Louis armstrong biography movie actress

He earned a reputation at 'cutting contests', and relocated to New York in order to join Fletcher Henderson 's band. With his instantly recognizable rich, gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer and skillful improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song. He was also skilled at scat singing. Armstrong is renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice as well as his trumpet playing.

By the end of Armstrong's career in the s, his influence had spread to popular music in general. Spouses Lucille Wilson October 12, - July 6, his death. Alpha Smith October 11, - divorced. Lil Armstrong February 5, - divorced. Daisy Parker March 24, - December 18, divorced. Distinctive gravelly singing voice. His famous blue suit with a white handkerchief.

His strong New Orleans accent.

Louis armstrong biography movie actress: Satchmo: The Life of Louis

His iconic, scat singing style. His good humor was just one of the reasons why he was endearing whenever he made radio and television appearances. Inhe became the first African American jazz musician to write an autobiography. The book was titled Swing That Music. He is also the first African American celebrity to appear in a major Hollywood movie.

The movie he appeared in was Pennies from Heaven InLouis Armstrong became the first African American to host a nationally sponsored radio show. Initially, Armstrong was not a known figure in the civil rights movement. As a matter of fact, he was criticized for his inability to use his fame and reputation to condemn the deplorable civil right situation in the U.

Louis Armstrong perhaps had had enough of the situation after seeing Arkansas governor Orval Faubus use the National Guard to prevent African American students i. The jazz icon went all berserk and slammed the U. Eisenhower for its continued racial segregation in public schools. Armstrong was praised for his bold move considering the fact that he was perhaps the only African-American jazz artist to criticize racial segregation in schools.

In his movie career, he made appearances alongside topnotch actors like Martha Raye and Mae West. Here are a few more notable facts about Louis Armstrong:. Regardless, the song, a ballad with no trumpet, attained No. How did Louis Armstrong die? Those health issues forced him to stop performing in That same year, tragedy struck when his long-time manager Joe Glaser died.

Armstrong tried to marshal a few performances here and there, but it was obvious that he did not have the stamina to keep on going. Years of unhealthy louis armstrong biography movie actress had caught up with him. His home was converted into a National Historic Landmark in The building also houses the Louis Armstrong House Museum, which receives thousands of visitors annually.

Louise Armstrong married four times. His last was to Lucille Wilson in The marriage lasted until his death. Image: Armstrong and his fourth wife Lucille Wilson in s. His first marriage in was to a Red-light district worker called Daisy Parker. Highlights from this period include Heebie Jeebies, which introduced scat singing to a wide audience, and West End Blue, one of the most famous recordings of early jazz.

Louis Armstrong made his first Broadway appearance in ByArmstrong was ready to tour England. He was there for three months and, over the next few years, continued his extensive foreign and domestic tours, including an extended stay in Paris. While his band was performing at the Cotton Club, Armstrong met a dancer called Lucille Wilson, and in the two were married.

The following year, they purchased a home in Corona, Queens where they lived for the rest of their lives. Armstrong kept touring and playing regularly until recurring health problems began to weigh him down. Still, in the last year of his life, he traveled to London twice, appeared in more than a dozen television shows, and celebrated his 70th birthday at the Newport Jazz Festival.

He was making plans and setting up rehearsals up until a few days before his death on July 6, Louis Armstrong Biography Considered the most important improviser in jazz, Louis Armstrong taught the world to swing. Show More. Read Next Podcast William Shakespeare. Armstrong moved to Los Angeles in to seek new opportunities. The band drew the Hollywood crowd, which could still afford a lavish nightlife, while radio broadcasts from the club connected with younger audiences at home.

Bing Crosby and many other celebrities were regulars at the club. InArmstrong appeared in his first movie, Ex-Flame.

Louis armstrong biography movie actress: Lucille Armstrong. Follow the life

He was also convicted of marijuana possession but received a suspended sentence. Armstrong returned to Chicago in late and played in bands more in the Guy Lombardo vein, and he recorded more standards. When the mob insisted that he get out of town, [ 66 ] Armstrong visited New Orleans, had a hero's welcome, and saw old friends. He sponsored a local baseball team called Armstrong's Secret Nine and had a cigar named after him.

