Louis Leo Prima was an American trumpeter, singer, entertainer, and bandleader. While rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing music, and jump blues, Prima touched on various genres throughout his career: he formed a seven-piece New Orleans–style jazz band in the late 1920s, fronted a swing combo in the 1930s and a big band group in the 1940s, helped to popularize jump blues in the late 1940s and early to mid 1950s, and performed frequently as a Vegas lounge act beginning in the 1950s. From the 1940s through the 1960s, his music further encompassed early R&B and rock 'n' roll, boogie-woogie, and Italian folk music, such as the tarantella. Prima made prominent use of Italian music and language in his songs, blending elements of his Italian and Sicilian identity with jazz and swing music. At a time when ethnic musicians were discouraged from openly stressing their ethnicity, Prima's conspicuous embrace of his Sicilian ethnicity opened the doors for other Italian-American and ethnic American musicians to display their ethnic roots. Prima is also known for providing the voice for the orangutan King Louie in the 1967 Disney film The Jungle Book. Description above from the Wikipedia article Louis Prima, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Filmography

• 2010Louis Prima: In Person!
• 1967The Jungle Book — King Louie of the Apes (voice)
• 1963Sackgasse — Original Music Composer
• 1961The Continental Twist — Louis Evans
• 1939Rose of Washington Square — Band Leader
• 1938Start Cheering — Band Conductor
• 1937The Star Reporter in Hollywood — Louis Prima
• 1937You Can't Have Everything — Orchestra Leader
• 1936Rhythm on the Range — Trumpet Player
• 1936Swing It — Louis Prima - Band Leader
• 1936The Champ's a Chump — Band Leader Louis

Appearances as themselves (14)

• Legends — Self (archive footage)
• 1999Louis Prima: The Wildest! — Self
• 1984DTV: Golden Oldies — Self
• 1975Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins — Himself
• 1963Playgirls International — Himself
• The Mike Douglas Show — Self
• 1959Hey Boy! Hey Girl! — Himself
• 1958Senior Prom — Himself
• 1956Jazz Ball — Self (archive footage)
• The Dinah Shore Chevy Show — Self
• The Colgate Comedy Hour — Self
• The Ed Sullivan Show — Self
• 1938Swing Cat's Jamboree — Himself
• 1937Manhattan Merry-Go-Round — Self