Jimmy Boyd (born January 9, 1939) is an American singer, musician, and actor. is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... McComb is a city located in Pike County, Mississippi, about 80 miles south of Jackson, just off of I-55. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... ‹ The template below (Expand) is being considered for deletion. ... is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Jimmy Boyd was born in an old farmhouse in McComb, Mississippi. In 1941 his father, Leslie Boyd, put his wife Winnie and their two sons (Kenneth, 4, and Jimmy, 2), on a train bound for Riverside, California for the second time. The family was sent back to Mississippi a year earlier by the California Welfare Department because Leslie didn't have any skills to get a good job. Having sold everything they owned, and only having enough money for his wife’s ticket and the two boys, Leslie rode the rails. He hitchhiked on freight trains to join his family in California, something he had done growing up through the Depression. Hoboing from Mississippi, Louisiana and as far as West Texas, he picked cotton to help support his own family of 21 brothers and sisters. McComb is a city located in Pike County, Mississippi, about 80 miles south of Jackson, just off of I-55. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... Nickname: Location in the state of California Coordinates: , Country State County Riverside Government  - Mayor Ron Loveridge Area  - City  78. ... For other uses, see Hitch hike. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... For other uses, see The Great Depression (disambiguation). ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... The dry plains of West Texas, have often been divided up into tracks of land divided by barbed wire fences. ... For other uses, see Cotton (disambiguation). ...

Leslie had been a farmer when a drought hit and there were no more crops, so he picked cotton. He could pick over 500 pounds of cotton a day himself, and was paid 25 cents. Although there was no cotton in California to pick, this time they were determined to stay. Leslie got a menial job cleaning up construction sites. But soon became an accomplished finish carpenter. Agriculture (from Agri Latin for ager (a field), and culture, from the Latin cultura cultivation in the strict sense of tillage of the soil. A literal reading of the English word yields tillage of the soil of a field.) is the production of food, feed, fiber and other goods by... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ...

Leslie and Winnie occasionally took the kids with them to a Country-and-Western dance, held in a barn in Colton, California, a few miles from Riverside. Jimmy's older brother Kenneth, about 9 years old at the time, went up to the bandstand and told the band leader he should hear his little brother sing and play the guitar. Texas Jim Lewis, the band leader, called little Jimmy up to the stage. Jimmy sang and played, and the crowd went wild. Colton is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. ...

After the dance was over, Texas Jim Lewis and the manager of a local radio station approached Jimmy’s parents and asked if he could come sing every Saturday night, and be a part of the hour-long radio show they planned to broadcast from the dance. They offered to pay Jimmy $50 for every show. $50 was a lot of money for the Boyds, but Jimmy enjoyed performing and would have done it for nothing.

Leslie Boyd had cataracts in both eyes and had to have surgery. Cataract surgery in the 1950s was a serious operation, and it had to be done in Los Angeles. While in LA, they were told about auditions being held for the Al Jarvis Talent Show on KLAC-TV. Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ...

Jimmy auditioned for Al Jarvis and was such a hit that they put him on the show that night. Jimmy, to his astonishment, won the talent show, and the next day, Al Jarvis and KLAC were literally deluged in upwards of 20,000 telegrams and telephone calls from viewers.

Al Jarvis had a five-hour talk show every day on KLAC-TV with a few regulars on it, including Betty White, called Make-Believe Ballroom. Jarvis immediately announced Jimmy would be a regular on the show. Several appearances singing and doing comedy skits with Frank Sinatra on the CBS-TV Frank Sinatra Show soon followed, then Columbia Records and the song “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," recorded when he was 12 years and 11 months old. Betty White (born January 17, 1922) is an Emmy Award-winning American film and television actress with a career spanning sixty years, sometimes referred to as The First Lady of Television and Americas Sweetheart. ... “Sinatra” redirects here. ... I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus is a Christmas song. ...

Even in those days of limited media compared to today, it became a record industry phenomenon selling over two and a half million records in its first weeks release. Jimmy's name became an international household word, he skyrocketed to the status of a major Star. Columbia Record execs were baffled. They had already presented Jimmy with two gold records. (In the days before Grammys, Gold Records were the Grammys, and they were actually real gold).

Jimmy loved and owned horses, so Columbia Records presented him with a a silver mounted saddle. Inscribed in the silver plate on the back of the saddle were the words, "Presented by Columbia Records to Jimmy Boyd commemorating his 3,000,000 record of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus".

