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115-479: In its prime, the Cotton Club served as a hip meeting spot, with regular "Celebrity Nights" on Sundays featuring guests including Jimmy Durante , George Gershwin , Sophie Tucker , Paul Robeson , Al Jolson , Mae West , Richard Rodgers , Irving Berlin , Eddie Cantor , Fanny Brice , Langston Hughes , Judy Garland , Moss Hart , and Jimmy Walker . In 1920, heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson rented

230-514: A Richard Tauber film musical, Land Without Music (released in the United States as Forbidden Music ). Upon his return to Hollywood, there were no movie jobs for him. Columbia Pictures offered him a major role in its college musical Start Cheering , filmed in 1937, and he received excellent critical notices, re-establishing him in movies. From then on, he almost always appeared in strong supporting roles. Durante went on to appear in

345-619: A disco version of "Minnie the Moocher" on RCA which reached the Billboard R&;B chart . Calloway was introduced to a new generation when he appeared in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers performing "Minnie the Moocher". In 1985, Calloway and his Orchestra appeared at The Ritz London Hotel where he was filmed for a 60-minute BBC TV show called The Cotton Club Comes to the Ritz . Adelaide Hall , Doc Cheatham , Max Roach , and

460-615: A Broadway production and a higher salary than had ever been paid to any nightclub entertainer. In June 1935, the Cotton Club opened its doors to black patrons. In preparation for the Joe Louis fight the club planned a gala and, "extended an open invitation to the Sepians." That same year, the club was forced to close its doors due to the Harlem race riots]], only to reopen one year later at Broadway and 48th Street. Calloway and Robinson were

575-465: A Job to accompany it. He performed at both the inaugural gala for President John F. Kennedy in 1961 and a year later at the famous Madison Square Garden rally for the Democratic party that featured Marilyn Monroe singing "Happy Birthday" to JFK . Durante continued his film appearances through the popular 1963 It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and a number of television appearances through

690-603: A big star and they were left behind, he kept them on his payroll for the rest of their lives. Durante's love for children continued through the Fraternal Order of Eagles , who among many causes raise money for disabled and abused children. At Durante's first appearance at the Eagles International Convention in 1961, Judge Bob Hansen inquired about his fee for performing. Durante replied, "Do not even mention money judge or I'll have to mention

805-478: A caricature of Adolf Hitler chasing Durante with a meat cleaver. Three examples from the 1940s include A Gruesome Twosome , which features a cat based on Durante, and Baby Bottleneck , which in unedited versions opens with a Durante-like stork. He also appears as a walrus in the 1945 United States Armed Forces World War II -era training film In the Aleutians – Isles of Enchantment . Book Revue shows

920-705: A champion horsewoman and then a horse trainer and horseriding instructor. Margie died on June 7, 2009, at the age of 89. On August 15, 1958, for his charitable acts, Durante was awarded a three-foot-high brass loving cup by the Al Bahr Shriners Temple in San Diego, California. The inscription reads: "JIMMY DURANTE THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS COMEDIAN. A loving cup to you Jimmy, it's larger than your nose, but smaller than your heart. Happiness always, Al Bahr Temple, August 15, 1958." Jimmy Durante started out his career with Clayton and Jackson and when he became

1035-563: A dancer in Cab Calloway's Jitterbug Party (1935). Calloway made his first Hollywood feature film appearance opposite Al Jolson in The Singing Kid (1936). He sang several duets with Jolson, and the film included Calloway's band and 22 Cotton Club dancers from New York. According to film critic Arthur Knight , the creators of the film intended to "erase and celebrate boundaries and differences, including most emphatically

1150-502: A drum in the jungle. Tribal mask illustrations make up the border of the menu. The club imposed a subtler color line on the chorus girls , whom the club presented in skimpy outfits. They were expected to be "tall, tan, and terrific", which meant they had to be at least 5'6" tall, light-skinned, and under 21 years of age. The male dancers', the Cotton Club Boys , skin colors were more varied. "Black performers did not mix with

1265-655: A fellow student. His daughter was one of the first African-Americans to teach in a white school in Virginia. Calloway married his first wife Wenonah "Betty" Conacher in July 1928. They adopted a daughter named Constance and divorced in 1949. Calloway married Zulme "Nuffie" MacNeal on October 7, 1949. They lived in Long Beach on the South Shore of Long Island, New York , on the border with neighboring Lido Beach . In

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1380-589: A figure that'll make ya sorry ya brought it up." "What can we do then?" asked Hansen. "Help da kids," was Durante's reply. Durante performed for many years at Eagles conventions free of charge, even refusing travel money. The Fraternal Order of Eagles changed the name of their children's fund to the Jimmy Durante Children's Fund in his honor, and in his memory have raised over $ 23 million to help children. A reporter once remarked of Durante after an interview: "You could warm your hands on this one." One of

1495-545: A freedom to experiment with orchestral arrangements that touring bands rarely experienced. Ellington recorded more than 100 compositions during this period. Eventually, responding to Ellington's request, the club slightly relaxed its policy of segregation. Cab Calloway 's orchestra brought its "Brown Sugar" revue to the club on September 28, 1930, replacing Ellington's orchestra after its departure on February 4, 1931. Jimmie Lunceford 's band replaced Calloway's in 1934. Ellington, Calloway, and Louis Armstrong returned to perform at

1610-460: A gliding backstep dance move, which some observers have described as the precursor to Michael Jackson 's moonwalk . Calloway said 50 years later, "it was called The Buzz back then." The 1933 film International House featured Calloway performing his classic song, "Reefer Man", a tune about a man who smokes marijuana . Fredi Washington was cast as Calloway's love interest in Cab Calloway's Hi-De-Ho (1934). Lena Horne made her film debut as

