Sir Lancelot (singer)
| Sir Lancelot | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Lancelot Victor Edward Pinard |
| Born |
March 24, 1902 Cumuto, Trinidad and Tobago |
| Died | March 12, 2001 (aged 98) Anaheim, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Calypso |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, actor |
| Years active | 1940-1967 |
Lancelot Victor Edward Pinard (March 24, 1902 – March 12, 2001) was a calypso singer and actor who used the name Sir Lancelot. Sir Lancelot played a major role in popularizing calypso in North America, and Harry Belafonte has acknowledged him as an inspiration and major influence.
Pinard was born in Cumuto, Trinidad. His father, Donald Pinard, was a wealthy government official and Anglophile. Pinard attended exclusive parochial schools and his family regularly attended the opera (which gave him an informal musical education). He began singing traditional German lieder and Italian arias. He studied to be a pharmacist as a young man, and his family sent him to New York City to study medicine. After hearing a concert by the African American lyric tenor Roland Hayes he gave up his medical education to study singing and music, and soon was performing classical works. He began including calypso in his performances, and eventually became a full-time calypso singer. About this time, he met the Trinidadian band leader Gerald Clark, perhaps the most significant promoter of calypso in New York City. Clark asked him to record some calypso songs, and Pinard agreed. He made his debut as Sir Lancelot in 1940 at New York City's Village Vanguard nightclub. He was a close friend of the photographer Seema Aissen Weatherwax, who took some of his first publicity photos.
Sir Lancelot became a regular at the Village Vanguard, and by the 1940s "was widely considered the hottest calypsonian in the city." His trademark became the tuxedo he wore in nearly every concert, and his popularity was nationwide for two decades. In the 1940s he returned home for the first time but was largely disowned by his family, which felt that his calypso singing had shamed them. Sir Lancelot wrote the calypso song "Shame & Scandal" (also known as "Fort Holland") in response.
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