Added: 4 years ago
From: bakeyandbetty
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  • the story of his life could make for a very bitter-sweet film.

  • @SeerSucker1981 I think that'd be a really interesting movie.

  • thanks cliff no x mas spirit if it wasent for you,

  • ... This remarkable man, a Disney legend: forgotten in his own home town. Curse you, Mark Twain!

  • "i" LOVE you IKE !!!

  • Wonderin' what the situation is in Hannibal, MO four years later (2011). Still no clue who Cliff Edwards was? Isn't time the town of Hannibal does something about it?

  • Now I'm gunna be sad all day :(

  • I looked it up..because UKULELE Mike mentioned this site...what a eye opener....Very interesting but ..alas..very sad

  • What a sad state of affairs when an American says "Clueless". He is an inspirational singer. The mundane radio stations pump out the same trash and it is no wonder nobody gets to hear his voice anymore. With the changing state of radio however from FM to internet there is a chance for more choice from the money driven dribble that gets rammed down your lughole in the guise of "pop". Long live Ukulele Ike!

  • BTW, notice the photo at about 2:57...he had no strings on the uke he's posing with. It was my understanding that he could not even afford strings.

  • Ryan Seacrest has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but Cliffy, who conquered each and every medium, has not. Yeah, THAT'S justice.

  • @WilliamT1964 You sure Cliff doesnt have a star on the wof!!? What? I live blocks from Hollywood, have loved cliff for years and never knew there was no star!!! Shameful. And as for hannibal, somebody build a statue or something to clue these people in! I'll chip in, for the love of pete!! Sheeesh!!

  • @murraymae I am 100% positive Cliff has NO star on the WOF. I have often thought about trying to organize a petition and then a fund for a star for him.

  • Oh my God. That ending was just horrible.

  • that's too bad but you could've made this about countless people who used to be famous

  • What a sad documentary :(

  • rest in power

  • .. such a shame.. it makes me a bit sad.. :/

  • My mother who died in 1934 was a fan of Cliff Edwards. He was her favorite singer I'm happy to say. He seems to me to bear a resemblence to Jimminy Cricket. Especially the eyes.

  • I have a few of his ukulele music books. Almost forgotten like Roy Smeck.

  • This is a really touching story.

  • Poor Cliff! :(

    He has so much talent, it's crazy that these people never heard of him!

  • I like him. He's got sweet songs but could also be really funny. Listen to "I'm Going to Give it to Mary with Love" and "I'm a Bear in a Lady's Boudoir" =D Whenever I think of older music I don't think of dirty songs like that

  • I will remember you, Cliff!

  • That so many people in his own home town and who appear at least old enough to have heard of him would have no idea who he is speaks very poorly for the state of things. Cliff Edwards' contributions were enormous and he deserves far more than obscurity.

  • Cliff should also get more respect from the Jazz world for his scat singing which he did on record before Louis Armstrong. A Great actor & singer - it is always a treat when he turns up in some old film on TCM. Thanks for posting.

  • Comment removed

  • I remember seeing Ukelele Ike in the westerns as a sidekick to the Durango Kid. He was also with some Tim Holts. Later I recognized his voice a Jimminy Cricket. Thanks for the memories.

  • I wouldn't say, "no one remembers." I surely do, but there's a lesson here for all of us; PLAN AHEAD! No matter how high you're riding, it can all go away. And, in the end, only you are responsible. Don't wind up like Cliff, Anna Nicole Smith, Michael Jackson, or Marilyn Monroe. Ultimately, you yourself are the ONLY one you can REALLY count on. Get ready while you have time.

    Norm

  • Makes me wanna cry....

  • Sent to Hannibal Mayor:- "Found a Hannibal boy who sold

    74,000,000 records & voiced Jimminy Cricket for Disney, and yet , There is no memorial to him there.Why not make some tourist dough for Hannibal ? Promote him before his memory and that of characters he voiced and songs he introduced..."Singin in the Rain ", Toot ,toot,Tootsie,Goodbye ", and others...fade away.

    Tom Loughlin Jr.-Utica NY

    also advised mayor to watch this video and sent him the link. Let's see what happens. TAKE ACTION!

  • I had the news paper clipping of his "Death Penniless". It mysteriously disappeared. "When you wish upon a star" never goes away.

  • That was such a depressing video.

    I love Cliff Edwards!

  • hello

  • That is my dad!!! Ronald Brown!!!!!!!!!!!

  • That is me!!!!!!! Ronald Brown

  • That's so sad )-:

  • He was a sidekick in some "B" Western movies. Love his voice.

  • what an awesome talent.

    beautiful voice!

  • Where is this goofy Hannibal place? I mean, Cliff Edwards rocks. I always loved the guy. Too bad he died when I was 3. I first heard that Singin' in the Rain rendition from That's Entertainment.