1725-530: A hearing on July 9, 2019, that there is "extensive structural damage" to the Calloway house as well as adjacent ones. The Commission on Historical and Architectural Preservation's executive director, however, said that properties in worse condition than the Calloway House have been restored with financial support from a city tax credit program. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan also urged that demolition of

1840-433: A house band. These revues helped launch the careers of many artists, including Andy Preer, who led the Cotton Club's first house band in 1923. Duke Ellington's orchestra was the house band from December 4, 1927, until June 30, 1931. The first revue that Ellington's orchestra performed was called the "Creole Revue" and featured Adelaide Hall . Hall had just recorded several songs with Ellington, including " Creole Love Call ",

1955-723: A household name due to TV appearances and occasional concerts in the US and Europe. In 1961 and 1962, he toured with the Harlem Globetrotters, providing halftime entertainment during games. Calloway was cast as "Yeller" in the film The Cincinnati Kid (1965) with Steve McQueen , Ann-Margret , and Edward G. Robinson . Calloway appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show on March 19, 1967, with his daughter Chris Calloway. In 1967, he co-starred with Pearl Bailey as Horace Vandergelder in an all-black cast of Hello, Dolly! on Broadway during its original run. Chris Calloway also joined

2070-569: A humorous pseudo-gossip column called "Coastin' with Cab" for Song Hits magazine. It was a collection of celebrity snippets, such as the following in the May 1946 issue: " Benny Goodman was dining at Ciro's steak house in New York when a very homely girl entered. 'If her face is her fortune,' Benny quipped, 'she'd be tax-free.'" In the late 1940s, however, Calloway's bad financial decisions and his gambling caused his band to break up. In 1953, he played

2185-491: A large floor or music by famous entertainers such as Ellington. An incarnation of the Cotton Club opened on 125th Street in Harlem in 1978. James Haskins wrote at the time, "Today, there is a new incarnation of the Cotton Club that sits on the most western end of the 125th Street under the massive Manhattanville viaduct. The windowless block of a building has a less dramatic display out front but seems to be popular with tourists for Sunday jazz brunches." A Chicago branch of

2300-570: A lawyer like his father, so once the tour ended he enrolled at Crane College in Chicago, but he was more interested in singing and entertaining. While at Crane he refused the opportunity to play basketball for the Harlem Globetrotters to pursue a singing career. Calloway spent most of his nights at Chicago's Dreamland Café, Sunset Cafe , and Club Berlin, performing as a singer, drummer, and master of ceremonies. At Sunset Cafe, he

2415-589: A major record hit with his own novelty composition, " Inka Dinka Doo ", with lyrics by Ben Ryan . It became his theme song for the rest of his life. A year later, Durante starred on Broadway in the Billy Rose stage musical Jumbo . Durante also appeared on Broadway in Show Girl (1929), Strike Me Pink (1934) and Red, Hot and Blue (1936). During the early 1930s, Durante alternated between Hollywood and Broadway. Outstanding among his early motion pictures

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2530-716: A marked resurgence from his appearance in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers. Calloway was the first African-American to have a nationally syndicated radio program. In 1993, Calloway received the National Medal of Arts from the United States Congress . He posthumously received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. His song "Minnie the Moocher" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999, and added to

2645-470: A permanent position. The band also performed twice a week for radio broadcasts on NBC . Calloway appeared on radio programs with Walter Winchell and Bing Crosby and was the first African American to have a nationally syndicated radio show. During the depths of the Great Depression , Calloway was earning $ 50,000 a year at 23 years old. In 1931, Calloway recorded his most famous song, " Minnie

2760-421: A reunion of Clayton, Jackson, and Durante on his April 21, 1948 broadcast. Durante first appeared on television showing up at the end of 1944 on John Reed King's audience participation show on the local New York CBS television station WCBW (now WCBS-TV ). His brief, unannounced, appearance on The Missus Goes a-Shopping seg apparently surprised most of the staff as well as the audience. Arrangements were made in

2875-441: A song to deliver a joke, with band or orchestra chord punctuation after each line, became a Durante trademark. In 1920 the group was renamed Jimmy Durante's Jazz Band. By the mid-1920s, Durante had become a vaudeville star and radio personality in a trio named Clayton, Jackson and Durante. When the trio played Broadway's famed Palace Theater during the week of June 4, 1928, Betty Felsen 's production of Ballet Caprice headlined

2990-494: A stage. Sixteen-year-old Lena Horne was also featured on the bill. After appearing at the Cotton Club the entire show starring Adelaide Hall was taken out on a road tour across America. The club closed temporarily in 1936 after the race riot in Harlem the previous year . Carl Van Vechten had vowed to boycott the club for having such racist policies as refusing entry to African Americans in place. The Cotton Club reopened later that year at Broadway and 48th. The site chosen for

3105-745: A stroke at his home in Westchester County, New York. He died five months later from pneumonia on November 18, 1994, at the age of 86, at a nursing home in Hockessin, Delaware . He was survived by his wife, who died in 2008, five daughters, and seven grandsons. Calloway was buried at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York . Music critics have written of his influence on later generations of entertainers such as James Brown , Michael Jackson , Janet Jackson , as well as modern-day hip-hop performers. John Landis , who directed Calloway in

3220-540: A stroke that left him reliant on a wheelchair. He made a public appearance in 1974 when MGM held a reunion of its former stars, in connection with its new That's Entertainment! film. Durante died as a result of pneumonia in Santa Monica, California, on January 29, 1980, 12 days before he would have turned 87. He received Catholic funeral rites four days later, with fellow entertainers Desi Arnaz , Ernest Borgnine , Marty Allen , and Jack Carter in attendance, and

