Scatman Crothers in Print (Jet - June 11, 1981)

It's "Scatman Crothers Week – Extended Again!!!"...because a week and a day of Scatman just ain't enough. Actually, a week is 7 days and this makes the 7th Scatman post in a row, so technically it has been a week...I just don't do weekends.

This article is from Jet magazine (June 11, 1981). The inset picture of Scatman and his young daughter (below) can also be seen in Black Belt Jones (here). Happy reading...

Scatman Crothers in Print (Ebony - July 1978)

It's "Scatman Crothers Week – Extended!!"...because a week of Scatman just ain't enough.

Back in the mid-90's I was working at an ad agency with a very large reference library (a place where it's a person's job to comb through every magazine in existence searching for photos and articles that may prove useful for future ad campaigns). One day while looking for swipe – that's ad talk for a photo – I came across this Scatman Crothers article from Ebony magazine, so I literally swiped it. Scatman had already been dead for 10 years so I figured no one would miss it. The magazine cover above I found through a google image search, but I'm not sure if it's the correct issue – it seems to be a "music" issue. Anyway, it's a great article...hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Scatman Crothers in Film

Last day of "Scatman Crothers Week!"...or is it?

Besides the blaxploitation and sexploitation films of the 70's (last post), Scatman also landed many legit film roles – thanks to Jack Nicholson, his friend in film and weed. Yep, Jack and the Scat used to toke together – I read that in Scatman: An Authorized Biography of Scatman Crothers by James Haskins and Helen Crothers. Scatman appeared in four Jack Nicholson movies...each time getting more and more lines. Here's a sampling of Scatman's films...

Chandler (1971)
Chandler (Warren Oates), is a bored, aging night watchman in Los Angeles, who quits his job in order to revive his private detective business. His first assignment is to protect a former mistress of a racketeer who is slated to be a witness for the state. But of course he falls for her. In this scene, Chandler acquires some knowledge from piano player Smoke (Scatman)...


Lady Sings the Blues (1972)
Diana Ross stars as legendary jazz singer Billie Holliday in this biopic chronicling Lady Day's hard-knock beginnings, her remarkable musical career and the personal demons that led to her tragic demise. Scatman has a funny role as "Big Ben The Lover Man", a patron of the brothel where Billie worked.


The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)
Uptight deejay David Staebler (Jack Nicholson) travels to Atlantic City, N.J., to learn more about an outlandish, get-rich-quick scheme cooked up by his manic brother, Jason (Bruce Dern). But luck is against them both and the game ends badly. Here, Scatman plays bad-ass loan shark Lewis...


The Fortune (1975)
Two bumbling hustlers (Jack Nicholson & Warren Beatty) in the 1920s attempt to gain the fortune of an heiress (Stockard Channing). Nothing will stop them...not even murder. Here, Scatman stumbles upon their half-baked scheme...


One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Upon arrival at a mental institution, a brash rebel rallies the patients together to take on the oppressive Nurse Ratched, a woman more a dictator than a nurse. Here's the scene where McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) smuggles two girls into the institution to lift everyone's spirits...including Turkle's (Scatman), the night orderly...


Stay Hungry (1976)
A syndicate wants to buy a whole district to rebuild it. They've bought every house except the small gym owned by Joe Santo (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Rich sunny-boy Craig Blake (Jeff Bridges) is brought in by the syndicate as a dummy to buy the gym. But then he starts to like the people and falls in love with Joe's friend Marie-Tate (Sally Field). Here, Scatman plays a fed-up servant who's worked for the Blakes for 52 years...


The Shootist (1976)
A gunfighter (John Wayne), dying from cancer, spends his last days looking for a way to die with a minimum of pain and a maximum of dignity. This was the last feature film Wayne made before losing his own battle with cancer. In it, Scatman plays liveryman Moses Brown...


Silver Streak (1976)
George Caldwell (Gene Wilder) witnesses a murder aboard a train, but no one believes him. With his life now in danger he gets thrown off the moving train...twice. Then he acquires the help from small-time criminal Grover Muldoon (Richard Pryor). Scatman plays one of the train's crew...


