Scatman Crothers
Benjamin Sherman Crothers (May 23, 1910 – November 22, 1986), known professionally as Scatman Crothers, was an American actor and musician. He is known for playing Louie the Garbage Man on the TV show "Chico and the Man", and Dick Hallorann in Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" (1980). He was also a prolific voice-over actor who provided the voices of Meadowlark Lemon in the "Harlem Globetrotters" animated TV series, Jazz the Autobot in "The Transformers" and "" (1986), the title character in "Hong Kong Phooey", and Scat Cat in the animated film "The Aristocats" (1970). Music career. He 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. During the 1930s, he formed a band, spent eight years living in Akron, Ohio, and performed 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. He performed in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and at the  Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York City. Capitol released several of his singles: "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. 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. Film and television career. Crothers made his debut in the movie "Meet Me  at the Fair" (1953). He had roles in the film musicals "Hello Dolly!" (1969) and "The Great White Hope" (1970) before providing the voice of "Scat Cat" in the animated film "The Aristocats" (also 1970). He appeared in four films with Jack Nicholson: "The King of Marvin Gardens" (1972), "The Fortune" (1975), "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975), and "The Shining" (1980). He had the part of a fable-telling convict in the animated film "Coonskin" (1975), a train porter in "Silver Streak" (1976), a liveryman in "The Shootist" (1976), Mingo in "Roots" (1977), a ringmaster in "Bronco  Billy" (1980), a baseball coach in "Zapped!" (1982), and angels in "Two of a Kind" (1983) and "" (1983). He became the first black person to appear regularly in a Los Angeles television show when he joined "Dixie Showboat". After "The Aristocats" in the 1970s, he 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" he 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 a cool Cheshire cat. The special was followed by an audio adaptation for HB Records, but since Davis was signed to Reprise, Crothers provided the cat's voice for the album. Crothers had guest roles on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" in 1958, "Dragnet  in 1967, Bewitched" and "McMillan & Wife" in 1971, "Adam-12" in 1972 (as "George Strothers"), "Kojak" and "Ironside" in 1973, "" and "Sanford and Son" in 1974, "Starsky and Hutch" in 1977, "Charlie's Angels" and "The Love Boat" in 1978, "Magnum, P.I." in 1980, "Benson" in 1982, and "Taxi" in 1983. Also in 1980, he was on two episodes of "Laverne & Shirley" as a porter. In the 1980s, he provided the voice of the Autobot Jazz on the television series "The Transformers". He starred in three short-lived 1980s television series: "One of the Boys" (1982), "Casablanca" (1983), and "Morningstar/Eveningstar  (1986). Death. On November 22, 1986, Crothers died at the age of 76 at his home in Van Nuys, California, after struggling with lung cancer for nearly four years. He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.