Nat King Cole - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

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Nat King Cole

Background information

Birth name Nathaniel Adams Coles

Also known

as

Nat Cole

Born March 17, 1919

Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.

Died February 15, 1965 (aged 45)

Santa Monica, California, U.S.

Genres Vocal jazz, swing, traditional pop

Occupations Vocalist, pianist

Instruments Piano, vocals, organ

Years active 19351965

Labels Capitol

Associated

acts

Natalie Cole, Frank Sinatra, Dean

Martin

Nat King ColeFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nathaniel Adams Coles(March 17, 1919 February 15,965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an

American singer and musician who first came to prominence

as a leading jazzpianist. He was widely noted for his soft,baritonevoice, which he used to perform in big band and jazzgenres.

Cole was one of the first African Americans to host aelevision variety show, The Nat King Cole Show, and has

maintained worldwide popularity since his death from lungancer in February 1965.

Contents

1 Early life

2 Career

2.1 Los Angeles and the King Cole Trio

2.2 Success

2.3 Television

2.4 Later career

3 Personal life

3.1 Marriage and children

3.2 Racism

3.3 Politics

4 Death

5 Posthumous releases

6 Legacy

7 Discography8 Selected filmography

9 See also

10 References

11 External links
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Early life

Nathaniel Adams Coles was born in Montgomery, Alabama, on March 17, 1919.[1]Cole had three brothers:Eddie, Ike, and Freddy, and a half-sister, Joyce Coles. Ike and Freddy would later pursue careers in music as

well. When Cole was four years old,[2]he and his family moved to Chicago, Illinois, where his father, EdwarColes, became a Baptist minister. Cole learned to play the organ from his mother, Perlina Coles, the churchorganist. His first performance was of "Yes! We Have No Bananas" at age four. He began formal lessons at eventually learning not only jazz and gospel music, but also Western classical music, performing, as he said,from Johann Sebastian Bach to Sergei Rachmaninoff".

The family lived in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago. Cole would sneak out of the house and hangaround outside the clubs, listening to artists such as Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines, and Jimmie Noone. Heparticipated in Walter Dyett's renowned music program at DuSable High School.

Career

nspired by the performances of Earl Hines, Cole began his performing career in the mid-1930s while still aeenager, adopting the name Nat Cole. His older brother, Eddie, a bass player, soon joined Cole's band, andhey made their first recording in 1936 under Eddie's name. They also were regular performers at clubs. Cole

acquired his nickname, "King", performing at one jazz club, a nickname presumably reinforced by theotherwise unrelated nursery rhyme about "Old King Cole". He also was a pianist in a national tour of Broadwheatre legend Eubie Blake's revue Shuffle Along. When it suddenly failed in Long Beach, California, Cole

decided to remain there. He would later return to Chicago in triumph to play such venues as the famedEdgewater Beach Hotel.

Los Angeles and the King Cole Trio

Cole and two other musicians formed the "King Cole Swingers" in Long Beach and played in a number of lobars before getting a gig on the Long Beach Pike for US$90 ($1,530 today) per week. The trio consisted of Con piano, Oscar Moore on guitar, and Wesley Prince on double bass. The trio played in Failsworth throughouhe late 1930s and recorded many radio transcriptions. Cole was not only pianist but leader of the combo as

well.

Radio was important to the King Cole Trio's rise in popularity. Their first broadcast was with NBC's BlueNetwork in 1938. It was followed by appearances on NBC's Swing Soiree. In the 1940s, the trio appeared onOld Gold, Chesterfield Supper Cluband Kraft Music Hallradio shows. The King Cole Trio performed twice

CBS Radio's variety show The Orson Welles Almanac(1944).[3][4]

Legend was that Cole's singing career did not start until a drunken barroom patron demanded that he singSweet Lorraine". Cole, in fact, has gone on record saying that the fabricated story "sounded good, so I just lide". Cole frequently sang in between instrumental numbers. Noticing that people started to request more vo

numbers, he obliged. Yet the story of the insistent customer is not without some truth. There was a customerwho requested a certain song one night, but it was a song that Cole did not know, so instead he sang "Sweet
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The Capitol Records Building know

as "The House That Nat Built"

Lorraine". The trio was tipped 15 cents ($0.85 today)for the performance, a nickel apiece.[5]

During World War II, Wesley Prince left the group and Cole replacedhim with Johnny Miller. Miller would later be replaced by CharlieHarris in the 1950s. The King Cole Trio signed with the fledglingCapitol Records in 1943. The group had previously recorded forExcelsior Records, owned by Otis Ren, and had a hit with the song "I'm

Lost", which Ren wrote, produced and distributed.[6]Revenues fromCole's record sales fueled much of Capitol Records' success during thisperiod. The revenue is believed to have played a significant role ininancing the distinctive Capitol Records building near Hollywood and

Vine in Los Angeles. Completed in 1956, it was the world's first circularoffice building and became known as "The House that Nat Built".