Mean Dog Blues (1978)
After hitching a ride, country singer Paul Ramsey finds himself in trouble, when his driver hits a little girl while driving drunk. Paul takes the rap and is thrown in a prison that trains fighting dogs...which turns out to be a living hell. Scatman plays Mudcat, a prisoner whose job is to act as live bait for the dogs to sniff out.


Scavenger Hunt (1979)
To inherit a fortune, various addressees of a will must compete in a wild scavenger hunt to collect selected items, that cannot be simply bought. With it's large ensemble, Scavenger Hunt is paced and feels a lot like It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963). Scatman plays a security guard in a dress shop and gets to sing a little of "Ain't She Sweet"...


The Shining (1980)
A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father (Jack Nicholson) into violence, while his son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future using a telepathic gift known as "The Shining". We learn here that the hotel's head chef, Dick Hallorann (Scatman), also has "The Shining"...


Bronco Billy (1980)
An idealistic, modern-day cowboy struggles to keep his Wild West show afloat in the face of hard luck, waning interest, and a bad luck woman. Scatman plays Doc Lynch, one of the ragtag troupe of misfits led by Bronco Billy (Clint Eastwood)...


Zapped! (1982)
When a lab explosion gives nerdy whiz kid Barney (Scott Baio) telekinetic powers, high school suddenly becomes fun; Barney can conquer bullies, win at roulette and make girls' skirts fly up. But his best friend Peyton (Willie Aames) has grander plans for Barney's new abilities. Scatman plays the school's janitor, Dexter Jones, and he's a trip...literally.


Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
Four horror/sci-fi segments directed by four famous directors recreating classic stories from Rod Serling's landmark television series. In the second story, directed by Stephen Spielberg (a remake of 'Kick the Can'), Scatman plays Mr. Bloom, a mysterious man who arrives at an old folks home and gives the seniors a chance to relive their childhood. Scatman never had a lead role in a film but this is his closest, and he did a wonderful heart-felt job.


Two of a Kind (1983)
When God gives up on humanity and orders the race destroyed, four angles plead with him that there is good in the world. Now it's up to a struggling inventor/con-artist and a thieving bank teller (John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John – trying to relive the magic of Grease) to save the world. Scatman plays Earl, the angel...


The Journey of Natty Gann (1985)
Set during the Great Depression, this inspirational story chronicles a young girl's journey to find her father and her never-waning faith that they'll be reunited. Scatman plays a street vendor named Sherman...

Scatman Crothers in 'Ploitation Films

Day four of "Scatman Crothers Week!"

Starting in the 1950's, Scatman was cast in a bunch of small film roles that were typically delegated to black actors, but by the 1970's his acting career started to take off. Besides legit films (which I'll get to tomorrow), Scatman accepted many roles in blaxploitation and sexploitation films during this time. Here's a few...

Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973)
Slaughter (Jim Brown) is back as a streetwise vigilante who's determined to clean up the streets, one pimping drug dealer at a time. A crime syndicate once again puts a hit out on his life. But when they miss him and kill his friend instead, Slaughter must exact his revenge, protect his woman and take down an intimidating crime kingpin (Ed McMahon). Here, Slaughter gets some words of wisdom from old-time hustler Cleveland (Scatman)...


Detroit 9000 (1973)
An interracial pair of cops investigating a jewel heist uncover more than they bargained for as they navigate an urban underworld of call girls and corrupt politicians. Here, Scatman plays Reverend Markham, the master of ceremonies...


Black Belt Jones (1974)
The Mafia wants to buy Pop Byrd's (Scatman) downtown karate studio in an area planned for redevelopment. They get Pinky and his thugs to pressure Pop into selling, but they accidentally kill him. The karate students then call the kung-fu expert, Black Belt Jones (Jim Kelly), for help. Here's Pop, before his demise, at his studio...


Truck Turner (1974)
Truck (Isaac Hayes), is a bounty hunter on the trail of a violent pimp named Gator. But when Truck and his partner finally get their man, Gator's woman (Nichelle Nichols) puts a hit out on them. Truck will now have to survive the wrath of the baddest pimp ever – a menacing thug named Blue (Yaphet Kotto). Here, Truck gets some words of wisdom from pimp-daddy Duke (Scatman)...


Linda Lovelace for President (1975)
An intentionally campy film designed to capitalize on Linda Lovelace's sudden fame following "Deep Throat", this film centers around Linda's fictional grass roots campaign to run for president. Touring the country with a rag-tag team of strange and wacky people, hilarity supposedly ensues at every stop. Here, we meet Super Black (Scatman), the pool hustler...