3335-647: A teenager she had been crowned Queen of the New Jersey State Fair. She attended New York University before being hired by the legendary Copacabana in New York City. She and Durante met there 16 years before their marriage, when he performed there and she was a hatcheck girl. She was 41 and he was 67 when they married. With help from their attorney, Mary G. Rogan, the couple were able to adopt a baby, Cecilia Alicia (nicknamed CeCe and now known as CeCe Durante-Bloum), on Christmas Day, 1961. CeCe became

3450-606: A vocalist singing " Ain't Misbehavin' " by Fats Waller . While Calloway was performing in the revue, the Missourians asked him to front their band. In 1930, the Missourians became known as Cab Calloway and His Orchestra . At the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York, the band was hired in 1931 to substitute for the Duke Ellington Orchestra while Ellington's band was on tour. Their popularity led to

3565-487: A worldwide hit. The club gave Ellington national exposure through radio broadcasts originating there, first over WHN , then over WEAF , and after September 1929 on Fridays over the NBC Red Network , for which WEAF was the flagship station. The club also enabled him to develop his repertoire while composing dance tunes for the shows as well as overtures, transitions, accompaniments, and "jungle" effects, giving him

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3680-516: A year. He returned to Brunswick in late 1934 through 1936, then moved to Variety, run by his manager, Irving Mills . He remained with Mills when the label collapsed during the Depression. Their sessions were continued by Vocalion through 1939 and OKeh through 1942. After an AFM recording ban due to the 1942–44 musicians' strike , Calloway continued to record. In 1938, Calloway released Cab Calloway's Cat-ologue: A " Hepster 's" Dictionary ,

3795-438: A zoo." Hughes also believed that the Cotton Club negatively affected the Harlem community. The club brought an "influx of whites toward Harlem after sundown, flooding the little cabarets and bars where formerly only colored people laughed and sang." Hughes also mentioned how many of the neighboring cabarets, especially black cabarets, were forced to close due to the competition from the Cotton Club. These smaller clubs did not have

3910-481: Is admonished by his music teacher, "You are not Cab Calloway," after playing an improvised drum riff in the middle of a band lesson. In 1941, Calloway fired Gillespie from his orchestra after an onstage fracas erupted when Calloway was hit with spitballs. He wrongly accused Gillespie, who stabbed Calloway in the leg with a small knife. From 1941 to 1942, Calloway hosted a weekly radio quiz show called The Cab Calloway Quizzicale . Calling himself "Doctor" Calloway, it

4025-595: Is hypnotized to imitate Jimmy Durante singing " Lullaby of Broadway ". One of Durante's common catchphrases "I got a million of 'em!" was used as Bugs' final line in Stage Door Cartoon . A Durante-like voice was also used for Marvel Comics superhero the Thing in the Hanna-Barbera cartoon Fred and Barney Meet the Thing . The voice and appearance of Crispy, the mascot for Crispy Critters cereal,

4140-720: The Apollo Theater , and choreographed the movie Stormy Weather , cast Calloway as the main attraction for his project in Miami. The Cotton Club of Miami featured a troupe of 48 people, including singer Sallie Blair , George Kirby , Abbey Lincoln , and the dance troupe of Norma Miller . The success of the shows led to the Cotton Club Revue of 1957 which had stops at the Royal Nevada Hotel in Las Vegas,

4255-472: The Cotton Club Gala in 1976. The Cotton Club Comes to the Ritz (1985) starring Adelaide Hall , Cab Calloway , Doc Cheatham , The Nicholas Brothers etc. Produced by BBC TV. In the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit , the fictional Ink and Paint Club is based on the Cotton Club. After Midnight is a 2013 Broadway musical revue about the music created during Duke Ellington's years at

4370-509: The Gene Autry musical western Melody Ranch (1940), The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942, playing Banjo, a character based on Harpo Marx ), Ziegfeld Follies (1945), Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962, based on the 1935 musical), and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963). On September 10, 1933, Durante appeared on Eddie Cantor 's NBC radio show, The Chase and Sanborn Hour , continuing until November 12 of that year. When Cantor left

4485-868: The Library of Congress ' National Recording Registry in 2019. In 2022, the National Film Registry selected his home films for preservation as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant films". He was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame and the International Jazz Hall of Fame. Cabell Calloway III was born in Rochester, New York , on December 25, 1907, to an African American family. His father, Cabell Calloway Jr., graduated from Lincoln University of Pennsylvania in 1898. His mother, Martha Eulalia Reed,

4600-467: The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Greenwood Jazz. In 1992, he embarked on a month-long tour of European jazz festivals. He was booked to headline "The Jazz Connection: The Jewish and African-American Relationship," at New York City's Avery Fisher Hall in 1993, but he pulled out due to a fall at home. In January 1927, Calloway had a daughter named Camay with Zelma Proctor,

4715-986: The Pimlico racetrack where he developed an interest in racing and gambling on horses. After he was caught playing dice on the church steps, his mother sent him to Downingtown Industrial and Agricultural School in 1921, a reform school run by his mother's uncle in Chester County, Pennsylvania . Calloway resumed hustling when he returned to Baltimore and worked as a caterer while he improved his education in school. He began private vocal lessons in 1922, and studied music throughout his formal schooling. Despite his parents' and teachers' disapproval of jazz , he began performing in nightclubs in Baltimore. His mentors included drummer Chick Webb and pianist Johnny Jones. Calloway joined his high school basketball team, and in his senior year he started playing professional basketball with

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4830-540: The Will Mastin Trio ), and the Nicholas Brothers performed at the club as well. Another notable "Cotton Club Parade" in 1933 featured Ethel Waters , and Duke Ellington performing Stormy Weather . Later this performance would also include Lena Horne , and Katherine Dunham in the film adaptation of Stormy Weather . The club also drew from white popular culture. Walter Brooks, who had produced