Cole was considered a leading jazz pianist, appearing in the first Jazz athe Philharmonic concerts (credited on the Mercury Record label asShorty Nadine"derived from his wife's nameas he was under

exclusive contract to Capitol Records at the time).[7]His revolutionaryineup of piano, guitar, and bass in the time of the big bands became a

popular setup for a jazz trio. It was emulated by many musicians, amonghem Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal, and blues pianists

Charles Brown and Ray Charles. He also performed as a pianist onessions with Lester Young, Red Callender, and Lionel Hampton. Forontract reasons, Cole was credited as "Aye Guy" on the album The

Lester Young Buddy Rich Trio.

Success

Cole's first mainstream vocal hit was 1943 recording of one of hiscompositions, "Straighten Up and FlyRight", based on a black folk tale thatfather had used as a theme for a sermoJohnny Mercer invited him to record

or his fledgling Capitol Records label. It sold over 500,000 copies, proving that folk-based material couldappeal to a wide audience. Although Cole would never be considered a rocker, the song can be seen as

anticipating the first rock and roll records. Indeed, Bo Diddley, who performed similar transformations of folmaterial, counted Cole as an influence.

n 1946, the Cole trio paid to have their own 15-minute radio program on the air. It was called, "King Cole TTime." It became the first radio program sponsored by a black performing artist. During those years, the trioecorded many "transcription" recordings, which were recordings made in the radio studio for the broadcast.

Later they were used for commercial records.

I started out to become a jazz pianist; in the meantime I started singing andI sang the way I felt and that's just the way it came out.

Nat King Cole, Voice of America interview[8][9]
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"King Cole Trio Time" on

NBC in 1947 with Cole, Osc

Moore and Johnny Miller

Beginning in the late 1940s, Cole began recording and performing pop-oriented material for mainstreamaudiences, in which he was often accompanied by a string orchestra. Histature as a popular icon was cemented during this period by hits such as "The

Christmas Song" (Cole recorded that tune four times: on June 14, 1946, as apure Trio recording, on August 19, 1946, with an added string section, onAugust 24, 1953, and in 1961 for the double album The Nat King Cole Story;his final version, recorded in stereo, is the one most often heard today), "(Get

Your Kicks on) Route 66" (1946), "Nature Boy" (1948), "Mona Lisa" (1950),

Too Young" (the #1 song in 1951),[10]and his signature tune "Unforgettable"1951) (Gainer 1). While this shift to pop music led some jazz critics and fanso accuse Cole of selling out, he never totally abandoned his jazz roots; as late

as 1956, for instance, he recorded an all-jazz albumAfter Midnight. Cole hadone of his last big hits in 1963, two years before his death, with the classicThose Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer", which reached #6 on the Pophart. While Cole himself wasnt alive to increase his fame, the popularity of

his music did not die with him. Unforgettable was made famous again byNat King Coles daughter Natalie Cole in 1991, when modern recordingechnology was used to reunite father and daughter in a duet. This hit single was able to rise to the top of the

Pop charts almost forty years after its original popularity. [11]

Television

On November 5, 1956, The Nat King Cole Showdebuted on NBC. The variety program was the first of its ki

hosted by an African-American, which created controversy at the time.[12]Beginning as a 15-minute pops shon Monday night, the program was expanded to a half hour in July 1957. Despite the efforts of NBC, as wellmany of Cole's industry colleaguesmany of whom, such as Ella Fitzgerald, Harry Belafonte, Frankie Laine

Mel Torm, Peggy Lee, Eartha Kitt, and backing vocal group The Cheerleaders worked for industry scale (or

even for no pay)[12]in order to help the show save moneyThe Nat King Cole Showwas ultimately done in

ack of a national sponsorship.[12]Companies such as Rheingold Beer assumed regional sponsorship of the

how, but a national sponsor never appeared.[12]

The last episode of The Nat King Cole Showaired December 17, 1957. Cole had survived for over a year, an

was he, not NBC, who ultimately decided to pull the plug on the show.[13]Commenting on the lack ofponsorship his show received, Cole quipped shortly after its demise, "Madison Avenue is afraid of the

dark."[14][15]