  • like "when you wish upon a star" didnt make me cry before I knew about the man with the voice!

  • what a shame

  • my father says he was his uncle... I'd like to try and prove it

  • I would love to see you trying to prove it... Not because I want something from that, but just for curiosity porposes... He was a fine singer. Unforgetable voice. it's a shame people thinks a Crickett could do it all alone...

    Kisses from JulyN

  • "When You Wish Upon A Star"

  • That guy at 2:01 looks exactly like him!

  • i remember him. on the arthur godfrey show. ive always liked tenors with ukuleles. didnt realize till i saw this that he was jimminy cricket. probably if disney and others who made millions off him would have paid royalties, and had some concience, he would have ended his days in the screen actors guild home, instead. evidently its not safe to outlive your youth!

  • Yes he had no money and became an homeless vagrant (hobo)when he got old he could take the street life no more and knocked on the door of the welfare home,where he eventually passed away

  • Cliff also had a bit part in "Gone With the Wind." (1939)

  • you'd think the people in the town would know something of their own history.

  • Cliff was already in trouble by the time he had a career with Disney. His problems (as tragic as they were) were his own and the company tried to help as much as they could. It truly is a shame that no one remembers him. A lesson on the fickleness of fame.

  • Well, it seems here on the Net at least he's getting some of the renown he deserves.

  • Wow, shame on Hannibal Missouri for such ignorance about this great native son.

    Small consolation that so many of today's pop stars currently enjoying fame who have less than 1/10th of Edwards' tallent will be even more thoroughly forgotten in 50 years.

  • Also its a shame that Disney,as with the voices from Snow White and Alice in Wonderland,would use them and then allow them to die peeniless after they touched the hearts of so many and gave Disney the fame it has today.

  • Sad thing but he was truly an entertainer and talent beyound measure. =]I will always remember Ukulele Ike!

  • Wow, I didn't know the rest of his story up until his success voicing Jiminy Cricket. Amazing, but so sad.

  • I rember this dude hit me upside the head with a Ukulele so if you ever get into a fight with somebody if they have a Ukulele run.

  • I LOVE CLIFF EDWARDS!!! he inspired me to pick up the uke, and i thank him! <3

  • how fantastic...great video.

    michael

  • Ukulele Ike's his schtick was the tiny little ukulele and a moving, heartfelt voice. His strumming was very basic and he used a small soprano uke. "Fascinatin Rhythm," "Toot Toot Tootsie Good Bye," and "It's only a Paper Moon" were not his "originals" but were written by Gus Kahn, Harold Arlen and George Gershwin. Edwards "introduced" them. My favorite is his immortal version of "When You Wish Upon a Star" & he truly was Jiminy Cricket. Big, big talent! Johnny Pal of Mango Daville

  • thanks for posting; Cliff had great songs, my

    favorite is "Night Owl"...

  • I'm 18 and I love his songs! :) I'm trying to learn the ukulele so I can play them.

  • Those Hannibal folks who don't know hometown boy Cliff Edwards remind me of when I visited the Capitol Records tower in Hollywood recently. I asked the lady at the desk in the tower lobby if she knew where Johnny Mercer's star on the "Walk of Fame" was located. She looked at me blankly and said, "WHO?"

    Johnny Mercer was the FOUNDER of Capitol Records and responsible for signing Nat King Cole to the label...

    *sigh*

  • How sad that such a genius should be unknown in his own birthplace.

    Surely the Civic authority could erect a plaque to his memory.

    Thank you for your enlightening posting.

  • Thank you for shedding light on an unsung troubadour that brought us some magnificent vocal reveries of the 20th century. He was always my favorite, and though he is sadly forgotten by the mainstream (which isn't surprising these days) there are those of us that have a real appreciation for talent and the generosity of a vaudevillian who touched many lives and never got the accolades he deserved through his journey. God bless this dear spirit.

  • That is so incredibly depressing. I've been a fan of Cliff since I was 17... I'm only 21 now but if I know who he is how can those other people not know???

  • Early famous movie or recording stars are not remembered by neither Hollywood or the Nation once the era and the music is gone.......Such a shame...for it is all an art form. Even the popular music of today except for RR & Heavy Meatal is becoming fast obsolete......The public has a short span when it come to popular music....

  • What an incredible talent! Cliff had perfect pitch in 3 octaves! I discovered Cliff's music back in the late '70's when I came across a reissue of his music on Yazoo Records. I have 6 albums of his recordings from the 20's to the 40's. One of the biggest movies he was in was MY GAL FRIDAY with Cary Grant. He created his own human orchestra sounds before The Mills Brothers. Cliff called it "blueblowing".

  • Brilliant performer - I'm sorry I wasn't around in the late 60s to give the man the appreciation and respect he deserved.