4945-426: The "Cotton Club Parade 1934", the highest-grossing show ever to appear at the club. The show opened on March 11, 1934, and ran for six months, attracting over 600,000 paying customers. The score was written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler and featured the classic song " Ill Wind ". During Hall's performance of "Ill Wind", a dry-ice machine was used to create a fog effect, the first time such equipment had been used on

5060-560: The "Hi-de-ho" man of jazz for his most famous song, " Minnie the Moocher ", originally recorded in 1931. He reached the Billboard charts in five consecutive decades (1930s–1970s). Calloway also made several stage, film, and television appearances until his death in 1994 at the age of 86. He had roles in Stormy Weather (1943), Porgy and Bess (1953), The Cincinnati Kid (1965), and Hello Dolly! (1967). His career enjoyed

5175-515: The 1950s, Calloway moved his family to Westchester County, New York , where he and Nuffie raised their daughters Chris Calloway (1945–2008), Cecilia "Lael" Eulalia Calloway, and Cabella Calloway (1952–2023). Calloway was an Episcopalian . In December 1945, Calloway and his friend Felix H. Payne Jr. were beaten by a police officer, William E. Todd, and arrested in Kansas City, Missouri after attempting to visit bandleader Lionel Hampton at

5290-523: The 1980 film The Blues Brothers , stated, "Cab Calloway is hip-hop." Journalist Timothy White noted in Billboard (August 14, 1993): "No living pathfinder in American popular music or its jazz and rock 'n' roll capillaries is so frequently emulated yet so seldom acknowledged as Cabell "Cab" Calloway. He arguably did more things first and better than any other band leader of his generation." In 1998,

5405-600: The Baltimore Athenians, a team in the Negro Professional Basketball League. He graduated from Frederick Douglass High School in 1925. In 1927, Calloway joined his older sister, Blanche Calloway , on tour for the popular black musical revue Plantation Days . His sister became an accomplished bandleader before him, and he often credited her as his inspiration for entering show business. Calloway's mother wanted him to be

5520-458: The Broadway bandwagon, with a show that is calculated to give the customers their money's worth of sound and color—and it does." The most extravagant revue in the club's 13-year history opened on September 24, 1936, with Robinson and Calloway leading a roster of approximately 130 performers. Stark paid Bill "Bojangles" Robinson $ 3,500 a week, the highest salary ever paid to a black entertainer in

5635-552: The Cab Calloway Orchestra directed by Calloway's grandson Chris "CB" Calloway Brooks was formed. In 2009, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy released an album covering Calloway's music titled How Big Can You Get?: The Music of Cab Calloway . In 2012, Calloway's legacy was celebrated in an episode of PBS 's American Masters titled "Cab Calloway: Sketches". In 2019, plans were announced to demolish Calloway's boyhood home at 2216 Druid Hill Avenue in Baltimore, replacing

5750-685: The Calloway House be forestalled for its potential preservation as a historic house museum akin to the Louis Armstrong House in New York. Design options for the planned Cab Calloway Square may include an archway from the facade (pictured) as part of the Square's entrance, as proposed by architects working with Baltimore City and the Druid Heights Community Development Corporation, a Non-Profit community oriented group. Despite objections,

5865-510: The Cotton Club continue to remember that it came down from Harlem". Entrance was expensive for customers, and it included a two dollar minimum cover fee on weekdays for food and drink, so the performers were well-compensated. Shows at the Cotton Club were musical revues , and several were called "Cotton Club Parade" followed by the year. Musical revues were created twice a year in hopes of becoming successful Broadway shows. The revues featured dancers, singers, comedians, and variety acts, as well as

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5980-559: The Cotton Club was run by Ralph Capone , and a California branch was located in Culver City during the late 1920s and early 1930s, featuring performers from the original Cotton Club such as Armstrong, Calloway, and Ellington. Cotton Clubs in Las Vegas , Portland, Oregon , Lubbock, Texas , and Colorado Springs were all different locations of other Cotton Clubs. The Lubbock club was opened on November 11, 1938, by Tommy Hancock, and

6095-513: The Cotton Club. 40°49′08″N 73°56′13″W  /  40.819°N 73.937°W  / 40.819; -73.937 Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( / d ə ˈ r æ n t i / də- RAN -tee , Italian: [duˈrante] ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent , comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and prominent nose helped make him one of

6210-574: The Feeling" in 1988's My Stepmother Is an Alien . His performance of " Young at Heart " was featured in City Slickers (1991), and his versions of "As Time Goes By" and "Make Someone Happy" played over the opening and closing credits of Sleepless in Seattle (1993). Michael J. Fox performed an impression of Durante singing "Inka Dinka Doo" in 1994's Greedy . His rendition of " Smile "

6325-526: The Lennon Sisters . The series lasted for one season on ABC (1969–1970). Durante's first wife was Jean "Jeanne" Olson, whom he married on June 19, 1921. She was born in Ohio on August 31, 1896. She was 46 years old when she died on Valentine's Day in 1943, after a lingering heart ailment of about two years, although different newspaper accounts of her death suggest she was 45 or perhaps 52. As her death

6440-543: The Moocher ". It was the first single record by an African American to sell a million copies. Calloway performed the song and two others, " St. James Infirmary Blues " and "The Old Man of the Mountain", in the Betty Boop cartoons Minnie the Moocher (1932), Snow-White (1933), and The Old Man of the Mountain (1933). Calloway performed voice-over for these cartoons, and through rotoscoping , his dance steps were

6555-900: The Nicholas Brothers also appeared on the bill. A performance with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra directed by Erich Kunzel in August 1988 was recorded on video and features a classic presentation of "Minnie the Moocher", 57 years after he first recorded it. In January 1990, Calloway performed at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall , with the Baltimore Symphony . That year he made a cameo in Janet Jackson 's music video " Alright ". He continued to perform at Jazz festivals, including