Later career

Throughout the 1950s, Cole continued to rack up successive hits, selling in millions throughout the world,ncluding "Smile", "Pretend", "A Blossom Fell", and "If I May". His pop hits were collaborations with well-

known arrangers and conductors of the day, including Nelson Riddle,[8]Gordon Jenkins, and Ralph CarmichRiddle arranged several of Cole's 1950s albums, including his first 10-inch long-play album, his 1953Nat Ki
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Cole Sings For Two In Love. In 1955, his single "Darling Je Vous Aime Beaucoup" reached #7 on theBillbohart. Jenkins arrangedLove Is the Thing, which hit #1 on the album charts in April 1957.

n 1958, Cole went to Havana, Cuba, to record Cole Espaol, an album sung entirely in Spanish. The albumwas so popular in Latin America, as well as in the USA, that two others of the same variety followed:A Mis

migos(sung in Spanish and Portuguese) in 1959 andMore Cole Espaolin 1962.A Mis Amigoscontains thVenezuelan hit "Ansiedad", whose lyrics Cole had learned while performing in Caracas in 1958. Cole learne

ongs in languages other than English by rote.

After the change in musical tastes during the late 1950s, Cole's ballad singing did not sell well with younger

isteners, despite a successful stab at rock n' roll with "Send For Me"[8](peaked at #6 pop). Along with hisontemporaries Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Tony Bennett, Cole found that the pop singles chart had bee

almost entirely taken over by youth-oriented acts. In 1960, Nat's longtime collaborator Nelson Riddle leftCapitol Records for Frank Sinatra's newly formed Reprise Records label. Riddle and Cole recorded one finalalbum, Wild Is Love, based on lyrics by Ray Rasch and Dotty Wayne. Cole later retooled the concept album an Off-Broadway show, "I'm With You."

Cole did manage to record some hit singles during the 1960s, including in 1961 "Let There Be Love" withGeorge Shearing, the country-flavored hit "Ramblin' Rose" in August 1962, "Dear Lonely Hearts", "That

Sunday, That Summer" and "Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days Of Summer"[8](his final top-ten hit, reaching #6pop).

Cole performed in many short films, sitcoms, and television shows and played W. C. Handy in the film St.Louis Blues(1958). He also appeared in The Nat King Cole Story, China Gate, and The Blue Gardenia(1953n January 1964, Cole made one of his final television appearances on The Jack Benny Program. Cole wasntroduced as the best friend a song ever had," and sang When I Fall in Love." It was one of Cole's last

performances. Cat Ballou(1965), his final film, was released several months after his death.

Personal life

Around the time Cole launched his singing career, he entered into Freemasonry. He was raised in January 19n the Thomas Waller Lodge No. 49 in California. The lodge was named after fellow Prince Hall mason and

azz musician Fats Waller.[16]Cole was "an avid baseball fan", particularly of Hank Aaron. In 1968, NelsonRiddle related an incident from some years earlier and told of music studio engineers, searching for a source

noise, finding Cole listening to a game on a transistor radio.[8]

Marriage and children

Cole's first marriage, to Nadine Robinson, ended in 1948. On March 28, 1948 (Easter Sunday), just six daysafter his divorce became final, Cole married singer Maria Hawkins Ellington (although Maria had sung withDuke Ellington's band, she was not related to Duke Ellington). The Coles were married in Harlem's AbyssiniBaptist Church by Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. They had five children: Natalie (born 1950), who herself wouldon to have a successful career as a singer; adopted daughter Carole (19442009, the daughter of Maria's siste
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Nat King Cole corner in the Hotel

Nacional de Cuba

who died of lung cancer at 64; adopted son Nat Kelly Cole (19591995), who died of AIDS at 36; [17]and twdaughters Casey and Timolin (born 1961).

Cole had affairs throughout his marriages. By the time he developed lung cancer, he was estranged from hiswife Maria and living with actress Gunilla Hutton, best known as the second Billie Jo Bradley on PetticoatJunction(19651966) and also notable as a regular cast member (Nurse Goodbody) onHee Haw. But Cole wwith Maria during his illness, and she stayed with him until his death. In an interview, Maria expressed no

ingering resentment over his affairs. Instead, she emphasized his musical legacy and the class he exhibited i

all other aspects of his life.[18]

Racism

n August 1948, Cole purchased a house from Col. Harry Gantz, theormer husband of Lois Weber, in the all-white Hancock Park

neighborhood of Los Angeles. The Ku Klux Klan, still active in LosAngeles well into the 1950s, responded by placing a burning cross on his

ront lawn. Members of the property-owners association told Cole theydid not want any undesirables moving in. Cole retorted, "Neither do I.And if I see anybody undesirable coming in here, I'll be the first to

omplain."[19]

