Jazz Connection Magazine

Another star shines brightly in Hollywood these days, and it belongs to Herb Jeffries. Known as the original "Flamingo Kid" as a result of the hit song, Flamingo, he recorded while as band vocalist with Duke Ellington in 1940, Jeffries was bestowed one of Hollywood's top honors last month - a star along the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

"It was just unbelievable," said Jeffries, via telephone from his home in Idyllwild, CA, about the prestigious ceremony which took place the morning of Sept. 24, the day of his 93rd birthday. "I was extremely surprised when I heard I was nominated to get a star. It's a very emotional thing. It might even be stressful. You never know if you are going to be accepted or not, or if all the necessary money to have a star will be raised. The money was raised, I was accepted, and it was a go."

Jeffries, who incredibly looks and sounds like a man half his age, is no stranger to Hollywood. In addition to an illustrious career as a band vocalist with Erskine Tate, Earl "Fatha" Hines, and Ellington, and as a solo recording artist, which continues today, Jeffries also owns a unique place in cinematic history as one of the last original singing cowboys from the early days of Hollywood Westerns. He is best remembered for his role as "The Bronze Buckaroo," the hero of four all-black Westerns from the late 1930s.

Fan support to see the legendary singer/actor receive his star was overwhelming. In fact, it was one of the largest crowds ever to attend such a ceremony, according to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the event.

"When we drove up in our limousine and saw the crowds of people, I didn't think all this was for me," Jeffries said. "I thought it was for somebody else. It was unbelievable. We were amazingly surprised to see the amount of people there."

The fanfare over "The Flamingo Kid's" star was also carried across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe, as many of Jeffries' friends on the Continent telephoned him the following day with congratulations after having seen clips of the ceremony that was broadcast on television, Jeffries said.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame, embedded with more than 2,000 five-pointed stars featuring the names of celebrities honored for their contributions to the entertainment industry, stretches for 17 blocks (east-west) along both sides of Hollywood Boulevard, from Gower Street (on the east) to Sycamore Avenue (on the west), as well as along three blocks (north-south) of Vine Street, beginning at Sunset Boulevard (on the south), crossing Hollywood Boulevard, up to Yucca Street (on the north).

Created in 1958, the Walk of Fame has become a tribute to artists working within the entertainment industry, both in front and behind the cameras, stages, microphones, recording studios, etc. Honorees receive a star based on career and lifetime achievements in motion pictures, live theater, radio, television, and/or music, as well as their charitable and civic contributions.

Each star consists of a terrazzo comprising a pink five-pointed star rimmed with bronze and inlaid into a charcoal square. Inside the pink star is the name of the honoree engraved in bronze, below that is a round bronze emblem indicating the category for which the honoree received the star. The emblems are:

a motion picture camera, for contribution to the film industry;
a television set, for contribution to the broadcast television industry;
a phonograph record, for contribution to the recording industry;
a radio microphone, for contribution to the broadcast radio industry; and,
twin comedy/tragedy masks, for contribution to live theater.

In 1978, the City of Los Angeles designated the Walk of Fame as a Cultural/Historic Landmark.

The Walk of Fame is maintained by the self-financing Hollywood Historic Trust. In order for a person to get a star on the Walk of Fame, an application must be filed and a $15,000 fee must be paid to the Trust. Around 200-300 applications are sent each year, and a committee decides which nominees get their star (around 20-24 each year).

Jeffries' star, located at 6672 Hollywood Blvd, near Cherokee, is for his contributions in the recording industry, not for his ground-breaking participation in "race films."

While Jeffries concedes that receiving a star on Hollywood Blvd. is a great honor, he is more concerned about the affects his career has had in relation to helping improve society and by bringing people of all races and ethnic persuasions together.

"I'm not a man who ever thinks about such awards," Jeffries said, whose mother was of Irish descent and whose father was of Sicilian and Moorish mix. "Most of the things I've done, is to try to make a better social structure for the world - to be some kind of an agent that brings people together. When I made the first all-black cowboy pictures, I made them for all dark-skinned people, not necessary for black people. They were made for Native Americans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans - for all dark-skinned people who were not given the privileges in the South what I saw when I was traveling with the Earl Hines band. I was hoping we'd create a heroic image so that when people of other ethnic groups saw it they could say, 'Hey! If this guy can be a hero or a cowboy, so can I.' Concerning the entertainment value of those pictures, we wanted it to be entertaining for all people. It turned out that way."

Jeffries went on to say that his reward today is to look at motion pictures knowing that he helped to open the door for such African-American super stars as Denzel Washington or Danny Glover or Halle Berry.

"When I look at television now, I don't see one race of people. I see a correlation of blacks, whites, Mexicans, and others as moderators," Jeffries said. "My reward is to see the door open and to see America not as a supreme race any more. I always ask this question: Would you like to have a garden of only one-colored flowers? If we were to make an agreement with each other, we would have the value of the cultures of all people here in this country and we'd have a better social structure. I see it happening. That's a bigger reward that's on the sidewalk or any place. It's the result of some of my efforts as well others that makes this country a better place to live in."

Jeffries is a veteran of Walk of Fame honors. On March 30, 2001, he was inducted to the Downtown Newhall Walk of Western Stars in Newhall, CA, a city noted as a site for the making of early Western motion pictures.

The Downtown Newhall Walk of Western Stars began in 1981 as a means of honoring Western film, stage, television and radio personalities who performed in the Santa Clarita Valley. Stars were immortalized along San Fernando Road and Newhall Avenue, and later Market Street, with bronze plaques and terrazzo tile set into the sidewalks. The induction on the street was accompanied by a gala dinner at California Institute of the Arts in Valencia.

Jeffries' plaque is on the east side of San Fernando Road near Market Street, in front of the El Trocadero Mesquite Grill and Cantina.

Even at age 93, Jeffries is not one to slow down. He remains busy golfing, spending time with his wife, Savannah, his five children, seven grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren, performing, recording, and writing.

Look for his new CD to be released sometime in December tentatively titled, Echoes Of Eternity, Jeffries said.

For performance and recording information, check out Jeffries' web site at www.herbjeffries.com

He is also currently negotiating a screen play about his life and collaborating with author Ray Strait on his upcoming autobiography.