6670-473: The Nicholas Brothers, the whole thing, the whole schmear. [The Cotton Club] was a great place because it hired us, for one thing, at a time when it was really rough [for Black performers].' — Lena Horne The Cotton Club Gala , which featured some of the club's original dancers, was produced at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club twice in 1975 and again in 1985. The 1985 production was directed by La MaMa founder Ellen Stewart . La MaMa also toured Europe with

6785-658: The Theatre Under The Sky in Central Park, Town Casino in Buffalo. For the second season, Lee Sherman was the choreographer of The Cotton Club Revue of 1958, which starred Calloway. The revue featured tap dancing prodigies Maurice Hines and Gregory Hines . In March 1958, Calloway released his album Cotton Club Revue of 1958 on Gone Records . It was produced by George Goldner , conducted and arranged by Eddie Barefield. That year, Calloway appeared in

6900-603: The United States' most familiar and popular personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s. He often referred to his nose as the schnozzola ( Italianization of the American Yiddish slang word schnoz , meaning "big nose"), and the word became his nickname. Durante was born on the Lower East Side of New York City. He was the youngest of four children born to Rosa (née Lentino) and Bartolomeo Durante, both immigrants from Salerno , Campania , Italy. Bartolomeo

7015-435: The abandoned structure and the rest of that block with a park to be named Cab Calloway Legends Park in his honor. Family members and the National Trust for Historic Preservation advocated preservation of the house, however, as a significant artifact of African-American cultural heritage. Although the block is designated "historically significant" on the National Register of Historic Places , Baltimore City officials said at

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7130-401: The album of pop standards September Song . The album became a best-seller and provided Durante's re-introduction to yet another generation, almost three decades later. Jimmy Durante's Way of Life album featured his interpretation of the song " As Time Goes By ", which accompanied the opening credits of the romantic comedy hit Sleepless in Seattle , while his version of " Make Someone Happy "

7245-402: The basis of the characters' movements. As a result of the success of "Minnie the Moocher", Calloway became identified with its chorus, gaining the nickname "The Hi De Ho Man". He performed in the 1930s in a series of short films for Paramount . Calloway's and Ellington's groups were featured on film more than any other jazz orchestras of the era. In these films, Calloway can be seen performing

7360-408: The bill. Lou Clayton and Eddie Jackson , Durante's closest friends, often reunited with Durante in subsequent years. Jackson and Durante appeared in the Cole Porter musical The New Yorkers , which opened on Broadway on December 8, 1930. Earlier the same year, the team appeared in the film Roadhouse Nights , ostensibly based on Dashiell Hammett 's novel Red Harvest . By 1934, Durante had

7475-502: The book and the contribution that Hyman wanted Durante to make to it. Durante wrote, "Before I can say gaziggadeegasackeegazobbath, we're at his luxurious office." After reading the material Hyman had compiled for the book, Durante commented on it: "COLOSSAL, GIGANTIC, MAGNANIMOUS, and last but not first, AURORA BOREALIS. [Capitalization Durante's] Four little words that make a sentence—and a sentence that will eventually get me six months." Durante retired from performing in 1972, following

7590-414: The cartoon Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy . The duo was one of the nation's favorites for the rest of the decade. Their Armed Forces Radio Network Command Performance with Frank Sinatra remains a favorite of radio-show collectors today. Moore left the duo in mid-1947, and the program returned October 1, 1947 as The Jimmy Durante Show . Durante continued the show for three more years and featured

7705-443: The cast as Minnie Fay. The new cast revived the flagging business for the show and RCA Victor released a new cast recording, rare for the time. In 1973–74, Calloway was featured in an unsuccessful Broadway revival of The Pajama Game with Hal Linden and Barbara McNair. His autobiography, Of Minnie the Moocher and Me was published in 1976. It included his complete Hepster's Dictionary as an appendix. In 1978, Calloway released

7820-401: The charges were dismissed. In February 1946, six civil rights organizations, including the NAACP , demanded that Todd be fired, but he had already resigned after a pay cut. In 1952, Calloway was arrested in Leesburg, Virginia on his way to the race track in Charles Town, West Virginia . He was charged with speeding and attempted bribery of a policeman. On June 12, 1994, Calloway suffered

7935-402: The church. In 1968 he recorded 10 spiritual and inspirational songs for the album Songs for Sunday ; it was expanded to 20 selections for a CD release under the same title in 1996. Durante was an active member of the Democratic Party . In 1933, he appeared in an advertisement shown in theaters supporting Franklin D. Roosevelt 's New Deal programs and wrote a musical score titled Give a Man

8050-405: The club in later years. Lena Horne (Leona Laviscount) began at the Cotton Club as a chorus girl at the age of sixteen, and sang "Sweeter than Sweet" with Calloway. Dorothy Dandridge performed at the club while part of the Dandridge Sisters , and Coleman Hawkins and Don Redman played at the club as part of Henderson's band. Tap dancers Bill "Bojangles" Robinson , Sammy Davis Jr. (as part of

8165-450: The club's clientele, and after the show many of them went next door to the basement of the superintendent at 646 Lenox, where they imbibed corn whiskey , peach brandy, and marijuana." Ellington was expected to write "jungle music" for a white audience; Ellington's contributions to the Cotton Club were priceless, as described in this 1937 New York Times excerpt: "So long may the empirical Duke and his music making roosters reign—and long may

8280-432: The club's manager. Madden "used the Cotton Club as an outlet to sell his #1 beer to the prohibition crowd". When the club closed briefly in 1925 for selling liquor, it soon reopened without interference from the police. An extensive drink list continued to be available on the Cotton Club menu and sold to white guests following the shut down. Herman Stark then became the stage manager. Harlem producer Leonard Harper directed

