Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana.
Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an "inventive" cornet and trumpet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the music's focus from collective improvisation to solo performance.
With his instantly recognizable deep and distinctive gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes. He was also greatly skilled at scat singing, vocalizing using sounds and syllables instead of actual lyrics.
Renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet-playing, Armstrong's influence extends well beyond jazz music, and by the end of his career in the 1960s, he was widely regarded as a profound influence on popular music in general.
Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to "cross over," whose skin-color was secondary to his amazing talent in an America that was severely racially divided. It allowed him socially acceptable access to the upper echelons of American society that were highly restricted for a person of color. While he rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay of fellow African-Americans, he was privately a huge supporter of the Civil Rights movement in America.
Acting
Movie
Hello, Dolly!
as Orchestra Leader
1969
Movie
High Society
as Louis Armstrong
1956
Movie
The Glenn Miller Story
as Louis Armstrong
1954
TV
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
as Self
1962
TV
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
as Self (archive footage)
1962
TV
The Oscars
as Self
1953
Movie
Paris Blues
as Wild Man Moore
1961
Movie
Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat
as Self (archive footage)
2024
Movie
The Sound of 007
as Self (archive footage)
2022
Movie
Cabin in the Sky
as The Trumpeter
1943
Movie
A Song Is Born
as Louis Armstrong
1948
Movie
That's Entertainment, Part II
as (archive footage)
1976
TV
Jazz
as Self (archive footage)
2001
Movie
The Five Pennies
as Louis Armstrong
1959
TV
What's My Line?
as Self
1950
Movie
Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues
as Self (archive footage)
2022
Movie
Jazz on a Summer's Day
as Self
1960
TV
The Ed Sullivan Show
as Self
1948
TV
The Dick Cavett Show
as Self - Guest
1968
Movie
I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You
as Louis Armstrong
1932
TV
The Flip Wilson Show
as Self
1970
Movie
Here Comes the Groom
as Louis Armstrong (uncredited)
1951
Movie
A Man Called Adam
as Willie Ferguson
1966
Movie
The Strip
as Himself
1951
