Louis Prima

Louis Leo Prima was an American trumpeter, singer, entertainer, and bandleader. While rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing music, and jump blues, Prima touched on various genres throughout his career: he formed a seven-piece New Orleans–style jazz band in the late 1920s, fronted a swing combo in the 1930s and a big band group in the 1940s, helped to popularize jump blues in the late 1940s and early to mid 1950s, and performed frequently as a Vegas lounge act beginning in the 1950s.

From the 1940s through the 1960s, his music further encompassed early R&B and rock 'n' roll, boogie-woogie, and Italian folk music, such as the tarantella. Prima made prominent use of Italian music and language in his songs, blending elements of his Italian and Sicilian identity with jazz and swing music. At a time when ethnic musicians were discouraged from openly stressing their ethnicity, Prima's conspicuous embrace of his Sicilian ethnicity opened the doors for other Italian-American and ethnic American musicians to display their ethnic roots.

Prima is also known for providing the voice for the orangutan King Louie in the 1967 Disney film The Jungle Book. Description above from the Wikipedia article Louis Prima, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Louis Prima is known for work in acting across film and television. New Release currently presents 24 verified screen credits connected to this profile.

Selected work includes The Jungle Book (1967), Manhattan Merry-Go-Round (1937), The Mike Douglas Show (1961), The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950), The Ed Sullivan Show (1948), The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1956), Legends (2006), Start Cheering (1938). The recorded credits span 1936 to 2010, including 19 movies and 5 TV shows.

The filmography below lists available titles, release years and known roles. This profile is updated as additional verified information becomes available.