington as
orchestra leader at Harlem's fabled Cotton Club. His lively, athletic
performing style, coupled with his trademarked "Hi De Ho" delivery, was given
nationwide exposure via his guest appearances in such Paramount features
as The Big Broadcast (1932) and International House
(1933).
He also appeared in animated form in a cluster of Betty Boop
cartoons produced by Max and Dave Fleischer, and it
is safe to assume that the youngest cartoon fans in the audiences enjoyed
Calloway's renditions of "Minnie the Moocher" and "St. James
Infirmary Blues" without fully comprehending those songs' allusions to drug
use and sex. George and Ira Gershwin used
Calloway as the model for the character of Sportin' Life in their
1935 folk opera Porgy and Bess; though he never played that part
on-stage, he did substitute for Sammy Davis Jr. on the
soundtrack recording of the 1959 film version.
Newly imposed censorship
strictures required the uninhibited Calloway to tone down his
performances and the content of his songs in films like The Singing Kid
(1936) and Manhattan
Merry-Go-Round (1937). The best of his "tame" film performances was in
the 1943 20th Century Fox musical Stormy Weather, in
which he co-starred with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Lena Horne, and Dooley Wilson.
Breaking up his orchestra in 1958, Calloway went solo for several years,
notably as Horace Vandergelder in the all-black version of Broadway's
Hello Dolly!
As ebullient as ever, Calloway was seen fronting a
band once more in 1980's The Blues Brothers. In 1976, Calloway
wrote his autobiography, an engaging if not entirely candid work, titled Of
Minnie the Moocher and Me. Cab Calloway is the father of actor Kirk Calloway. ~ Hal
Erickson, All Movie Guide
|
and/or