Coonskin (1975)
Written and directed by Ralph Bakshi, Coonskin is about an rabbit, fox, and bear who rise to the top of organized crime in Harlem. The film combines live-action with animation and stars Philip Michael Thomas, Barry White and Scatman Crothers in both the live-action and animated sequences. The film's opening credits also features Scatman Crothers performing a song called "Ah'm a Nigger Man", which Scatman wrote the music, with lyrics by Bakshi. Here's an animated scene where Scatman plays a homeless man (one of many roles) who finds a sweater in the trash...


Friday Foster (1975)
Friday Foster (Pam Grier), an ex-model magazine photographer, goes to Los Angeles International airport to photograph the arrival of Blake Tarr, the richest black man in America. Three men attempt to assassinate Tarr. Foster photographs the melee and is plunged into a web of conspiracy involving the murder of her childhood friend, a US senator, and a shadowy plan called "Black Widow". Here, she meets Noble Franklin (Scatman), a man of the cloth with a dirty mind...


Chesty Anderson, USN (1976)
Chesty Anderson of the U.S. Navy and her sexy squadron are commissioned to investigate the disappearance of their youngest team member. When government corruption and mob influence are clearly at work against them, Chesty and friends decide to "bust" the case wide open. Again, Scatman plays a pool hustler and a friend Chesty's girls...

Scatman Crothers on TV

Day three of "Scatman Crothers Week!"

Scatman guest-starred on just about every TV show in the 1970's/early 80's, and co-starred on Chico and the Man for 65 episodes. Here's a smattering of his work...

Love, American Style (1969)
Scatman played the One Man Band in the segment "Love and the Dummies"...


Bewitched (1971)
Scatman plays a horse stable hand who catches Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) talking to a horse in the episode "Three Men and a Witch on a Horse"...


Kojak (1973)
Scatman played hustler/informer Gaylord Fuller in the episode "The Corrupter"...


Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974)
Scatman played voodoo shop owner Uncle Filemon in the episode "The Zombie"...


The Odd Couple (1974)
Long before Seinfeld became famous for shooting an entire episode waiting for a table at a Chinese restaurant, The Odd Couple filmed an entire episode waiting in a subway car. Scatman played the Blind Man in "The Subway Story"...


Sanford and Son (1975)
Scatman played Fred Sanford's (Redd Foxx) long-time friend Bowlegs in the episode "The Stand-In"...


Chico and the Man (1975)
Scatman played Louie the garbage man on Chico and the Man from 1974 to 1978. In the episode "The Invention", Ed (Jack Albertson) and Chico (Freddie Prinze) are taken for $500 when they try to patent Ed's invention of a motorcycle with training wheels.


Starsky and Hutch (1977)
Scatman played Huggy Bear's (Antonio Fargas) friend Fireball in the episode "Long Walk Down a Short Dirt Road"...


Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts (1977)
Here's Scatman and LaWanda Page roasting Angie Dickinson on the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts...


Charlie's Angels (1978)
Here's Scatman again with Dean Martin in Las vegas, playing Jip Baker in the Charlie's Angels episode "Angels in Vegas"...


The Love Boat (1978)
Scatman guest-starred on two episodes of The Love Boat. Here, Scatman does a little hambone, playing Virgil 'Scattergun' Gibson in the episode "Isaac's History Lesson"...


The Incredible Hulk (1979)
Scatman played theatre owner Edgar McGee in the episode "My Favorite Magician" – which was a nod to Ray Walston's other TV show "My Favorite Martian".


Palmerstown, U.S.A. (1980)
Set in 1935 Tennessee, Scatman plays a pitcher when a town integrates its baseball team, in the episode "Black Travelers"...


Magnum, P.I. (1981)
Scatman played Tickler, the piano player, in the episode "Lest We Forget"...


The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island (1981)
Scatman once again associates himself with The Harlem Globetrotters (click here for past connections), this time as their coach Dewey Stevens...


Taxi (1983)
Jim (Christopher Lloyd) gives each of the cabbies $1000 to give to someone in need. Tony (Tony Danza) spends it on Walt (Scatman), in episode "A Grand Gesture"...