Cole fought racism all his life and rarely performed in segregatedvenues. In 1956, he was assaulted on stage during a concert inBirmingham, Alabama, with the Ted Heath Band (while singing theong "Little Girl"), by three members of the North Alabama Citizens

Council (a group led byEducation of Little Treeauthor Asa "Forrest"

Carter, himself not among the attackers), who apparently wereattempting to kidnap him (Ruuth 14). The three male attackers ran downhe aisles of the auditorium towards Cole and his band. Although local law enforcement quickly ended thenvasion of the stage, the ensuing mele toppled Cole from his piano bench and injured his back. Cole did noinish the concert and never again performed in the South. A fourth member of the group who had participaten the plot was later arrested in connection with the act. All were later tried and convicted for their roles in th

rime.[20]

n 1956, he was contracted to perform in Cuba and wanted to stay at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba in Havana, was not allowed to because it operated a color bar. Cole honored his contract, and the concert at the Tropican

was a huge success. The following year, he returned to Cuba for another concert, singing many songs inSpanish. There is now a tribute to him in the form of a bust and a jukebox in the Hotel Nacional.[21]

After his attack in Birmingham, Cole stated: "I can't understand it ... I have not taken part in any protests. Nohave I joined an organization fighting segregation. Why should they attack me?" A native of Alabama, heeemed eager to assure southern whites that he would not challenge the customs and traditions of the region.ew would keep the protests going for a while, he claimed, but "I'd just like to forget about the whole thing."

Cole had no intention of altering his practice of playing to segregated audiences in the South. He did not
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Cole's vault at Forest Lawn Memor

Park

ondone the practice but was not a politician and believed "I can't change the situation in a day." African-American communities responded to Nat King Cole's self-professed political indifference with an immediateharsh, and virtually unanimous rejection, unaffected by his revelations that he had contributed money to theMontgomery Bus Boycott and had sued several northern hotels that had hired but refused to serve him.Thurgood Marshall, chief legal counsel of the NAACP, reportedly sug

gested that since he was an Uncle TomCole ought to perform with a banjo. Roy Wilkins, the executive secretary of the organization, challenged Con a telegram: "You have not been a crusader or engaged in an effort to change the customs or laws of the

South. That responsibility, newspapers quote you as saying, you leave to the other guys. That attack upon yolearly indicates that organized bigotry makes no distinction between those who do not actively challenge ra

dis

crimination and those who do. This is a fight which none of us can escape. We invite you to join us in a

rusade against racism." [22]

Cole's appearances before all-white audiences, the Chicago Defendercharged, were "an insult to his race". Aboycotts of his records and shows were organized, theAmsterdam Newsclaimed that "thousands of Harlemblacks who have worshiped at the shrine of singer Nat King Cole turned their backs on him this week as thenoted crooner turned his back on the NAACP and said that he will continue to play to Jim Crow audiences." play "Uncle Nat's" discs, wrote a commentator in The American Negro, "would be supporting his 'traitor' ideand narrow way of thinking". Deeply hurt by the criticism of the black press, Cole was also suitably chasteneEmphasizing his opposition to racial segregation "in any form", he agreed to join other entertainers inboycotting segregated venues. He quickly and conspicuously paid $500 to become a life member of the Detrbranch of the NAACP. Until his death in 1965, Cole was an active and visible participant in the civil rights

movement, playing an important role in planning the March on Washington in 1963.[22][23]

Politics

Cole sang at the 1956 Republican National Convention in the Cow Palace, San Francisco, California, on Aug

23, 1956. There, his "singing of 'That's All There Is To That' was greeted with applause."[24]He was alsopresent at the Democratic National Convention in 1960 to throw his support behind Senator John F. KennedyCole was also among the dozens of entertainers recruited by Frank Sinatra to perform at the Kennedy Inaugugala in 1961. Cole frequently consulted with President Kennedy (and later President Lyndon B. Johnson) onivil rights.

Death

Cole was a heavy smoker throughout his life and was rarely seenwithout a cigarette in his hand. He was a smoker of Kool mentholigarettes, believing that smoking up to three packs a day gave his voicets rich sound. (Cole would smoke several cigarettes in rapid succession

before a recording.) After an operation for stomach ulcers in 1953, hehad been advised by doctors to stop smoking but did not do so.

