Clifton Avon "Cliff" Edwards (June 14, 1895 – July 17, 1971), nicknamed "Ukulele Ike", was an American pop singer, musician and actor. He enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s, specializing in jazzy renditions of pop standards and novelty tunes, including "Singin' in the Rain" in 1929. Later in his career, he appeared in films and did voices for animated cartoons, and is well-remembered as the voice of Jiminy Cricket in Walt Disney's Pinocchio (1940) (introducing the standard "When You Wish Upon a Star") and Fun and Fancy Free (1947), and Dandy Crow in Walt Disney's Dumbo (1941).
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Cliff Edwards in the context of Pinocchio (1940 film)
Pinocchio is a 1940 American animated musical fantasy film loosely based on Carlo Collodi's 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio, produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The production was supervised by Ben Sharpsteen and Hamilton Luske, and the film's sequences were directed by Bill Roberts, Norman Ferguson, Jack Kinney, Wilfred Jackson and T. Hee.
With the voices of Cliff Edwards, Dickie Jones, Christian Rub, Walter Catlett, Charles Judels, Evelyn Venable, Frankie Darro, Mel Blanc and Clarence Nash the film follows a wooden puppet, Pinocchio, who is created by an old woodcarver, Geppetto, and brought to life by a blue fairy. Wishing to become a real boy, Pinocchio must prove himself to be "brave, truthful, and unselfish." Along his journey, Pinocchio encounters several characters representing the temptations and consequences of wrongdoing, as a cricket named Jiminy, who takes the role of Pinocchio's conscience, attempts to guide him in matters of right and wrong.
View the full Wikipedia page for Pinocchio (1940 film)Cliff Edwards in the context of Dinah (song)
"Dinah" is a popular song published in 1925 and introduced by Ethel Waters at the Plantation Club on Broadway. It was integrated into the show Kid Boots. The music was written by Harry Akst and the lyrics by Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young. Hit versions in 1926 were by Ethel Waters, The Revelers, Red Pepper Sam, Cliff Edwards, and Fletcher Henderson.
One singer, Fanny Rose Shore, became so identified with the song that DJ Martin Block called her "Dinah Shore", which then stuck as her stage name for the next 50 years.
View the full Wikipedia page for Dinah (song)