Bobby Short

Birthday: 15 September 1924, Danville, Illinois, USA

Birth Name: Robert Waltrip Short

Bobby Short was an attraction at Manhattan's Cafe Carlyle for three decades (he doubtless got his greatest exposure there in a scene from Woody Allen's film Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)). Short is the quintessential New Yorker, the Fred Astaire of saloon singers, an international icon of style and glamour.

I was a black performer seated at the piano singing songs from Broadway shows. There were no dos and...Show more »

I was a black performer seated at the piano singing songs from Broadway shows. There were no dos and don'ts. I had the freedom to be myself. Show less «

A young man told me, 'How dare you insult your race by not singing the blues?' I still get feedback ...Show more »

A young man told me, 'How dare you insult your race by not singing the blues?' I still get feedback about that. I'm a 76-year-old black man living in a white society; I've gone through the medley. I'd like to think my legacy included having done something positive to help eliminate the problems between races. I never let racism into the core of me. Show less «

I go back to what I heard Marian Anderson say once: 'First a song has to be beautiful.' However 'bea...Show more »

I go back to what I heard Marian Anderson say once: 'First a song has to be beautiful.' However 'beautiful' covers a wide range of things. I have to admire a song's structure and what it's about. But I also have to determine how I can transfer my affection for a song to an audience. I have to decide whether I can put it across. Show less «