Cole was scheduled to appear as the first popular music artist to performat the grand opening of the new Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the LosAngeles Music Center in December, 1964. However, he was hospitalized with lung cancer on December 6 an
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was unable to appear.[25]

He underwent cobalt and radiation therapy and was initially given a positive prognosis. On January 25, heunderwent surgery to remove his left lung. Despite medical treatments, he died on February 15, 1965, at St.

ohn's Hospital in Santa Monica, California.[26]

Cole's funeral was held on February 18 at St. James Episcopal Church on Wilshire Boulevard in Los AngeleHis remains were interred inside Freedom Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale.[27]

Posthumous releases

Cole's last album,L-O-V-E, was recorded in early December 1964just a few days before he entered thehospital for cancer treatmentand was released just prior to his death. It peaked at #4 on theBillboardAlbuhart in the spring of 1965. A "Best Of" album went gold in 1968. His 1957 recording of "When I Fall In Loveached #4 in the UK charts in 1987.

n 1983, an archivist for EMI Electrola Records, EMI (Capitol's parent company) Records' subsidiary inGermany, discovered some songs Cole had recorded but that had never been released, including one in Japanand another in Spanish ("Tu Eres Tan Amable"). Capitol released them later that year as the LP Unreleased.

n 1991, Mosaic Records released "The Complete Capitol Recordings of the Nat King Cole Trio," an 18-ompact-disc set consisting of 349 songs. (This special compilation also was available as a 27-LP set.)

n the (northern hemisphere) summer of 1991, Natalie Cole and her father had a hit when Natalie's own newlecorded vocal track was added to her father's 1961 stereo re-recording of his original 1951 hit ofUnforgettable" and mixed into a new duet version as part of a tribute album to her father's music. The song

album of the same name won seven Grammy awards in 1992.

Legacy

Cole was inducted into both the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. In 1990, was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 1997 was inducted into theDown BeatJazzHall of Fame. In 2007, he was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

An official United States postage stamp featuring Cole's likeness was issued in 1994.[2]

n 2000, Cole was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the major influences on early rock

and roll.[2]In 2013, he was inducted into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame for his contribution to Latin

music.[28]

Discography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_note-28http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_note-natkingcole1-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_and_Roll_Hall_of_Famehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_note-natkingcole1-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_Beathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Lifetime_Achievement_Awardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabama_Jazz_Hall_of_Famehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabama_Music_Hall_of_Famehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unforgettable_(song)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalie_Colehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Recordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic_Recordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L-O-V-E_(album)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_note-27http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glendale,_Californiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Lawn_Memorial_Park_(Glendale)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilshire_Boulevardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_note-26http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Californiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Monica,_Californiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._John%27s_Health_Centerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_therapyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobalt_therapyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_note-25


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Selected filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes

1941 Citizen Kane Pianist in 'El Rancho' Uncredited

1943 Pistol Packin' MamaLeader The King ColeTrio Uncredited

1943 Here Comes Elmer Himself

1944 Pin Up Girl Canteen Pianist Uncredited

1944 Stars on Parade King Cole Trio

1944 Swing in the SaddleLeader, The King ColeTrio

Uncredited

1944 See My Lawyer Specialty act Credited as King Cole Trio

1944 Is You Is, or Is You Ain't My Baby? Himself Short subject

1946 Breakfast in HollywoodPerformer in The KingCole Trio

1948 Killer Diller Himself Credited as King Cole Trio

1949 Make Believe Ballroom Himself Credited as King Cole Trio

1950King Cole Trio & Benny CarterOrchestra

Himself Short subject

1952 Nat 'King' Cole and Joe Adams Orchestra Himself Short subject

1953 The Blue Gardenia Himself

1953 Small Town Girl Himself

1953Nat 'King' Cole and Russ Morgan andHis Orchestra

Himself Short subject

1955 Kiss Me Deadly Singer (Voice)

1955 Rhythm and Blues Revue Himself Documentary

1955 Rock 'n' Roll Revue Himself

1955 The Nat 'King' Cole Musical Story Himself

1956 The Scarlet Hour Nightclub Vocalist

1956 Basin Street Revue Himself

1957 Istanbul Danny Rice

1957 China Gate Goldie

1958 St. Louis Blues W.C. Handy

1959 Night of the Quarter Moon Cy RobbinAlternative title: The Color

Her Skin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis_Blues_(1958_film)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Gate_(1957_film)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul_(film)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basin_Street_Revuehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scarlet_Hourhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_%27n%27_Roll_Revuehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhythm_and_Blues_Revuehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss_Me_Deadlyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Town_Girl_(1953_film)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blue_Gardeniahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_Diller_(1948_film)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakfast_in_Hollywood#Filmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swing_in_the_Saddlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stars_on_Parade_(1944_film)&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pin_Up_Girl_(film)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_Kane


