When Waller spoke of the bitter winter wind to Ed Kirkeby (“yeah, hawkins is sure blowin out there tonight”), he was using a term for a cold wind “common among black midwesterners” and presumably unrelated to the blowing of the great tenor man who was born just up the Missouri River in St. Joseph. Use facets below to limit or refine search. He was also overweight. Pioneer of modern jazz and composer of “Ain’t Misbehavin'” and “Honeysuckle Rose,” both Grammy Hall of Fame inductees. In addition to his music, Waller earned fame as a comedic radio performer on shows such as the "Rhythm Club". Waller's first recordings, "Muscle Shoals Blues" and "Birmingham Blues", were made in October 1922 for Okeh Records. He also had three older siblings. 17. He had solo recordings by 18. This decade also had the deadliest terrorist attack in human history - September 11 attacks. Adaline died in 1920 when Fats was still a teenager. © 2008-2020 Regents of the University of California, All Rights Reserved. The circumstances of Fats Waller’s death at 39 are worthy of a place in the national narrative if you can imagine a collaboration between, say, Walt Whitman, Thomas Wolfe, Jack Kerouac, and Ralph Ellison: the stricken hero passing his last hours on the Santa Fe Chief, eastbound from the Zanzibar Club in L.A., after being laid up for weeks with a virus. Fats Waller was born in New York City. The kids who were the first born with the Internet and are suspected to be the most individualistic and technology-dependent generation. Fats Waller not only played music but also dabbled in acting. Once more details are available, we will update this section. Facebook, Twitter, Ebay, and YouTube were founded. The life force loved to party, and his prodigious capacity for food and drink and late hours is well-documented. If you see something that doesn’t look right, contact us. In the 1930s, Waller's fame reached new heights following his performances on radio and in film. Events in the Life of Fats Waller. During his lifetime, he was in three films. Explore Fats Waller's biography, personal life, family and cause of death. Nationality: United States. He easily charmed everyone in the club, gaining him a small amount of fame in just one night. It was not until 1978 that he won his first awards. As much as he loved Bach (said to be third on his list of the greatest men in history, behind Lincoln and FDR), he also loved being the quintessential Life of the Party. Ruling Planet: Fats Waller had a ruling planet of Venus and has a ruling planet of Venus and by astrological associations Friday is ruled by Venus. Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. That year, he also made his first player piano roll, "Got to Cool My Doggies Now". Domino left school at the age of 14 to work in … He died from the illness on December 15, 1943, in Kansas City. I haven’t got the time, patience, or genealogical resources to prove it, but it’s not unlikely that Fats Waller is descended from Edmund Waller, the 17th-century poet and Member of Parliament (1606-1687). Fats Waller also knew who to play the bass and violin, but he did not become famous for these talents. Like many famous people and celebrities, Fats Waller kept his personal life private. Waller's first published composition, "Squeeze Me", was published in 1924. Profession: Jazz Musician and Songwriter. Fats Waller. Dudley Moore; Glenn Miller; Miles Davis ; Famous Musicians. https://musicbrainz.org/artist/569fc5bf-bcb6-4bc5-9a00-bd0d258e34f1. It's possible he composed many more popular songs and sold them to other performers when times were tough. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2020. Notes: Sometimes listed as Thomas Waller or Thomas Wright Waller. Or Nicholas Waller, 41, who landed in Philadelphia in 1738. Waller copyrighted over 400 songs, many of them co-written with his closest collaborator, Andy Razaf. In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Fats Waller was a wonderful musician, but he was not awarded for any of his songs during his lifetime. As the Chief pounded into Kansas City’s Union Station on the morning of December 15, 1943, Waller’s manager, Ed Kirkeby, found the big man in his berth, unconscious and unresponsive. Aside from acting, his music has been in over 100 movies both during and after his lifetime. Born: May 21, 1904 https://viaf.org/viaf/54334148/, MusicBrainz: The two introduced Fats to new types of music, which helped to improve the way he played the organ and piano. It would be twisting reality to spin his story as that of a misunderstood giant whose inner church organist wept whenever he sat down to play something serious only to hear the audience, even at Carnegie Hall, losing patience and soon shouting for the dispenser of joy to do his thing. 17. Some of the movies his songs have been in include The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Office Space, and Applause. Memorial; Photos ; Flowers ; Musician. Since Fats Waller died in 1943, is his music copyright-free from 2015 ? Cause of Death: Bronchial pneumonia. Fats Waller led an unhealthy lifestyle near the end of his life. Another jazz-flavored touch is that when the Chief carrying Fats arrived at Union Station it coincided with the arrival of a train carrying Louis Armstrong. You know that if people partying around the grand piano in the Club Car knew Fats was aboard, he’d have been summoned to perform, so it’s possible he didn’t get to his berth until he’d sweated out a set surrounded by the revellers while the train braved a blizzard, the winter winds of the plains howling outside.