Calloway, Cab(ell) 1907-94
US jazz bandleader and singer

Born in Rochester, New York, he became a national figure when his band succeeded Duke Ellington's at Harlem's Cotton Club in 1931, and had hits that year with the songs 'Minnie The Moocher' (his signature tune) and 'Kicking The Gong Around', both containing streetwise drug references. His scat-style catchphrases (for example substituting nonsense syllables such as 'hi-de-ho' for words) and flamboyant presentation remained characteristic throughout a long career, in which he also acted in stage musicals and in films, including Stormy Weather (1943) and The Blues Brothers (1980). George Gershwin is said to have modelled the character of Sportin' Life in Porgy and Bess (1935) partly on Calloway, a role he eventually played in 1952.

Bibliography: Of Minnie The Moocher and Me (1976)