Duke Ellington
Biography
Duke Ellington was an American jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader who led his own orchestra from 1924 until his death in 1974. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., he moved to New York City in the mid-1920s and gained national attention through his orchestra's Cotton Club engagement. He wrote or collaborated on more than a thousand compositions and was known for concise pieces suited to the three-minute 78 rpm record, as well as for longer suites. At the end of the 1930s he began a long partnership with Billy Strayhorn, and in the early 1940s his band featured Jimmy Blanton on bass and Ben Webster on tenor saxophone. After a quieter period, a 1956 Newport Jazz Festival appearance sparked a major revival and world tours. Ellington recorded for many labels, scored and appeared in films, including Check and Double Check (1930), and composed stage musicals. In 1999 he was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize Special Award for music.
75years old at death
- Born Washington, D.C.
- Died New York City
- Star sign: TaurusThe sign runs April 20 to May 20
- Edward Kennedy Ellington (birth name)Also credited as Duke Elington and Mood Ellington
Movie Career
- Films
- 4
- Career span
- 94 years1930 to 2024
Every film, newest first
- 2024Soundtrack to a Coup d'ÉtatIMDb rating 7.8
- 2002It's Black EntertainmentIMDb rating 6.9
- 1955Rock 'n' Roll RevueIMDb rating 6.1
- 1930Check and Double CheckIMDb rating 4.8
Genres
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A role that slipped away
Ellington's love of music was so strong that he turned down an art scholarship in 1916. The scholarship was to the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.
Big break
Ellington got the Cotton Club engagement in 1927 after King Oliver turned down the regular booking and Jimmy McHugh suggested him, requiring him to expand from a six- to an 11-piece group for the audition.
Big break
Ellington played the Newport Jazz Festival on July 7, 1956, and his appearance there returned him to wider prominence. He called "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue," and Paul Gonsalves played a 27-chorus marathon solo.
A first
Ellington wrote the score for Otto Preminger's 1959 courtroom drama Anatomy of a Murder, in which he appeared fronting a roadhouse combo. Film historians call it a landmark, the first major Hollywood film music by African Americans whose source is not seen on screen.
First role
Ellington's first film was Black and Tan, a 1929 RKO short. The all-African-American picture ran 19 minutes, and in it he took the part of the hero "Duke".
Duke Ellington movies on Netflix
Worked with
Duke Ellington shares two films with Louis Armstrong, and one with each of the others. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Louis Armstrong's page
Nat 'King' Cole's page
Sammy Davis Jr.'s page
Vanessa Williams's page
Roscoe Ates's page
Ralf Harolde's page
Johan GrimonprezDirector, 1 film, 2024
Melville W. BrownDirector, 1 film, 1930
All films by Melville W. Brown
All films by Stan Lathan
Awards
Eleven awards and honors from 1957 to 1999, three of them major.
| Year | Award | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grammy Awards | |||
| 1972 | Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album | New Orleans Suite | Won |
| 1968 | Grammy Trustees Award | Won | |
| 1966 | Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award | Won | |
| Other honors | |||
| 1999 | Pulitzer Prize Special Citations and Awards (posthumous) | Won | |
| 1971 | Honorary doctor of the Berklee College of Music | Honorary | |
| 1971 | Songwriters Hall of Fame | Won | |
| 1969 | Presidential Medal of Freedom | Won | |
| 1959 | Spingarn Medal | Won | |
| 1957 | German Film Award for best original music | Jonas | Won |
| Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences | Won | ||
| Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame | Honored | ||
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.