Louis Prima
Louis Leo Prima was an American trumpeter, singer, entertainer, and bandleader. While rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing music, and jump blues, Prima touched on various genres throughout his career: he formed a seven-piece New Orleans–style jazz band in the late 1920s, fronted a swing combo in the 1930s and a big band group in the 1940s, helped to popularize jump blues in the late 1940s and early to mid 1950s, and performed frequently as a Vegas lounge act beginning in the 1950s. From the 1940s through the 1960s, his music further encompassed early R&B and rock 'n' roll, boogie-woogie, and Italian folk music, such as the tarantella. Prima made prominent use of Italian music and language in his songs, blending elements of his Italian and Sicilian identity with jazz and swing music. At a time when ethnic musicians were discouraged from openly stressing their ethnicity, Prima's conspicuous embrace of his Sicilian ethnicity opened the doors for other Italian-American and ethnic American musicians to display their ethnic roots. Prima is also known for providing the voice for the orangutan King Louie in the 1967 Disney film The Jungle Book. Description above from the Wikipedia article Louis Prima, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
The Jungle Book
as King Louie of the Apes (voice)The boy Mowgli makes his way to the man-village with Bagheera, the wise panther. Along the way...
Movie pageStart Cheering
as Band ConductorAfter retiring from movies to get an education, a man discovers his ex-staff is trying to have...
Movie pageRose of Washington Square
as Band LeaderRose Sargent, a Roaring '20s singer, becomes a Ziegfeld Follies star as her criminal husband...
Movie pageYou Can't Have Everything
as Orchestra LeaderStarving playwright Judith Wells meets playboy writer of musicals, George Macrae, over a plate...
Movie pagePlaygirls International
as HimselfAnother nudist "documentary" from Doris Wishman. A print of this film has yet to surface.
Movie pageRafferty and the Gold Dust Twins
as HimselfHapless driving instructor and former Gunnery Sergeant Rafferty, living in squalor near...
Movie pageManhattan Merry-Go-Round
as SelfIn this musical comedy, a crooked record producer uses his mob connections to force performers...
Movie pageSenior Prom
as HimselfAt a college party, a girl named Gay (Jill Corey) meets a guy named Tom (Paul Hampton) and they...
Movie pageThe Continental Twist
as Louis EvansSam Butera and the Witnesses perform several Twist numbers to save a small New Orleans nightclub...
Movie pageJazz Ball
as Self (archive footage)A made-for-TV musical revue, compiled from soundies and film and TV performances by jazz greats...
Movie pageRhythm on the Range
as Trumpet PlayerCowboy Jeff Larabee returns from the east and meets Doris Halloway, a young girl, that he...
Movie pageLouis Prima: The Wildest!
as HimselfDocumentary about the mid-20th century Vegas bandleader and trumpeter Louis Prima, who showed...
Movie pageDTV: Golden Oldies
as SelfCompilation of DTV music videos from on The Disney Channel, combining tunes from the 1940s...
Movie pageLouis Prima: In Person!
as uncreditedA retrospective of rare performances highlighting the many phases of Prima's remarkable 50+ year...
Movie pageHey Boy! Hey Girl!
as HimselfMeant primarily as TV fare, this standard, song-filled romantic drama stars Louis Prima as...
Movie pageSwing Cat's Jamboree
as Himself"Swing cat" Louis Prima and his jazz quartette play songs and accompany featured singers and...
Movie pageThe Champ's a Chump
as Band Leader LouisAs a ploy to sign a championship college boxer to a contract, Big Boy enrolls in the college the...
Movie pageThe Dinah Shore Chevy Show
as SelfThe Dinah Shore Chevy Show is an American variety series hosted by Dinah Shore, and broadcast on...
TV Show pageThe Colgate Comedy Hour
as SelfThe Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC...
TV Show pageThe Ed Sullivan Show
as SelfThe Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June...
TV Show page