Scatman Crothers
File:Example.jpg Date of birth (location) 23 May 1910 Terre Haute, Indiana, USA
Date of death (details) 22 November 1986 Van Nuys, California, USA. (lung cancer)
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
Sometimes Credited As: 'Scatman' Crothers / Benjamin 'Scatman' Crothers / Scat Man Crothers / Scat-Man Crothers / Sherman Crothers
FILMOGRAPHY
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) (voice) .... Jazz
... aka Matrix Forever (Japan)
... aka The Transformers
... aka Transformers the Movie: Mokushiroku Matrix yo eien ni (Japan: video title)
... aka Transformers: Matrix yo eien ni (Japan)
OTHER FILMS INCLUDE: 1961: The Sins of Rachel Cade 1964: Lady in a Cage, The Patsy 1969: Hello, Dolly! 1970: The Great White Hope 1972: Lady Sings the Blues 1974: Truck Turner 1976: The Shootist 1978: Mean Dog Blues, The Cheap Detective 1980: Bronco Billy 1983: Twilight Zone-The Movie
Though primarily a musical performer, the ebullient Crothers (whose nickname Scatman came from the scat singing he did early in his career) emerged as a lively, distinctive character actor in the last decade of his life. He taught himself to play drums and guitar as a youth, and formed a band that traveled throughout the Midwest during the 1930s. Crothers came to L.A. in 1948 with the band, and made his film debut in Meet Me at the Fair (1953). He worked in TV during the 1950s and 1960s, but later found himself in great demand in films, and worked constantly until his death. Crothers' bald pate and wrinkled face made him instantly recognizable to moviegoers who were usually delighted to see him on screen. He appeared in four movies with Jack Nicholson: The King of Marvin Gardens (1972), The Fortune (1975), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), and, most memorably, The Shining (1980, playing a psychic hotel chef). He is also remembered as Louie the Garbage Man from the TV sitcom "Chico and the Man" (1974-78).