Boyd's "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" went number-one on the charts again the following year at Christmas, and went on to sell again and again every Christmas. Today with the internet it sells worldwide to new generations, and has reportedly sold over 60,000,000 records since its initial release. When first released, Jimmy's record was banned in Boston by the Catholic Church on the grounds it mixed sex with Christmas. Boyd made world wide news at thirteen years old when he went to Boston and met with the the leaders of the Church to explain the song to them. The following Christmas the ban was lifted by the Catholic Church.

Between February 1953 and November 1954, Boyd made five appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show. In that era an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show (or being introduced in the audience as many film stars, famous athletes etc. were), was considered by the entertainment industry and the public alike to be the pennacle of success. In one of Boyd's five appearances, a popular singer of the time Gisselle Mckensie was bumped off the show to put Jimmy on. He was in New York on his way to Montreal for a concert. After the show, Boyd was told they had bumped Mckensie and was very upset. He went to Ed Sullivan and personally asked him to please promise to re-book Giselle. In the same year and the years that followed Boyd made multi appearances on, The Perry Como Show, Doris Day Show, Bing Crosby Show. Bob Hope, Patti Page, Dave Garroway, Merv Griffin, The Tonight Show, Kraft Summer Music Hall, Shindig, American Bandstand, and many other TV shows through out the U.S. and Canada. Boyd would record several number-one records: teaming up with Frankie Laine on "Tell Me a Story" and "The Little Boy And The Old Man". And with Rosemary Clooney on "Dennis the Menace." The Ed Sullivan Show was an American television variety show that ran from June 20, 1948, to June 6, 1971, and was hosted by Ed Sullivan. ... Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio (March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007), was one of the most successful American singers of the twentieth century. ... Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American popular singer and actress. ...

Jimmy says although he did like all the songs that became hits for him, and especially liked the duets with Frankie Laine and Rosemary Clooney. He never wanted to sing many of the novelty songs that Mitch Miller gave him. His roots were in "Country Music. That's what he was singing when Mitch Miller signed him to Columbia Records. Mitch Miller was in charge of all the recording artists at Columbia Records, including Frank Sinatra. Jimmy's first hit at Columbia under Mitch was in the country field called "God's Little Candles". 250,000 records was the mark of a Country hit, "God's Little Candles" nearly reached the million mark. Jimmy was astonished because he had recorded it with a bad cold. Years later Kris Kristofferson came up and introduced himself to Jimmy and told him he had borrowed the music from the bridge of "God's Little Candles" to write one of his songs. Jimmy was such a fan of Kristofferson and so overwhelmed that he had introduced himself, he forgot to ask Kris which song he used it in. Mitch Miller (born Mitchell William Miller on July 4, 1911 to a Jewish family in Rochester, New York), is remembered as one of the best-selling recording artists of the 1950s and early 60s. ... “Sinatra” redirects here. ... Kristoffer Kris Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is an influential American country music songwriter, singer and actor. ...

Mitch Miller moved Jimmy into the Pop genre because Country Music was an isolated field at the time and very small in the overall record buying fan base. Country crossover came years later. Rock and Roll was starting to happen and Jimmy wanted to sing Rock and Roll. Mitch Miller passionately hated Rock and Roll and publicly stated it was a passing fad. He forbid anyone on Columbia Records to record Rock. Although Jimmy says he loved Mitch Miller like a father he felt Mitch's era was passing, and Rock was here to stay, Jimmy was later to be proven right. After a number of novelty songs that Jimmy didn't like and that didn't reach top ten... "I Wanna Haircut With A Moon On Top"..."I'll Stay In The House And Live In My Grandma's Kitchen... Owl's Lullaby, etc." Mitch called Jimmy and told him he had a great new song and would be arriving in L.A. to play it for Jimmy. Mitch set up a meeting at the Beverly Hills Hotel with Percy Faith. Percy Faith was a top arranger and band leader at the time. The hotel provided a room with a piano for Percy to play the song, and Mitch gave Jimmy the lyrics to read. After reading the first lines of the song, Jimmy without hearing the music told Mitch he didn't want to sing these kind of novelty songs anymore, and turned it down. Mitch and Percy Faith recorded the song with another Columbia artist named Jo Stafford. The opening lines were..Goodbye Joe, Me gotta go.. Me-O My-O...Me gotta go pole the piero down the bayou...The song "Jambulaya" went number one.

