Eddie Hodges

Last updated

Eddie Hodges
Eddie Hodges 1960.jpg
Hodges and Archie Moore on the set of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1960
Born (1947-03-05) March 5, 1947 (age 77)
Occupation(s) Actor, singer, mental health counselor [1]
Years active1953–1969
Children2 [2]

Samuel "Eddie" Hodges (born March 5, 1947) is an American former child actor and recording artist. His 1961 cover of the Isley Brothers' single "I'm Gonna Knock on Your Door" reached number 1 in Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden and Australia, and rose to number 12 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. When Hodges became an adult, he made the decision to leave show business. [3]

Contents

Early life

Hodges was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States, [3] and traveled to New York City with his family in 1952. This began a long career in show business for Hodges in films, on stage, and in popular recordings.

Career

Stage

At the age of ten, Hodges made his professional acting debut on stage in Meredith Willson's 1957 Broadway musical The Music Man , [3] in which he originated the character of Winthrop Paroo, [4] and introduced the song "Gary, Indiana", with Robert Preston and Pert Kelton.

Film

Hodges made his film debut in the 1959 film A Hole in the Head with Frank Sinatra and Edward G. Robinson, in which Hodges and Sinatra performed the Oscar-winning song "High Hopes". [3] However, when Sinatra recorded the song for Capitol Records, Hodges was not invited to participate because his own record label, Decca, would not grant him permission to record with Capitol.[ why? ]

Hodges acted in eight feature films and made numerous TV guest appearances. He is probably best remembered for playing the title role in Michael Curtiz's 1960 film The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn . [3] He also appeared in the 1962 film Advise and Consent in a minor role as well as the Disney films Summer Magic (1963) [3] and The Happiest Millionaire (1967).

TV

On October 4, 1957, the day the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik 1 satellite, Hodges made a memorable appearance on the game show Name That Tune . He partnered with Major John Glenn, the future astronaut and U.S. senator, in an event later dramatized in the 1983 motion picture The Right Stuff . (In the film, Hodges is played by child actor Erik Bergmann.) [5]

On August 2, 1959, Hodges was the celebrity mystery guest on the popular TV panel show What's My Line? [6] He also made guest appearances on shows such as The Dick Van Dyke Show (1964), Bonanza (1965, "A Natural Wizard" S7 E13), Gunsmoke (1967, “Mail Drop” S12 E19), and Cimarron Strip .

In 1963, Hodges played a supporting role as Billy Jones opposite fellow child actor Kevin Corcoran in Johnny Shiloh , which originally aired as two episodes of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color .

In the early 1990s, the adult Hodges appeared live on a talk show on Swedish TV, where he played guitar and sang "I'm Gonna Knock on Your Door". [7]

Recording

Hodges issued his first single in 1958, a duet with Julia Meade called "What Would It Be Like in Heaven?" In 1959 at age 12, Hodges became Mississippi's first Grammy Award winner for his contribution to the original Broadway cast album of The Music Man , on which he sang a solo ("The Wells Fargo Wagon") and was credited as lead singer on the song "Gary, Indiana". It was the first year the Grammys were awarded. [8]

In 1961, at age 14, Hodges recorded his biggest hit for Cadence Records, "I'm Gonna Knock on Your Door". [3] He also scored a minor hit with "(Girls, Girls, Girls) Made to Love", a song written by Phil Everly and originally recorded by the Everly Brothers. [3] He subsequently recorded for several other record labels, issuing a total of 15 singles as a performer between 1958 and 1967.

Before leaving Hollywood he was a union musician, record producer, songwriter and music publisher. He collaborated with Tandyn Almer as both co-writer and co-producer on a single that failed to chart.

Personal life

Hodges was drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War in the late 1960s but remained in the U.S. in a non-combat assignment. After he was discharged, he returned to Hollywood and became disillusioned with show business. He decided to return to his native Mississippi and entered the University of Southern Mississippi, where he received his B.S. in Psychology and an M.S. in Counseling. [9] He became a mental health counselor and eventually retired from practice after a long career in the field. He converted to Catholicism in 1998.