8395-478: The club's segregated atmosphere and commented that it was "a Jim Crow club for gangsters and monied whites." In addition to the "jungle music" and plantation-themed interior, Hughes believed that Madden's idea of "authentic black entertainment" was similar to the entertainment provided at a zoo and that white "strangers were given the best ringside tables to sit and stare at the Negro customers - like amusing animals in

8510-492: The color line...when Calloway begins singing in his characteristic style – in which the words are tools for exploring rhythm and stretching melody – it becomes clear that American culture is changing around Jolson and with (and through) Calloway". Calloway's band recorded for Brunswick and the ARC dime-store labels (Banner, Cameo, Conqueror, Perfect, Melotone, Banner, Oriole) from 1930 to 1932, when he signed with RCA Victor for

8625-432: The early 1950s, Durante teamed with sidekick Sonny King , a collaboration that would continue until Durante's death. Several times in the 1960s, Durante served as host of ABC's variety hour The Hollywood Palace , which was taped live (and consequently included ad-libs by the seasoned vaudevillian). His last regular television series paired him with The Lennon Sisters and was titled, appropriately, Jimmy Durante Presents

8740-612: The early 1970s. He narrated the Rankin-Bass animated Christmas special Frosty the Snowman (1969). The television work also included a series of commercial spots for Kellogg's Corn Flakes cereals in the mid-1960s, which introduced Durante to millions of children. One of his last appearances was in a television commercial for the 1973 Volkswagen Beetle , where he proclaimed that the new, roomier Beetle had "plenty of breathin' room... for de old schnozzola!" In 1963, Durante recorded

8855-676: The film St. Louis Blues , the life story of W.C. Handy , featuring Nat King Cole and Eartha Kitt . The Cotton Club Revue of 1959 traveled to South America for engagements in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo . They also stopped in Uruguay and Argentina before returning to North America which included a run on Broadway . Directed by Mervyn Nelson and choreographed by Joel Nobel, this edition featured Ketty Lester , The Three Chocolateers. The revue toured Europe in 1959 and 1960, bringing their act to Madrid , Paris , and London . Calloway remained

8970-406: The film Stormy Weather , one of the first mainstream Hollywood films with a black cast. The film featured other top performers of the time, including Bill "Bojangles" Robinson , Lena Horne, the Nicholas Brothers , and Fats Waller. Calloway would host Horne's character Selina Rogers as she performed the film's title song as part of a big all-star revue for World War II soldiers. Calloway wrote

9085-528: The first dictionary published by an African American. It became the official jive language reference book of the New York Public Library . A revised version of the book was released with Professor Cab Calloway's Swingformation Bureau in 1939. He released the last edition, The New Cab Calloway's Hepsters Dictionary: Language of Jive, in 1944. On a BBC Radio documentary about the dictionary in 2014, Poet Lemn Sissay stated, "Cab Calloway

9200-477: The first two of three opening night floor-shows at the new venue. The Cotton Club was a whites-only establishment with rare exceptions for black celebrities such as Ethel Waters and Bill Robinson. It reproduced the racist imagery of the era, often depicting black people as savages in exotic jungles or as " darkies " in the plantation South . A 1938 menu included this imagery, with illustrations done by Julian Harrison, showing naked black men and women dancing around

9315-497: The house act and were paid $ 3,500 per week (which was reportedly the most ever paid to a nightclub performer at the time). The club closed permanently in 1940 under pressure from higher rents, changing taste, and a federal investigation into tax evasion by Manhattan nightclub owners. The Latin Quarter nightclub opened in its space and the building was torn down in 1989 to build a hotel. The Broadway Cotton Club successfully blended

9430-694: The house was razed on September 5, 2020. In 1985, Town Supervisor Anthony F. Veteran issued a proclamation, declaring a ''Cab Calloway Day'' in Greenburgh, New York . In 1990, Calloway was presented with the Beacons in Jazz Award from The New School in New York City. New York City Mayor David Dinkins proclaimed the day "Cab Calloway Day". In 1992, the Cab Calloway School of the Arts

9545-538: The junior dachshund with a Durante-like "Augie, my son, my son", and with frequent citations of, "That's my boy who said that!" Many Looney Tunes / Merrie Melodies cartoons had characters based on Durante, using lines like "Umbriago" , "Everybody wants to get into the act" , "I'm mortified!" , "I'm disgustipated" , "Those are the conditions that prevail" , "I got a million of them!" and "Ha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha" from his films, songs and radio acts. One Harman-Ising short from 1933, Bosko's Picture Show , featured

9660-400: The late 1940s. His band included trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie , Jonah Jones , and Adolphus "Doc" Cheatham , saxophonists Ben Webster and Leon "Chu" Berry , guitarist Danny Barker , bassist Milt Hinton , and drummer Cozy Cole . Calloway had several hit records in the 1930s and 1940s, becoming the first African-American musician to sell one million copies of a record. He became known as

9775-412: The late afternoon for him to pop into camera range, which he did with the reported agility of a tele vet. Billboard magazine reviewed the appearance: "Without script, rehearsal or make-up he went on and gave a top performance, proving that a star of Durante's caliber shines in any entertainment medium. Aware of camera angle importance, Schnozzle played his profile for all its irregularity. His ad libbing

9890-528: The mystery alive until 1966. One theory was that it referred to the owner of a restaurant in Calabash, North Carolina , where Durante and his troupe had stopped to eat. He was so taken by the food, the service, and the chitchat that he told the owner that he would make her famous. Since he did not know her name, he referred to her as "Mrs. Calabash". At a National Press Club meeting in 1966 (broadcast on NBC's Monitor program), Durante finally revealed that it