After a tour across the country shadowed by the mob, he fled to Europe. After returning to the United States, Armstrong undertook several exhausting tours. His agent, Johnny Collins's erratic behavior and his own spending ways left Armstrong short of cash. Breach of contract violations plagued him. Armstrong hired Joe Glaser as his new manager, a tough mob-connected wheeler-dealer who began straightening out his legal mess, mob troubles, and debts.

Armstrong also began to experience problems with his fingers and lips, aggravated by his unorthodox playing style. As a result, Armstrong branched out, developing his vocal style and making his first theatrical appearances. Armstrong appeared in movies again, including Crosby's hit Pennies from Heaven.

Louis armstrong biography movie actress: Louis Daniel Armstrong, nicknamed "Satchmo",

After spending many years on the road, Armstrong settled permanently in Queens, New York, in with his fourth wife, Lucille. Although subject to the vicissitudes of Tin Pan Alley and the gangster-ridden music business, as well as anti-black prejudice, Armstrong continued to develop his playing. Bookings for big bands tapered off during the s due to changes in public tastes.

Ballrooms closed, and competition from other types of music, especially pop vocals, became more popular than big band music. Under such circumstances, it became impossible to finance a piece touring band. A widespread revival of interest in the s in the traditional jazz of the s made it possible for Armstrong to consider a return to the small-group musical style of his youth.

Armstrong's manager, Joe Glaser, changed the Armstrong big band on August 13,into a six-piece traditional jazz group featuring Armstrong with initially Teagarden, Earl Hines and other top swing and Dixieland musicians, most of whom were previously leaders of big bands. The new group was announced at the opening of Billy Berg's Supper Club. Armstrong was present and loved the song.

When it was released, the disc was a worldwide success, and the song was then performed by the greatest international singers. Armstrong was the first jazz musician to appear on the cover of Time magazine on February 21, Over 30 years, Armstrong played more than performances a year, making many recordings and appearing in more than 30 films. By the s, Armstrong was a widely beloved American icon and cultural ambassador who commanded an international fanbase.

However, a growing generation gap became apparent between him and the young jazz musicians who emerged in the postwar era, such as Charlie ParkerMiles Davisand Sonny Rollins. The postwar generation regarded their music as abstract art and considered Armstrong's vaudevillian style, half-musician and half-stage entertainer, outmoded and Uncle Tomism.

Guys who invent terms like that are walking the streets with their instruments under their arms. After finishing his contract with Decca RecordsArmstrong went freelance and recorded for other labels. Inafter more than two years without setting foot in a studio, Armstrong recorded his biggest-selling record, " Hello, Dolly! Armstrong's version remained on the Hot for 22 weeks, longer than any other record produced that year, and went to No.

Armstrong's hit dislodged The Beatles from the No. Armstrong toured well into his 60s, even visiting part of the Communist Bloc in His travels included performances in EgyptGhana and Nigeria. ByArmstrong was approaching 70, and his health was failing. His heart and kidney ailments forced him to stop touring, though he continued to record, including " What a Wonderful World ", which topped the British charts for a month.

Armstrong did not perform publicly in and spent most of the year recuperating at home. Meanwhile, his longtime manager, Joe Glaser, died. By the summer ofArmstrong's doctors pronounced him fit enough to resume live performances. Armstrong embarked on another world tour, but a heart attack forced him to take a break for two months. Armstrong made his last recorded trumpet performances on his album Disney Songs the Satchmo Way.

Judging from home recorded tapes now in our Museum Collections, Louis pronounced his own name as "Lewis. Musicians and close friends usually called him "Pops". In a memoir written for Robert Goffin between andArmstrong stated, "All white folks call me Louie", suggesting that he himself did not, or that no whites addressed him by one of his nicknames such as Pops.

On various live records, he is called "Louie" on stage, such as on the "Can Anyone Explain? The same applies to his studio recording of the song "Chloe", where the choir in the background sings "Louie Louie", with Armstrong responding, "What was that? Somebody called my name? Armstrong was performing at the Brick House in Gretna, Louisiana when he met Daisy Parker, a local prostitute, and started an affair as a client.