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1960 Schlager-Raketen Snger, Himself

1965 Cat Ballou Shouter Released posthumously

Television

Year Title Role Notes

1949 The Ed Sullivan Show Himself 14 episodes

19511952 Texaco Star Theater Himself 3 episodes

19521955 The Jackie Gleason Show Himself 2 episodes

1953 The Red Skelton Show Himself Episode #2.20

19531961 What's My Line? Himself Mystery Guest 2 episodes

19541955 The Colgate Comedy Hour Himself 4 episodes

1955 Ford Star Jubilee Himself 2 episodes

19561957 The Nat King Cole Show Host 42 episodes

19571960 The Dinah Shore Chevy Show Himself 2 episodes

1958 The Patti Page Oldsmobile Show Himself Episode #1.5

1959 The Perry Como Show Himself Episode: January 17, 1959

1959 The George Gobel Show Himself Episode #5.10

1960 The Steve Allen Show Himself Episode #5.21

1960 This Is Your Life Himself Episode: "Nat King Cole"

19611964 The Garry Moore Show Himself 4 episodes

19621964 The Jack Paar Program Himself 4 episodes

1963 An Evening with Nat King Cole Himself BBC Television special1963 The Danny Kaye Show Himself Episode #1.14

1964 The Jack Benny Program Nat Episode: "Nat King Cole, Guest"

See also

List of African American firsts

List of Notable Freemasons

References

1. ^Nat King Cole Society (http://www.nat-king-cole.org/biography.html)

2. ^ abc"Nat King Cole" (http://www.natkingcole.com/timeline.aspx). Nat King Cole. Retrieved 2010-03-04.

3. ^"Radio Almanac" (http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=Radio%20Almanac).

RadioGOLDINdex. Retrieved 2014-02-13.
http://radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=Radio%20Almanachttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-3http://www.natkingcole.com/timeline.aspxhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-natkingcole1_2-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-natkingcole1_2-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-natkingcole1_2-0http://www.nat-king-cole.org/biography.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Freemasonshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_African_American_firstshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jack_Benny_Program#Televisionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Danny_Kaye_Showhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBChttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garry_Moore_Showhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_Your_Lifehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Steve_Allen_Showhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dinah_Shore_Chevy_Showhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nat_King_Cole_Showhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Star_Jubileehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Colgate_Comedy_Hourhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What%27s_My_Line%3Fhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_Skelton_Showhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jackie_Gleason_Showhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texaco_Star_Theaterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ed_Sullivan_Showhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_Ballou


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4. ^"Orson Welles AlmanacPart 1" (http://archive.org/details/1944OrsonWellesRadioAlmanacpart1). Internet Archi

Retrieved 2014-02-13.

5. ^Maria Cole with Louie Robinson,Nat King Cole: An Intimate Biography, William Morrow, 1971. ISBN 978-

0688021535.

6. ^"Buck-Five Disk of Indies Seen Different Ways" (http://books.google.ca/books?

id=jRgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT85&lpg=PT85&dq=%22Excelsior+Records%22+Rene&source=bl&ots=WGb7s0l1Un

ig=4d9p5VXP5s9T0nsJFji0eYTXagY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=FyZHT9rsHIHh0QHww_WCDg&ved=0CDcQ6AEwBA#

nepage&q=%22Excelsior%20Records%22%20Rene&f=false). Billboard. September 1, 1945. Retrieved 2012-02-24

7. ^Nat King Cole Biography at Highstreets.co.uk (http://highstreets.co.uk/kcc/html/biograph.htm)

8. ^ abcdeGilliland, John (1969). "Show 22 Smack Dab in the Middle on Route 66: A skinny dip in the easy listenin

mainstream. [Part 1]" (http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19775/m1/) (audio). Pop Chronicles.

Digital.library.unt.edu.

9. ^A-D University of North Texas Libraries

(http://www.library.unt.edu/resolveuid/24bc6899959ba29ac6feca22c5ad8ed9)

10. ^" ''Billboard'' website" (http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/yearend_chart_display.jsp?f=The+Billboard+Hot+100&g=Year-end+Singles&year=1951). Billboard.com. Retrieved 2010-03-04.

11. ^Teachout, Terry (1992). "Nat King Cole" (http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy1.library.arizona.edu/ehost/detail/det

sid=6f10b1ac-7023-4d70-927f-

78a426b5840c%40sessionmgr111&vid=0&hid=120&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=rih&AN=19

-02661). The American Scholar26. Retrieved 1 October 2014.