10005-596: The new Cotton Club was a big room on the top floor of a building where Broadway and Seventh Avenue meet, an important midtown crossroads at the center of the Great White Way , the Broadway Theater District . Stark and the club's owners were quite certain the club would succeed in this new location, but they realized that success depended on a popular opening show. A 1937 New York Times article states, "The Cotton Club has climbed aboard

10120-474: The old and new; the site was new and the décor was slightly different, but once a customer was seated it felt like a familiar place. Madden's goal for the Cotton Club was to provide "an authentic black entertainment to a wealthy, whites-only audience." Langston Hughes , a key figure of the Harlem Renaissance , attended the Cotton Club as a rare black customer. Following his visit, Hughes criticized

10235-687: The projects built using money from the Durante Fund was a heated therapy swimming pool at the Hughen School in Port Arthur, Texas. Completed in 1968, Durante named the pool the "Inka Dinka Doo Pool". Durante was deeply religious and a staunch Roman Catholic . In Las Vegas, he was seen regularly after Sunday Mass outside of the Guardian Angel Cathedral, standing next to the priest and greeting parishioners as they left

10350-535: The prominent role of Sportin' Life in a production of Porgy and Bess with William Warfield and Leontyne Price as the title characters. Calloway and his daughter Lael recorded "Little Child", an adaption of " Little Boy and the Old Man ". Released on ABC-Paramount , the single charted on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1956. In 1956, Clarence Robinson, who produced revues at the original Cotton Club and

10465-405: The show, Durante took over as its star from April 22 to September 30, 1934. He then moved on to The Jumbo Fire Chief Program (1935–1936). Durante teamed with Garry Moore for The Durante-Moore Show in 1943. Durante's comic chemistry with the young, brush cut Moore brought Durante an even larger audience. "Dat's my boy dat said dat!" became an instant catchphrase , which would later inspire

10580-433: The successful Broadway show Shuffle Along , was the club's nominal owner. Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh , one of the most prominent songwriting teams of the era, and Harold Arlen wrote the songs for the revues , one of which, Blackbirds of 1928 , starring Adelaide Hall , featured the songs " I Can't Give You Anything But Love " and "Diga Diga Doo", produced by Lew Leslie on Broadway. In 1934, Hall starred in

10695-474: The upper floor of the building on the corner of 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue in the heart of Harlem and opened an intimate supper club called the Club Deluxe . Owney Madden , a prominent bootlegger and gangster , acquired the club following his release from Sing Sing Correctional Facility in 1923, and the venue's name was changed to the Cotton Club. The two arranged a deal that allowed Johnson to remain

10810-488: The well-known (at that time) 1924 Edna Ferber novel So Big featuring a Durante caricature on the cover. The "so big" refers to his nose, and as a runaway criminal turns the corner by the book, Durante turns sideways using his nose to trip the criminal, allowing his capture. In Hollywood Daffy , Durante is directly depicted as himself, pronouncing his catchphrase "Those are the conditions that prevail!" In The Mouse-Merized Cat , Catstello (a Lou Costello mouse) briefly

10925-438: The whites-only Pla-Mor Ballroom. They were taken to the hospital for injuries, then charged with intoxication and resisting arrest. When Hampton learned of the incident he refused to continue the concert. Todd said he was informed by the manager, who did not recognize Calloway, that they were attempting to enter. He claimed they refused to leave and struck him. Calloway and Payne denied his claims and maintained they had been sober;

11040-555: Was The Phantom President (1932), starring George M. Cohan with Durante as his gregarious pal. Durante then replaced Cliff Edwards as the comic foil in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 's Buster Keaton comedies: Speak Easily (1932), The Passionate Plumber (1932), and What! No Beer? (1933). Although his style of fast-talking comedy did not always mesh smoothly with the mimed visuals of Keaton, their series proved successful enough and might have continued. However, Keaton

11155-480: Was a Morgan State College graduate, teacher, and church organist, and worked as a lawyer and in real estate. The family moved to Baltimore, Maryland , in 1919. Soon after, his father died and his mother remarried to John Nelson Fortune. Calloway grew up in the West Baltimore neighborhood of Druid Hill. He often skipped school to earn money by selling newspapers, shining shoes, and cooling down horses at

11270-590: Was a barber. Durante served as an altar boy at St. Malachy Roman Catholic Church , known as the Actor's Chapel. Durante dropped out of school in seventh grade to become a full-time ragtime pianist. He played in piano bars under the name "Ragtime Jimmy" before he joined one of the first recognizable jazz bands in New York, the Original New Orleans Jazz Band . Durante was the only member not from New Orleans. His routine of breaking into

11385-570: Was a parody of The College of Musical Knowledge , a radio contest created by bandleader Kay Kyser . During the years of World War II , Calloway entertained troops in United States before they departed overseas. The Calloway Orchestra also recorded songs full of social commentary including "Doing the Reactionary," "The Führer 's Got the Jitters," "The Great Lie," "We'll Gather Lilacs," and "My Lament for V Day." In 1943, Calloway appeared in

11500-603: Was also based on Durante. In Mickey Mouse Works , a character named Mortimer Mouse (voiced by Maurice LaMarche ) was based on Durante, complete with the "ha-cha-cha!". One of the main characters in Terrytoons' Heckle and Jeckle cartoon series also takes to imitating Jimmy in 1948's "Taming The Cat" ("Get a couple of song birds today..."). Since Durante's death, his songs have featured in several films. Dan Aykroyd and Kim Basinger performed impressions of Durante from The Man Who Came to Dinner , singing "Did You Ever Have

11615-461: Was an American jazz singer and bandleader . He was a regular performer at the Cotton Club in Harlem , where he became a popular vocalist of the swing era. His niche of mixing jazz and vaudeville won him acclaim during a career that spanned over 65 years. Calloway was a master of energetic scat singing and led one of the most popular dance bands in the United States from the early 1930s to

