Skinnay Ennis
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Edgar Clyde "Skinnay" Ennis Jr. (August 13, 1907 – June 3, 1963)[1] was an American jazz and pop music bandleader and singer.
Early years
The son of Mr. and Mrs. E.C. Ennis, he was born Edgar Clyde Ennis Jr.[2] in Salisbury, North Carolina, United States,[3] and had a brother, James W. Ennis.[4] He met Hal Kemp while attending the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. The two were members of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity there.[5]
Orchestras
An obituary reported about Ennis and his orchestra, "His band had performed in every major dance palace in the nation."[6]
Ennis joined Kemp's orchestra as a drummer and vocalist in the late 1920s, playing with him through 1938,[3] including one tour of Europe in 1930.
In 1938, Ennis put together his own band,[7] which became a popular ensemble in Hollywood films. "Got a Date With an Angel" was his theme song.[3] During this time Gil Evans was one of his arrangers.[3]
Toward the end of the 1950s Ennis's career had faded, and he worked mostly in hotels in the Los Angeles area.[3]
Film
Ennis and his orchestra starred in the short 1941 film Once Upon a Summertime and the film College Swing.[8] as well as in Blondie Meets The Boss in 1939.[9] His first film appearance was in the short film, Eddie Peabody and his College Chums (1929).
Radio
Ennis began performing comedy routines, and in 1938 he landed a job as bandleader on Bob Hope's radio program, appearing as a regular until he entered the Army.[3]
He returned to Hollywood bandleading at the war's end and joined the Abbott and Costello radio program during the 1946–47 season.[3]
Military service
Ennis joined the Army in 1943, serving as a "warrant officer in charge of a 28-piece band" during World War II.[10]
Personal life
Ennis was married to the former singer Carmene Calhoun for 20 years, and they had one son. The couple divorced in 1959.[11]
Ennis, whose nickname originally was "Skinny," changed it to "Skinnay", after it was misspelled that way on the label of a record early in his career.[6]
Death
Ennis choked to death on a bone while eating dinner at a restaurant in Beverly Hills in 1963.[12]
References
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- ↑ a b c d e f g Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Template:Open access
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- ↑ DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960. McFarland & Company, Inc. Template:ISBN. P. 90.
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Other sources
- Bob Conrad, Hal Kemp historian
- Certificate of Birth, from the "Office of Register of Deeds", Salisbury, N.C.
External links
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