Hodges is divorced and the father of two grown children and grandfather of six. He occasionally gets in touch with his old show business friends and still writes songs, although he is no longer able to play guitar due to spinal nerve injuries. Hodges survived the passage of Hurricane Katrina, which ravaged coastal areas of Mississippi and Louisiana in August 2005; he informed his fans that he was fine after being without water, electricity and telephone/internet contact for 19 days until local utilities were finally restored.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1959 A Hole in the Head Ally Manetta
1960 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Huckleberry Finn
1962 Advise and Consent Johnny Leffingwell
1963 Summer Magic Gilly Carey
1967 C'mon, Let's Live a Little Eddie Stewart
1967 The Happiest Millionaire Livingston
1968 Live a Little, Love a Little Delivery Boy

Discography

Charting Singles

YearSingleUS Hot 100 [10] Canada [11] [12]
1961"I'm Gonna Knock on Your Door"121
1962"Bandit Of My Dreams"65-
"(Girls, Girls, Girls) Made to Love"141
1965"New Orleans"4422

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Sinatra</span> American singer and actor (1915–1998)

Francis Albert Sinatra was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes," he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of the mid-20th century. Sinatra is among the world's best-selling music artists, with an estimated 150 million record sales globally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Darin</span> American musician and actor (1936–1973)

Bobby Darin was an American musician, songwriter, and actor. He performed jazz, pop, rock and roll, folk, swing, and country music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirley Jones</span> American actress and singer (born 1934)

Shirley Mae Jones is an American actress and singer. In her six decades in show business, she has starred as wholesome characters in a number of musical films, such as Oklahoma! (1955), Carousel (1956), and The Music Man (1962). She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing a vengeful prostitute in Elmer Gantry (1960). She played the lead role of Shirley Partridge, the widowed mother of five children, in the musical situation-comedy television series The Partridge Family (1970–1974), which co-starred her real-life stepson, David Cassidy, son of Jack Cassidy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sammy Davis Jr.</span> American singer and actor (1925–1990)

Samuel George Davis Jr. was an American singer, actor, comedian and dancer.

The 1st Annual Grammy Awards were held on May 4, 1959. They recognized musical accomplishments by performers for the year 1958. Two separate ceremonies were held simultaneously on the same day: one in the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, and the other in the Park Sheraton Hotel in New York City. Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Domenico Modugno, Ross Bagdasarian, and Henry Mancini, each won 2 awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddie Cantor</span> American comedian and actor (1892–1964)

Eddie Cantor was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Cantor was one of the prominent entertainers of his era.

"Mack the Knife" or "The Ballad of Mack the Knife" is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their 1928 music drama The Threepenny Opera. The song tells of a knife-wielding criminal of the London underworld named Macheath, the "Mack the Knife" of the title.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sammy Cahn</span> American lyricist, songwriter, musician

Samuel Cohen, known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area. He and his collaborators had a series of hit recordings with Frank Sinatra during the singer's tenure at Capitol Records, but also enjoyed hits with Dean Martin, Doris Day and many others. He played the piano and violin, and won an Oscar four times for his songs, including the popular hit "Three Coins in the Fountain".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Newley</span> English actor, singer, songwriter, and filmmaker (1931–1999)

Anthony Newley was an English actor, singer, songwriter, and filmmaker. A "latter-day British Al Jolson", he achieved widespread success in song, and on stage and screen. "One of Broadway's greatest leading men", from 1959 to 1962 he scored a dozen entries on the UK Top 40 chart, including two number one hits. Newley won the 1963 Grammy Award for Song of the Year for "What Kind of Fool Am I?", sung by Sammy Davis Jr., and wrote "Feeling Good", which became a signature hit for Nina Simone. His songs have been sung by a wide variety of singers including Fiona Apple, Tony Bennett, Barbra Streisand, Michael Bublé and Mariah Carey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Van Heusen</span> American composer (1913–1990)

James Van Heusen was an American composer. He wrote songs for films, television, and theater, and won an Emmy and four Academy Awards for Best Original Song. Many of his compositions later went on to become jazz standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kings of Rhythm</span> Band led by Ike Turner

Kings of Rhythm are an American music group formed in the late 1940s in Clarksdale, Mississippi and led by Ike Turner through to his death in 2007. Turner would retain the name of the band throughout his career, although the group has undergone considerable line-up changes over time.