Even though Frank Sinatra declared that Mitch Miller's choices of songs had ruined his career and promptly switched over to Capitol Records where he chose his own songs and began making hit records again, Boyd felt a great deal of loyalty to Mitch Miller and didn't follow through with his own wish to go to Memphis and record with Sun Records who were Rocking and Rolling with the likes of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and practically all of the new Rock And Roll artists of the time. In retrospect Boyd says he should have gone to Sun Records. Instead he concentrated more on movies and television, and finishing his education. In the mid 60's Jimmy had a top 5 record produced by Leon Russell and Snuffy Garrett. The flip side "Will I Cry" was written, engineered, back up vocals and guitar instrumentals by one of Jimmy's favorite artists J.J. Cale. Jimmy stated it was one of his all time fun, favorite recording sessions and wouldn't care if it didn't sell a single record, the experience with Leon and J.J. was a "once in a life time high, and I don't mean drugs......necessarily"! “Elvis” redirects here. ... Jerry Lee Lewis (born September 29, 1935), also known by the nickname The Killer, is an American rock and roll and country music singer, songwriter, and pianist. ... For the song of the same name, recorded by Tracy Byrd and later by Jason Aldean, see Johnny Cash (song). ... Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998) was an American pioneer of rockabilly music, a mix of rhythm and blues and country music that was recorded most notably at Sun Records in Memphis beginning in 1954. ... Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges on April 2, 1942 in Lawton, Oklahoma) is a singer, songwriter, pianist, and guitarist. ... J.J. Cale (born December 5, 1938) is an American songwriter and musician, best known for writing two songs that Eric Clapton made famous, After Midnight and Cocaine . He is one of many artists that play the Tulsa Sound. ...

Another favorite recording session of Boyd's was a song Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees wrote, "Hey There Little Girl, Welcome To My World". Terry Melcher produced the session for Jimmy on VJ Records. VJ Records was the first record company to release all the early Beatles records. Before Boyd's record was released, VJ Records was sued by Capitol Records and lost all the royalties and rights to the Beatles. VJ Records went bankrupt. The song was never released, Herb Alpert had visited the session at VJ Records and liked it so much he asked Jimmy and Melcher to record for A&M records. Barry Alan Crompton Gibb CBE (born on 1 September 1946) is a singer, songwriter and producer. ... The Bee Gees were a singing trio of brothers — Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb — that became one of the most successful musical acts of all time. ... Album cover for Melchers eponymous album (1974) Terry Melcher (February 8, 1942 – November 19, 2004) was an American musician and record producer. ... The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 as part of their first tour of the United States, promoting their first hit single there, I Want To Hold Your Hand. ... Herbert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935 in Los Angeles, California) is an American musician most associated with the group variously known as Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass or as Herb Alperts Tijuana Brass or just TJB for short - a now-defunct brass band of which he was the...

Bobby Darin also wrote and produced a record "Made In The Shade" for Boyd. Although they had met briefly at different events, they became friends while working on different movies at Universal Studios. Unfortunatly Jimmy stated, "It was released at the same time as Phil Spector's first amazing "Wall of Sound" recordings. "Our record was more like a mound of sound and was lost somewhere behind the "wall". Bobby was one of the most talented people I've ever known says Boyd. "Had he lived he would have sustained the same kind of legendary career that Sinatra had". "He could do it all. He could write and sing Rock and Roll, Folk, Jazz, or Croon with Sinatra. And in each genre be as good or better than the best in each field. And if that wasn't enough, he was very witty and funny. If I didn't like him so much I could've hated him for being so talented." Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Bobby Cassotto, 14 May 1936-December 20, 1973) was one of the most popular American big band performers and rock and roll teen idols of the late 1950s. ... Harvey Philip Spector (born December 26, 1939) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. ...

Boyd showed he had comedic talents in TV series including Bachelor Father, Date with the Angels, Betty White Show, Broadside, My Three Sons, and others. He also appeared in a number of motion pictures, including 1960's Inherit the Wind with Spencer Tracy. My Three Sons was a situation comedy that ran from September 29, 1960 to August 24, 1972. ... Inherit the Wind is a play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee, which opened on Broadway in January 1955, and a 1960 Hollywood film based on the play. ... Spencer Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was a two-time Academy Award-winning American film and stage actor who appeared in 74 films from 1930 to 1967. ...

Jimmy was the youngest entertainer ever allowed to appear in Las Vegas. Starring at the famed Sands Hotel "Copa Room" at age thirteen in the famous Sands Hotel "Rat Pack" era. On Jimmy's opening night show he was applauded back on stage by the audience for multiple encores. With the audience still applauding and whistling, Jack Entratter standing backstage caught Jimmy and stopped him from going back on stage after his third encore. The audience realized he wasn't coming back out, quieted down and begun leaving. Jack Entratter asked Jimmy if he could please go back for only one encore during his performances, and explained it's nearly two o'clock in the morning and we need the people to go back to the casino and gamble. Jimmy also appeared at the Golden Hotel in Reno Nevada.

