Cliff Edwards

Cliff Edwards
Edwards in 1947
Born	Clifton Avon Edwards (1895-06-14)June 14, 1895 Hannibal, Missouri, U.S.
Died	July 17, 1971(1971-07-17) (aged 76) Hollywood, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Arteriosclerosis Cardiac arrest
Resting place	Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery
Nationality	American
Other names	Clifton Edwards Clifton A. Edwards Ukulele Ike
Occupation	Singer actor voice actor
Years active	1918–1971
Spouse(s)	Gertrude Ryrholm (m. 1919; div. 1923) Irene Wylie (m. 1923; div. 1931) Judith Barrett (m. 1932; div. 1936)
Musical career
Genres	Jazz vaudeville
Instruments	Vocals ukulele
Notable instruments
Martin Ukulele

Clifton Avon Edwards (June 14, 1895 – July 17, 1971) — known as "Ukulele Ike" — was an American singer, actor and voice actor who enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s, specializing in jazzy renditions of pop standards and novelty tunes. He had a number-one hit with "Singin' In The Rain" in 1929. He also did voices for animated cartoons later in his career, and is best known as the voice of Jiminy Cricket in Walt Disney's Pinocchio (1940).

Edwards was born in Hannibal, Missouri. He left school at age 14 and soon moved to St. Louis, Missouri and Saint Charles, Missouri, where he entertained as a singer in saloons. As many places had pianos in bad shape or none at all, Edwards taught himself to play ukulele to serve as his own accompanist (choosing it because it was the cheapest instrument in the music shop). He was nicknamed "Ukulele Ike" by a club owner who could never remember his name. He got his first break in 1918 at the Arsonia Cafe in Chicago, Illinois, where he performed a song called "Ja-Da", written by the club's pianist, Bob Carleton. Edwards and Carleton made it a hit on the vaudeville circuit. Vaudeville headliner Joe Frisco hired Edwards as part of his act, which was featured at the Palace in New York City, the most prestigious vaudeville theater, and later in the Ziegfeld Follies.