Armstrong returned to Gretna on several occasions to visit her. He found the courage to look for her home to see her away from work. There, Armstrong found out she had a common-law husband. Not long after that, Parker traveled to Armstrong's home on Perdido Street [ 86 ] and they checked into Kid Green's hotel that evening. Clarence Armstrong was mentally disabled as a result of a head injury at an early age.

Armstrong spent the rest of his life taking care of him. She had divorced her first husband a few years earlier. Armstrong's second wife helped him develop his career, but they separated in and divorced in Armstrong then married Alpha Smith. They remained married until his death in Armstrong's marriages produced no offspring. Armstrong was colorful and charismatic.

His autobiography vexed some biographers and historians because Armstrong had a habit of telling tales, particularly about his early childhood when he was less scrutinized, and his embellishments lack consistency. In addition to being an entertainer, Armstrong was a leading personality. He was beloved by an American public that usually offered little access beyond their public celebrity to even the most significant African American performers, and Armstrong was able to live a private life of access and privilege afforded to few other African Americans during that era.

Armstrong generally remained politically neutral, which sometimes alienated him from black community members who expected him to use his prominence within white America to become more outspoken during the civil rights movement. However, Armstrong criticized President Eisenhower for not acting forcefully on civil rights. The trumpet is notoriously hard on the lipsand Armstrong suffered from lip damage over most of his life.

This was due to Armstrong's aggressive playing style and preference for narrow mouthpieces that would stay in place more easily but tended to dig into the soft flesh of his inner lip. During his s European tour, Armstrong suffered an ulceration so severe that he had to stop playing entirely for a year. Eventually, Armstrong took to using salves and creams on his lips and also cutting off scar tissue with a razor blade.

During a backstage meeting with trombonist Marshall Brown inArmstrong was advised to see a louis armstrong biography movie actress and receive proper treatment for his lips instead of relying on home remedies. However, Armstrong did not get around to that until his final years, by which point his health was failing, and the doctors considered surgery too risky.

InArmstrong was hospitalized for pneumonia while on tour in Italy. Doctors were concerned about his lungs and heart, but by the end of June, Armstrong rallied on. The nicknames "Satchmo" and "Satch" are short for "Satchelmouth". The nickname origin is uncertain. He scooped the coins off the street and stuck them into his mouth to prevent bigger children from stealing them.

Someone dubbed Armstrong "satchel mouth" for his mouth acting as a satchel. Another tale is that because of his large mouth, Armstrong was nicknamed "satchel mouth", which was shortened to "Satchmo. Early on, Armstrong was also known as "Dipper", short for "Dippermouth", a reference to the piece Dippermouth Blues [ ] and something of a riff on his unusual embouchure.

The nickname "Pops" came from Armstrong's own tendency to forget people's names and simply call them "Pops" instead. The nickname was turned on Armstrong himself. It was used as the title of a biography of Armstrong by Terry Teachout. After a competition at the Savoy, he was crowned and nicknamed "King Menelik", after the Emperor of Ethiopia, for slaying " ofay jazz demons.

Armstrong celebrated his heritage as an African American man from a poor New Orleans neighborhood and tried to avoid what he called "putting on airs. Injournalism student Larry Lubenow scored a candid interview with Armstrong while the musician was performing in Grand Forks, North Dakota, shortly after the conflict over school desegregation in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Eisenhowersaying the President had "no guts" and was "two-faced. When asked about his religion, Armstrong answered that he was raised a Baptistalways wore a Star of Davidand was louis armstrong biography movie actress with the pope. Armstrong was concerned with his health. Armstrong used laxatives to control his weight, a practice he advocated both to acquaintances and in the diet plans he published under the louis armstrong biography movie actress Lose Weight the Satchmo Way.

The cards bore a picture of Armstrong sitting on a toilet—as viewed through a keyhole—with the slogan "Satch says, 'Leave it all behind ya! Armstrong was a heavy marijuana smoker for much of his life and spent nine days in jail in after being arrested outside a club for drug possession. Armstrong described marijuana as "a thousand times better than whiskey.