Boyd, along with his music, did stand up comedy. He had the unique ability even at his young age to ad-lib relevant, clever one-liners that endeared him to his audiences. He played the theater circuit for several years that was popular at that time. The Capital, Paramount, and Seville theaters in New York City, Chicago, Hartford, Montreal and Toronto. Following entertainers such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Peggy Lee, Frankie Laine, Johnnie Ray, and Eddie Fisher with his own show. He performed at 90,000 seat plus concerts, Soldiers Field, Rubber Bowl, The Plantation, Red Rocks and others, in Chicago, Ohio, Colorado, Hawaii and Canada. Along with hundreds of one nighters on the road. Throughout the U.S. Canada and England.

A seasoned performer at fourteen he took time off to return to Hollywood to star in a Race Horse movie called "Racing Blood" for 20th Century Fox. Jimmy found Hollywood was far less grueling than the road. At sixteen years old he returned to Hollywood again to appear in "The Second Greatest Sex" with Jeanne Craine, George Nader, and Burt Lahr for Universal Pictures. Then on to New York to do a musical version of "Tom Sawyer" for United States Steel Hour on CBS with Florence Henderson as Becky. And the next year was asked back to do the title role in the U.S. Steel Hour's musical version of "Huckleberry Finn". Co-starring with Basil Rathbone, and Jack Carson as the carpetbaggers. Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion. ...

Not wanting to go on the road again, and enjoying doing TV and movies Jimmy hung up his guitar at least temporarily and started having fun as a regular on comedy shows like "Date With The Angels", The Betty White Show on ABC, "Bachelor Father" with John Forsythe, Broadside and others. He starred with Mickey Rooney, Terri Moore, Dan Duryea and Yvette Mimioux in "Platinum High School" for MGM. Boyd was shooting "Bachelor Father" with John Forsythe and simultaneously shooting "Inherit the Wind" with Spencer Tracy, Gene Kelly and Frederick March for Universal Studios. Boyd also starred on Broadway in Neil Simon's play Star Spangled Girl with George Hamilton and Deana Martin. Neil Simon's brother Danny Simon (also a successful comedy writer and director) stated, "Initially Jimmy didn't want to do "Star Spangled Girl".. It meant he would have to to leave L.A. for a year, and he wasn't sure he wanted to do the same show night after night. Neil and I took him out to dinner, and coerced him into it. Jimmy got rave reviews, and was glad he did the play". John Forsythe (born January 29, 1918 in Penns Grove, New Jersey), is an American stage, television and character actor who starred in three television series that spanned three decades such as single playboy father Bentley Gregg in the 1950s sitcom, Bachelor Father (1957 – 1962), as the unseen millionaire Charles Townsend... USS Iowa Broadside (1984) A broadside is the side of a ship; the battery of cannon on one side of a warship; or their simultaneous (or near simultaneous) fire in naval warfare. ... Actor Mickey Rooney speaks at the Pentagon in 2000 during a ceremony honoring the USO. Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule, Jr. ... Publicity photo for Duryea Dan Duryea (born January 23, 1907, in White Plains, New York; died June 7, 1968, in Hollywood, California) was a hard-working TV and movie actor. ... Spencer Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was a two-time Academy Award-winning American film and stage actor who appeared in 74 films from 1930 to 1967. ... For the similarly-named American actress, see Jean Kelly. ... Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel (August 31, 1897 – April 14, 1975) was a two-time Academy Award-winning American actor. ... Neil Simon (1966) Neil Simon (born Marvin Neil Simon July 4, 1927 in The Bronx, New York City), is a Jewish American playwright and screenwriter. ... George Hamilton may refer to: George Hamilton (actor) (born 1939) His father, a bandleader George Hamilton, IV (born 1937), country music performer George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney (1666-1737) George Hamilton (commentator), gaffe-prone football (soccer) commentator. ...

In 1960 Boyd married actress Yvonne Craig (TV's Batgirl). After a year of marriage Jimmy was sent to Texas to do his then mandatory stint in the Armed Forces. The marriage ended in divorce in 1962. ‹ The template below (Expand) is being considered for deletion. ... Batgirl is a DC Comics superhero. ...

Jimmy first went to Vietnam with his own show for the USO in 1965. In February 1967 he took part in Nancy Sinatra's USO tour of Vietnam. When asked "what's the most exciting thing that ever happened to you"? His reply, "The birth of my son". This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The United Service Organizations The United Service Organizations Inc. ...

For his contributions to the recording industry, Jimmy Boyd has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Blvd. Buskers perform on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. ...

External links

• Jimmy Boyd at the Internet Movie Database (mistakenly includes credits for Philadelphia-born Jim Boyd of The Electric Company)