American Singer Bobby Short Dead At 80

Bobby Short's devotion to the works of Rodgers and Hart, George Gershwin and Cole Porter made him a household name among followers of popular music. But it was his unwavering dedication to the Café Carlyle at Manhattan's Algonquin Hotel that forever sealed his legacy. Bobby Short arrived in New York in 1956, and dreamed of someday performing at the Café Carlyle. That dream came true when he was hired to work there for two weeks in 1968, an engagement that was extended for the next 36 years. Short described the Café Carlyle as a hidden treasure of American nightlife.

Bobby Short: The Café Carlyle is, today, singular in that it's a bastion for what used to be New York sophisticated nightlife. There's no other place like it in New York or in the country or in the world.

(Music)

Bobby Short was born in Danville, Illinois. He taught himself to sing and play piano, and by age 12, was performing regularly in vaudeville. People called him "The Miniature King Of Swing," a title he took with him to the nightclubs and stages of Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, London, and finally, New York City. His discography includes the works of many of our finest composers, especially that of fellow-Midwesterner Cole Porter. In 1991, on the 100th anniversary of Porter's birth, the Cole Porter family presented Short their "You're The Top" award for his outstanding contribution to sustaining the Cole Porter legacy.

Among his many other accomplishments, Short often performed at the White House, with symphony orchestras, on television and in some of the world's most glamorous concert halls. Despite changing trends and tastes, Bobby Short remained loyal to his show business career.

Bobby Short: I've never really had a difficult time. I've had times when jobs were not quite as plentiful as they are today. I've had a pretty good run, I think. I haven't suffered a lot. I don't believe in starving artists or addicts, you know.

Jazz vocalist, pianist and cabaret star Bobby Short died March 21 of leukemia at age 80 in New York City.

I’m Doug Levine.