  • It really is a shame Cliff is not better known - what a remarkable talent his was. His Singin' In The Rain has much more depth than Gene Kelly's version (great as that is), and without Ike, George Formby might never have taken up the uke - in fact ukelele history would be very different. Dear old Cliff! Hannibal should erect a statue in his honour.

  • @lyndabeast A statue of him along with a certain cricket on his shoulder so everyone will really know who he was.

  • As so often, the great stars of ephemeral work (theatre, movies) are forgotten. It's all the more necessary that we try to remember them. As Hamlet says, the players are the very chronicle of the Age.

  • i'm a 25 year old girl who loves cliff edwards..

    i wish that newscaster would have asked me so I could give the man some credit where it's due.

  • How did you hear about him? About 15 years ago there was a radio special dedicated to him. I was hooked. My dad, born 1912, used to sing in a high falsetto once in a while. That radio show was when I found out why my dad sang 20's tunes that way.

  • @cabbagerabbit im a 26 yr old and i think he rocks too.... its so awesome that im not the only one in my age range thats a fan. this post gets a "like"

  • @cabbagerabbit

    would you have wanted him thrusting you between your legs? hard and intensively?

  • @pootubeftw You really are a vulgar individual.

  • BakeyandBetty, It's sad that he's not better known today-he was a tremendous talent. So many great artists of yesteryear are being forgotten in this now now now era when nothing old seems to be appreciated by many-but thankfully not all, as your clip and all the positive comment prove! Regards, J.

  • What a great video this is.

    I love Cliff Edwards music.

    Thanks for the post here on YouTube.

    5 STARS !

    RagJazzMonkey

    Tom Warner

  • "...no one remembers his name today."

    That is just not true. Sure, he isn't a household name, but Cliff does have a devoted community of fans, even if it is a small one. To those who appreciate vintage jazz, he is considered one of the greats of the period--especially to ukulele playlers. It's entirely too cut-and-dried to call him "forgotten". I wonder how many of the people they asked DID know who he was but were excluded because it didn't fit the spin they were giving the story.

  • My dad knew he was only when I mentioned Ukelele Ike, not Cliff Edwards. My dad was of that generation and occasionally he'd sing in that high falsetto himself. I didnt know where he got it from till I heard an extensive and excellent biography of Cliff about 10 years ago on the radio. Very sad.

  • I have one of his albums. The man was a genius and a wonderful singer. I knew who he was for two years since I read about the voice of Jiminy Cricket being the one who introduced the song 'Singin' in the Rain'. I even made a layout of Jiminy singing that song. Someday I'm going to animate it and dedicate it to the legendary Cliff Edwards.

    God Bless his soul. His voice has always been the voice of my conscience since I was a baby. It's just so sad that no one remembers him. The fools.

  • When you wish upon a star your dreams come truuuuuuuuuuuuuue!

  • Clueless Joe from Hannibal, MO

  • Wow, that is really sad.

  • We remember you Cliff!

  • One of my favorites - too bad Hollywood doesn't make the stars who created the Movie Industry better know to the modern audience........

  • O.O *gasp* that's so sad... wow what clueles people... and they're older so it was more around THEIR time then ours(for kids) I want to go to that town and like scream at all those people, then force them to watch this vid....

    by the way thanks for posting this! Sad, but informative

  • Thanks for this interesting look into Cliffs life. I knew he hit hard times but I didnt realise how successful he was in the early days. His end was not what you want to remember him by. So I will always think of him as the voice of J Cricket and let my memories of him stay forever in gold.

  • I did know that Cliff had hit hard times, but not that he died in such sad circumstances, thanks for posting. I love Cliff and I really think that if modern day singers/audiences knew his work he would be well known as nobody could do it Cliff.

  • This made me feel so sad. :( Cliff Edwards was a legend.

  • Thank you.

  • check out spidra cliff foyer for obituary, gravestone and news stories about cliff's final days. thanks for the clip. he's one of the greatest.

  • Wow, this is depressing. I love Cliff- Such a sad way to go.

  • great vid but fascinating rhythm is by the gershwins

  • He did cover that song, but the video didn't claim he wrote that one.

    Anyway... I love his songs, some corny... but always fun.

    "Dinah, is there any one finer.. in the state of Carolina..."

  • Scratch what I said about Fascinating Rhythm, the commentator could have worded it better, what he said does give the impression he wrote it.

  • Excellent video. I really enjoyed it. 5 stars!

    I am a big fan of Cliff Edwards and would love to get a copy of him singing "I Feel Pessimistic." If you know where, please let me know.

    It had been on YouTube a few months ago but was taken off due to copyright restrictions.

    Thanks,

    Tom Warner

  • Thank you for posting this sad story of this very talented and influential artist. Nobody could sing scat like Cliff Edwards.

  • i love ukulele ike , always have, thanks

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