Add this page to:

Facebook Twitter Digg MySpace Newsvine Reddit Google Yahoo Delicious Stumbleupon

Known for:	Catch Me If You Can, As Good as It Gets, Groundhog Day
Birth name:	Nathaniel Adams Coles
Birthday:	17 March 1919, Montgomery, Alabama, USA
Height:	6' 1" (1.85 m)

Born at 9 am-CST Father of Natalie Cole. Brother of bandleader Eddie Coles. Interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, California, USA, in the Freedom Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Heritage, right hand side of the corridor, at the very top. Children: daughters, Carol Cole, born October 17, 1944 (adopted) Natalie Cole, born February 6, 1950 Timolin & Casey (identical twins), born September 26, 1961; son, Nat Kelly Cole, born February 1959 - died 1995 (AIDS)(adopted) Circa 1961, he had an interest in a paper-cup enterprise in Puerto Rico. During the one season his show, The Nat King Cole Show was on the air, it had no sponsor, being run by NBC on a sustaining (network-sponsored) basis. The highly rated show had top-of-the-line production values, music by Nelson Riddle's orchestra, top-name guest stars and the personal endorsement of NBC chairman David Sarnoff (who ordered his network executives, "Find his show sponsors or heads will roll!"). Many of Cole's friends in the industry, such as Frank Sinatra, Harry Belafonte and Sammy Davis Jr., out of respect for his talents and what he was trying to do, appeared for minimum salary, and often no salary at all. Bob Henry (The Andy Williams Show, The Flip Wilson Show) wrote, produced and directed. At the end of the season, even though no national sponsors could be found - many companies did not want to upset their customers in the South, who did not want to see blacks on television - NBC expressed its willingness to keep the show going on a sustaining basis. It was Nat who pulled the plug, remarking bitterly, "I guess Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark." Made his last recordings less than two weeks before his death, for the "L*O*V*E" album (Capitol, 1965). Brother of singer Freddy Cole. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 (under the category Early Influence). Inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1993. A lifelong baseball fan, he was frequently seen at the Los Angeles Dodgers' home games for many years. He and his second wife Maria Cole were married in Harlem's famous Abyssinian Baptist Church by the Rev. Adam Clayton Powell Jr.. When he and his family moved to the upscale Hancock Park area of Los Angeles in the late 1940s, it was met with considerable opposition from the residents of the previously all-white neighborhood. When sent a letter informing him that the local residents were opposed to "undesirables" in the neighborhood, he responded with a letter that said that he and his family were also opposed to undesirables, and that, if he ever saw any, his neighbors would be the first ones to know. When the neighbors finally realized - after several attempts, including legal action - that the Coles were not going to be intimidated, they accepted defeat and, ultimately, the Coles as well. Several years after his death, his widow, Maria, sold the home to a family of wealthy African-Americans. As Maria herself said, "Anyone who thought Nat was an Uncle Tom clearly did not know the man." Winner of a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Grammy award in 1989. Incredibly enough, he was nominated for a Grammy only once in his lifetime, in 1958, and lost. In 1956, while giving a concert in Birmingham, Alabama, he was attacked onstage by two members of a white racist organization called the White Citizens Council and sustained injuries to his back. As a singer and recording artist, his contributions to American popular music are incalculable. Any list of his representative hits, all on Capitol records, has to include: "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66," "Sweet Lorraine," "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons," "The Christmas Song," "Mona Lisa," "Nature Boy," "Too Young," "Straighten Up and Fly Right," "Lush Life," "Ramblin' Rose," "Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer," "Dear Lonely Hearts," "L-O-V-E," and, of course, his all-time biggest hit, "Unforgettable." He often smoked three packs of cigarettes a day during his lifetime, believing it kept his voice low. Unfortunately, it led to his death from lung cancer at the much too young age of 45. He was paid only $5000 for acting in China Gate, but he received $75,000 for singing "Three Coins in the Fountain" during the opening credits.

Site: Imdb.com ? Site type: multicelebrity site:

Description: Celebrity Main Details » imdb.com: Nat 'King' Cole