12. ^ abcdShulman, Arthur; Youman, Roger (1966).How Sweet It Was. Television: A Pictorial Commentary. Bonanza

Books, a division of Crown Publishers.. Book has no page numbers; source: Chapter III, The Sounds of Music.

13. ^Gourse, Leslie, Unforgettable: The Life and Mystique of Nat King Cole. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991. Gour

(p. 185) quotes Cole in an interview he gave in Hollywood to announce that he was leaving television because of

advertising agencies: "The network supported this show from the beginning. From Mr. Sarnoff on down, they tried to

sell it to agencies. They could have dropped it after the first thirteen weeks. Shows that made more money than mine

were dropped. They offered me a new time at 7:00 p.m. on Saturdays on a cooperative basis, but I decided not to take

I feel played out."

14. ^Quotestar (http://www.quotesstar.com/quotes/m/madison-avenue-is-afraid-of-171261.html)

15. ^Advertising Age. (http://adage.com/article?article_id=133638)

16. ^"Famous Masons" (http://www.pinallodge30.com/famousmasons.aspx). Pinal Lodge No. 30.

17. ^"TCM" (http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/participant.jsp?spid=823550&apid=116271). TCM. Retrieved 2010-03-04.

18. ^"Gale:Free Resources:Black History:Biographies: Nat King Cole"

(http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/cole_n.htm). Gale. Retrieved 2012-04-20.
http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/cole_n.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-18http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/participant.jsp?spid=823550&apid=116271http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-17http://www.pinallodge30.com/famousmasons.aspxhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-16http://adage.com/article?article_id=133638http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-15http://www.quotesstar.com/quotes/m/madison-avenue-is-afraid-of-171261.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-14http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Martin%27s_Presshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-13http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-Shulman_12-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-Shulman_12-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-Shulman_12-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-Shulman_12-0http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy1.library.arizona.edu/ehost/detail/detail?sid=6f10b1ac-7023-4d70-927f-78a426b5840c%40sessionmgr111&vid=0&hid=120&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=rih&AN=1992-02661http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-11http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/yearend_chart_display.jsp?f=The+Billboard+Hot+100&g=Year-end+Singles&year=1951http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-10http://www.library.unt.edu/resolveuid/24bc6899959ba29ac6feca22c5ad8ed9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_Chronicleshttp://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19775/m1/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gillilandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-pc22_8-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-pc22_8-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-pc22_8-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-pc22_8-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-pc22_8-0http://highstreets.co.uk/kcc/html/biograph.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)http://books.google.ca/books?id=jRgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT85&lpg=PT85&dq=%22Excelsior+Records%22+Rene&source=bl&ots=WGb7s0l1Un&sig=4d9p5VXP5s9T0nsJFji0eYTXagY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=FyZHT9rsHIHh0QHww_WCDg&ved=0CDcQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=%22Excelsior%20Records%22%20Rene&f=falsehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780688021535http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Hawkins_Ellingtonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Archivehttp://archive.org/details/1944OrsonWellesRadioAlmanacpart1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-Almanac_Part_1_4-0


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19. ^Levinson, Peter J. (2001). September in the Rain: The Life of Nelson Riddle(http://books.google.com/books?id=zG

UYr7vBb4C&pg=PA89&dq=%22Neither+do+I.+And+if+I+see+anybody+undesirable+coming+in+here,+I%27ll+be

e+first+to+complain.%22&hl=en&ei=I9-xTLeYK4L-

8Abb6siPAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22Neither%20

%20I.%20And%20if%20I%20see%20anybody%20undesirable%20coming%20in%20here%2C%20I%27ll%20be%2

e%20first%20to%20complain.%22&f=false). New York: Billboard Books. p. 89. ISBN 0-8230-7672-5. Retrieved 20

10-10.

20. ^Eyewitness Account published in The Birmingham News. Felts, Jim. Letter to the Editor. December 15, 2007.

21. ^"Cuba Now" (http://www.cubanow.net/pages/loader.php?sec=4&t=2&item=2481). Cuba Now. 2007-04-30. Retrie

2010-03-04.

22. ^ abGlenn C. Altschuler,All Shook Up: How Rock 'n' Roll Changed AmericaOxford University Press, 2003.

23. ^James Gilbert,A Cycle of Outrage: America's Reaction to the Juvenile Delinquent in the 1950s(New York: Oxford

University Press, 1986), p. 9; Warren Sussman, with the assistance of Edward Griffin, "Did Success Spoil the United

States?: Dual Representations in Postwar America," inRecasting America: Culture and Politics in the Age of the Col

War(http://books.google.co.nz/books/about/Recasting_America.html?id=DNVjS92NyEMC&redir_esc=y), ed. LaryMay (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1989, ISBN 0226511758).