11730-533: Was an integrated club, not unlike the Chicago club. The club in Lubbock, however, was home to more white artists than the Harlem club. The Cotton Club in Portland was opened by Paul Knauls in 1963. The club in Las Vegas was opened by Moe Taub in 1944. This location differed from other clubs because it was a casino. Taub opened the club to black servicemen. 'I learned from Ethel Waters, Duke Ellington, Adelaide Hall,

11845-590: Was an understudy for singer Adelaide Hall . There he met and performed with Louis Armstrong , who taught him to sing in the scat style. He left school to sing with the Alabamians band. In 1929, Calloway relocated to New York with the band. They opened at the Savoy Ballroom on September 20, 1929. When the Alabamians broke up, Armstrong recommended Calloway as a replacement singer in the musical revue Connie's Hot Chocolates . He established himself as

11960-480: Was experiencing personal problems including loss of control over his movies, alcohol abuse, and a messy divorce, so MGM fired Keaton and kept Durante. MGM gave Durante leads in moderately budgeted comedies like Meet the Baron (1933) and Hollywood Party (1934), but he couldn't carry an entire feature film; he was more effective as somebody's sidekick, and MGM released him in 1934. Durante went to England to work in

12075-409: Was fast and funny". From 1950 to 1951, Durante was the host once a month (alternating with Ed Wynn , Danny Thomas , and Jack Carson ) on NBC's comedy-variety series Four Star Revue , airing on Wednesday evenings at 8 p.m. Jimmy continued with the show until 1954. Durante then hosted a half-hour variety show, The Jimmy Durante Show , on NBC from October 2, 1954, to June 23, 1956. Beginning in

12190-675: Was founded in Wilmington, Delaware. In 1994, Calloway's daughter Camay Calloway Murphy founded the Cab Calloway Museum at Coppin State College in Baltimore, Maryland. The New York Racing Association (NYRA) annually honors the jazz legend, a native of Rochester, N.Y., with a stakes races restricted to NY-bred three-year-olds, as part of their New York Stallion Series. First run in 2003, The Calloway has since undergone various distance and surface changes. The race

12305-474: Was in the film Joker (2019) and its trailer. His rendition of " The Glory of Love " was also used in the end credits of the horror film Orphan (2009), and in its prequel, Orphan: First Kill (2022), with a rendition of it sung by Isabelle Fuhrman . His song "The Day I Read a Book" is regularly played on NPR 's Weekend Edition before author interviews and reviews. Cab Calloway Cabell Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994)

12420-474: Was in the film's closing credits. Both are included on the film's best-selling soundtrack. Durante also recorded a cover of the well-known song " I'll Be Seeing You ", which became a trademark song on his 1960s TV show and was featured in the 2004 film The Notebook . He wrote a foreword for a humorous book compiled by Dick Hyman, titled Cockeyed Americana . In the first paragraph of the "Foreword!", as Durante called it, he describes meeting Hyman and discussing

12535-477: Was indeed a tribute to his wife. While driving across the country, they stopped in Calabash, a name she had loved. "Mrs. Calabash" became his pet name for her, and he signed off his radio program with "Good night, Mrs. Calabash." He added "wherever you are" after the first year. Durante married his second wife, Margaret "Margie" Little, at St. Malachy Roman Catholic Church in New York City on December 14, 1960. As

12650-568: Was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. Durante is known to most modern audiences as the character who narrated the 1969 animated special Frosty the Snowman . He also performed the title song of the 1968 comedy-adventure movie Monte Carlo or Bust! (titled Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies in the U.S.) over the film's animated opening credits. While his own career in animation

12765-516: Was limited, Durante's distinctive voice, looks, and catchphrases earned him numerous depictions and allusions in animation. He was caricatured as early as 1933, alongside Buster Keaton in the Ub Iwerks cartoon Soda Squirt . Director Tex Avery presented him as a persecuted turkey in the MGM cartoon Jerky Turkey . In MGM's Tom and Jerry cartoons with father-and-son bulldogs Spike and Tyke , Durante

12880-457: Was not immediately expected, Durante was touring in New York at the time and returned to Los Angeles right away to complete the funeral arrangements. Durante's radio show was bracketed with two trademarks: "Inka Dinka Doo" as his opening theme, and the invariable signoff that became another familiar national catchphrase: "Good night, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are." For years, no one knew who Mrs. Calabash referred to, and Durante preferred to keep

12995-592: Was referenced with a raspy voice and an affectionate "Dat's my boy!" In another Tom and Jerry short, Surf-Bored Cat , a starfish lands on Tom's head, giving him a big nose. He then proceeds with Durante's famous "Ha-cha-cha-cha" call. The 1943 Tex Avery cartoon What's Buzzin' Buzzard featured a vulture with a voice that sounded like Jimmy Durante. Hanna-Barbera continued to use the Durante voice (imitated by Doug Young ) in Hanna-Barbera 's Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy cartoons, Doggie Daddy invariably addressing

13110-411: Was taking ownership of language for a people who, just a few generations before, had their own languages taken away." Calloway's band in the 1930s and 1940s included many notable musicians, such as Ben Webster , Illinois Jacquet , Milt Hinton , Danny Barker , Doc Cheatham , Ed Swayze , Cozy Cole , Eddie Barefield , and Dizzy Gillespie . Calloway later recalled, "What I expected from my musicians

13225-519: Was what I was selling: the right notes with precision, because I would build a whole song around a scat or dance step." Calloway and his band formed baseball and basketball teams. They played each other while on the road, play against local semi-pro teams, and play charity games. His renown as a talented musician was such that, in the opening scene of the 1940 musical film Strike Up the Band , starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland , Rooney's character

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