Gordon Hill Jenkins was an American arranger, composer, and pianist who was influential in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s. Jenkins worked with The Andrews Sisters, Johnny Cash, The Weavers, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Judy Garland, Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday, Harry Nilsson, Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Sands</span> American singer and actor (born 1937)

Thomas Adrian Sands is an American pop music singer and actor. Working in show business as a child, Sands became an overnight sensation and instant teen idol when he appeared on Kraft Television Theater in January 1957 as "The Singin' Idol". The song from the show, "Teen-Age Crush", reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on Cashbox.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strangers in the Night</span> 1966 single by Frank Sinatra and covered by Charles Singleton and Eddie Snyder

"Strangers in the Night" is a song composed by Bert Kaempfert with English lyrics by Charles Singleton and Eddie Snyder. Kaempfert originally used it under the title "Beddy Bye" as part of the instrumental score for the movie A Man Could Get Killed. The song was made famous in 1966 by Frank Sinatra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High Hopes (Frank Sinatra song)</span> 1959 single by Frank Sinatra

"High Hopes" is a popular song first popularized by Frank Sinatra, with music written by James Van Heusen and lyrics by Sammy Cahn. It was introduced by Sinatra and child actor Eddie Hodges in the 1959 film A Hole in the Head, was nominated for a Grammy, and won an Oscar for Best Original Song at the 32nd Academy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackson (song)</span> Song recorded by Wheeler

"Jackson" is a song written in 1963 by Billy Edd Wheeler and Jerry Leiber. It was recorded in 1963 by the Kingston Trio, Wheeler, and Flatt and Scruggs. It achieved its most notable popularity with two 1967 releases: a country hit single by Johnny Cash and June Carter, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Country Singles chart, and a pop hit single by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood, which reached No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 39 on Easy Listening.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I'm Gonna Knock on Your Door</span> 1959 Isley Brothers song

"I'm Gonna Knock on Your Door", written by Aaron Schroeder and Sid Wayne, is a song that was originally released by the Isley Brothers in 1959 and became a hit for teenage American actor Eddie Hodges in 1961. The song peaked at #12 at Billboard Hot 100 chart, and became a #1 hit in Canada, Australia, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

"Just in Time" is a popular song with the melody written by Jule Styne and the lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. It was introduced by Judy Holliday and Sydney Chaplin in the musical Bells Are Ringing in 1956. Judy Holliday and Dean Martin sang the song in the 1960 film of Bells Are Ringing. Martin then recorded it for his 1960 album, This Time I'm Swingin'!. Tony Bennett recorded the song in 1956 and continued performing it until his retirement, at Radio City Music Hall, in 2021 at the age of 95.

Donald John Sebesky was an American composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz trombonist. He was a multi-instrumentalist and could play a number of other instruments: keyboards, electric piano, organ, accordion, and clavinet.

References

  1. Former Child Star Central Archived March 14, 2020, at the Wayback Machine . Members.tripod.com. Retrieved on August 23, 2017.
  2. classicmoviekids.com Archived April 30, 2012, at the Wayback Machine . classicmoviekids.com. Retrieved on August 23, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Colin Larkin, ed. (2002). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Fifties Music (Third ed.). Virgin Books. p. 196. ISBN   1-85227-937-0.
  4. The Broadway League. "The official source for Broadway Information". IBDB. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  5. "Erik Bergmann | Actor". IMDb .
  6. "What's My Line? - Eddie Hodges; Ben Gazzara [panel] (Aug 2, 1959)". YouTube. March 6, 2014. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  7. "I´m gonna knock on your door - Eddie Hodges". YouTube. September 22, 2013. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  8. "Miss. Man Gives friend Grammy-Like Gift 'From the Heart'". WLTX 19, a Gannett Company. April 23, 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2012.[ dead link ]
  9. "Eddie Hodges page in Classic Movie Kids, featuring child stars of yesteryear". Classicmoviekids.com. March 5, 1947. Archived from the original on April 30, 2012. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  10. "Eddie Hodges - Billboard". Billboard . Archived from the original on August 17, 2022. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  11. "CHUM rankings".
  12. "RPM Play Sheet - September 20, 1965" (PDF).

Bibliography

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Eddie Hodges at Wikimedia Commons