24. ^Official Report of the Proceedings of the Twenty-Sixth Republican National Convention, August 2023, 1956, p. 3

25. ^Farnon v. Cole, 259 Cal. App. 2d 855 (http://law.justia.com/cases/california/calapp2d/259/855.html) (1968).

26. ^"Nat King Cole Loses Battle With Cancer" (http://news.google.com/newspapers?

id=yvUeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CIwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4461,1811622&dq=nat+king+cole+cancer&hl=en). Sarasota

Journal. February 15, 1965. p. 1. Retrieved February 4, 2013.

27. ^"Nat King Cole Funeral Is Set For Thursday" (http://news.google.com/newspapers?

nid=1665&dat=19650216&id=oiwaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZCMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3759,2829479). The Times-News.

February 19, 1965. p. 12. Retrieved February 4, 2013.28. ^"Special Awards Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame" (http://www.latinsonghall.com/access/special-awards/#.Uy9D

wXYE). Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame. 2013. Retrieved 2014-03-23.

External links

Nat King Cole (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0170713/) at the Internet Movie Database

Nat King Cole (http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p65542) at AllMusic

Nat King Cole (http://www.discogs.com/artist/Nat+King+Cole) discography at DiscogsNat King Cole (http://www.npr.org/artists/15392890/nat-king-cole) at NPR.org

The Nat King Cole Society (http://www.nat-king-cole.org/index.html)

The Unforgettable Nat King Cole (http://natkingcole.50webs.com/)

Biography (http://www.tiscali.co.uk/music/biography/nat_king_cole_biography.html) at Tiscali Music

Nat "King" Cole article in the Encyclopedia of Alabama
http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1552http://www.tiscali.co.uk/music/biography/nat_king_cole_biography.htmlhttp://natkingcole.50webs.com/http://www.nat-king-cole.org/index.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NPRhttp://www.npr.org/artists/15392890/nat-king-colehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discogshttp://www.discogs.com/artist/Nat+King+Colehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AllMusichttp://www.allmusic.com/artist/p65542http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Movie_Databasehttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0170713/http://www.latinsonghall.com/access/special-awards/#.Uy9Dk3-wXYEhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-28http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1665&dat=19650216&id=oiwaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZCMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3759,2829479http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-27http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yvUeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CIwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4461,1811622&dq=nat+king+cole+cancer&hl=enhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-26http://law.justia.com/cases/california/calapp2d/259/855.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-25http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-24http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0226511758http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_University_Presshttp://books.google.co.nz/books/about/Recasting_America.html?id=DNVjS92NyEMC&redir_esc=yhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_University_Presshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-23http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-ReferenceA_22-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-ReferenceA_22-0http://www.cubanow.net/pages/loader.php?sec=4&t=2&item=2481http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-21http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birmingham_Newshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-20http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8230-7672-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Bookshttp://books.google.com/books?id=zG-UYr7vBb4C&pg=PA89&dq=%22Neither+do+I.+And+if+I+see+anybody+undesirable+coming+in+here,+I%27ll+be+the+first+to+complain.%22&hl=en&ei=I9-xTLeYK4L-8Abb6siPAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22Neither%20do%20I.%20And%20if%20I%20see%20anybody%20undesirable%20coming%20in%20here%2C%20I%27ll%20be%20the%20first%20to%20complain.%22&f=falsehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole#cite_ref-19


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(http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1552)

Nat King Cole (http://www.rockhall.com/inductees/nat-king-cole/) at The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Nat King Cole (http://digital.library.unt.edu/explore/partners/UNTML/browse/?

start=21&fq=untl_collection%3AJGPC) interviewed on the Pop Chronicles(1969)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nat_King_Cole&oldid=627876586"

Categories: Nat King Cole 1919 births 1965 deaths American Episcopalians

20th-century American male actors Male actors from Montgomery, Alabama

Male actors from Chicago, Illinois African-American Episcopalians African-American classical musicia

American male film actors African-American male singers African-American pianists

African-American singer-songwriters African-American television personalities American baritones

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Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Cancer deaths in California Capitol Records artists

Deaths from lung cancer Decca Records artists French-language singers of the United States

Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Japanese-language singers Singers from Chicago, Illino

Musicians from Montgomery, Alabama Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees

Spanish-language singers of the United States Swing musicians Traditional pop music singers

African-American male actors American male television actors American performers of Latin music

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Nat King Cole - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

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