Armstrong's concern with his health and weight was balanced by his love of food, reflected in such songs as "Cheesecake", "Cornet Chop Suey", [ ] and "Struttin' with Some Barbecue", though the latter was written about a fine-looking companion, and not food. Armstrong's gregariousness extended to writing. On the road, he wrote constantly, sharing favorite themes of his life with correspondents around the world.

Armstrong avidly typed or wrote on whatever stationery was at hand, recording instant takes on music, sex, food, childhood memories, his heavy "medicinal" marijuana use, and even his bowel movements, which Armstrong gleefully described. Louis Armstrong was not, as claimed, a Freemason. Although he has been cited as a Montgomery Lodge No.

In his early years, Armstrong was best known for his virtuosity with the cornet and trumpet. Along with his "clarinet-like figurations and high notes in his cornet solos", Armstrong was also known for his "intense rhythmic 'swing', a complex conception involving accented upbeats, upbeat to downbeat slurring, and complementary relations among rhythmic patterns.

Armstrong's improvisations, while unconventionally sophisticated for that era, were also subtle and highly melodic. The solo that Armstrong plays during the song " Potato Head Blues " has long been considered his best solo of that series. Prior to Armstrong, most collective ensembles playing in jazz, along with its occasional solos, simply varied the melodies of the songs.

He was virtually the first to create significant variations based on the chord harmonies of the songs instead of merely on the melodies. This opened a rich field for creation and improvisation, and significantly changed the music into a soloist's art form. Often, Armstrong re-composed pop tunes he played, simply with variations that made them more compelling to jazz listeners of the era.

At the same time, Armstrong's oeuvre includes many original melodies, creative leaps, and relaxed or driving rhythms. His playing technique, honed by constant practice, extended the range, tone, and capabilities of the trumpet. In his records, Armstrong almost single-handedly created the role of the jazz soloist, taking what had been essentially a piece of collective folk music and turning it into an art form with tremendous possibilities for individual expression.

Armstrong was one of the first artists to use recordings of his performances to improve himself. Armstrong was an avid audiophile. He had a large collection of recordings, including reel-to-reel tapes, which he took on the road with him in a trunk during his later career. Armstrong enjoyed listening to his own recordings, and comparing his performances musically.

In the den of his home, Armstrong had the latest audio equipment and would sometimes rehearse and record along with his older recordings or the radio. As Armstrong's music progressed and popularity grew, his singing also became very important. Armstrong was not the first to record scat singing, but he was masterful at it and helped popularize it with the first recording on which he scatted, " Heebie Jeebies.

Fearn, who was at the session, kept telling him to continue. Armstrong did, thinking the track would be discarded, but that was the version that was pressed to disc, sold, and became an unexpected hit. Although the story was thought to be apocryphal, Armstrong himself confirmed it in at least one interview as well as in his memoirs. Such records were hits, and scat singing became a major part of his performances.

Long before this, Armstrong was playing around with his vocals, shortening and lengthening phrases, interjecting improvisations, and using his voice as creatively as his trumpet. Armstrong was a gifted composer who wrote more than 50 songs, some of which have become jazz standards e. His influence upon Crosby is particularly important with regard to the subsequent development of popular music.

Crosby admired and copied Armstrong, as is evident on many of his early recordings, notably "Just One More Chance" His techniques—easing the weight of the breath on the vocal cords, passing into a head voice at a low register, using forward production to aid distinct enunciationsinging on consonants a practice of black singersand making discreet use of appoggiaturasmordentsand slurs to emphasize the text—were emulated by nearly all later popular singers.

The sessions featured the backing musicianship of the Oscar Peterson Trio with drummer Buddy Rich on the first album and Louie Bellson on the second. Handy and Satch Plays Fats all Fats Waller tuneswere both considered masterpieces, as well as moderately well selling. The albums feature many of Ellington's most famous compositions as well as two exclusive cuts with Duke sitting in on piano.

Armstrong's participation in Dave Brubeck 's high-concept jazz musical The Real Ambassadors was critically acclaimed and features "Summer Song", one of Armstrong's most popular vocal efforts. In the week beginning May 9,Armstrong's recording of the song " Hello, Dolly! An album of the same title was quickly created around the song, and also shot to number one, knocking The Beatles off the top of the chart.

The album sold very well for the rest of the year, quickly going "Gold" ,