Little Caesar (February 18, 1928 – June 12, 1994) was an American singer and actor. He began his recording career in the 1950s, recording for labels such as

Modern Modern may refer to: History * Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Phil ...

and

Recorded In Hollywood Recorded In Hollywood was an independent American record label specializing in rhythm and blues, active from the late 1940s to the end of the 1950s, which issued several sides by artists significant to the genre. John Dolphin (music producer), Joh ...

. He had a hit on the R&B chart with "Goodbye Baby" in 1952. As an actor, Harry Caesar was best known for his roles in ''The Longest Yard'' (1974) and ''

A Few Good Men ''A Few Good Men'' is a 1992 American legal drama film based on Aaron Sorkin's 1989 play. It was written by Sorkin, directed by Rob Reiner, and produced by Reiner, David Brown and Andrew Scheinman. It stars an ensemble cast including Tom C ...

'' (1992).

Biography

Little Caesar was born Harry Caesar to Alex Caesar and Hattie Chambers in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

on February 18, 1928. He had several older siblings. When Caesar was one, his mother died from

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or ...

. In 1930, his father moved to

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...

, looking for work and left Caesar and his siblings with relatives. By 1940, Caesar and his brother Richard had joined their father in Youngstown. Caesar attended

Rayen High School The Rayen School (also known as Rayen High School and colloquially as simply Rayen) was a public high school in Youngstown, Ohio, United States. At the time it was closed in 2007, it was the oldest of the three high schools in the city. The high ...

in Youngstown. During his teenage years he was rebellious and joined the Wolf Gang, going by the nickname "Kid Wolf". He ended up in jail and was drafted into the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

in 1948. In the Army, he represented

Fort Ord Fort Ord is a former United States Army post on Monterey Bay of the Pacific Ocean coast in California, which closed in 1994 due to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action. Most of the fort's land now makes up the Fort Ord National Monument, m ...

as a

heavyweight boxer Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

. When Caesar was discharged in 1950, he intended to pursue a boxing career, but after a disappointing match which ended in a draw, he switched careers to R&B music. Caesar moved to the San Francisco area and worked with The Peter Rabbit Trio. He later relocated to

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

and recorded for the

Bihari Brothers The Bihari brothers, Lester, Jules, Saul and Joe, were American businessmen of Hungarian Jewish origins. They were the founders of Modern Records in Los Angeles and its subsidiaries, such as Meteor Records, based in Memphis. The Bihari brothers wer ...

Modern Records Modern Records (Modern Music Records before 1947) was an American record company and label formed in 1945 in Los Angeles by the Bihari brothers. Modern's artists included Etta James, Joe Houston, Little Richard, Ike & Tina Turner and John Lee ...

and

John Dolphin John Robert Vernon Dolphin (1 October 19052 May 1973) was a British engineer and inventor, who joined the Secret Intelligence Service and then became the Commanding Officer of the top-secret Second World War Special Operations Executive (SOE) " ...

. In July 1952, Caesar performed at the 3rd Annual Blues Jubilee held at the

Shrine Auditorium The Shrine Auditorium is a landmark large-event venue in Los Angeles, California. It is also the headquarters of the Al Malaikah Temple, a division of the Shriners. It was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (No. 139) in 1975, and ...

and presented by

KLAC KLAC (570 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, serving Greater Los Angeles and much of surrounding Southern California. Owned by a joint venture between iHeartMedia, Inc. and the Los Angeles Dodgers bas ...

Gene Norman GNP Crescendo Record Co. is an independent record label founded in 1954 by Gene Norman ''(né'' Eugene Abraham Nabatoff; 1922–2015). It started as a producer of jazz, then expanded into many other genres, including comedy, rock, and ''Star Trek' ...

. His single, "Goodbye Baby", released on Recorded In Hollywood was very successful, reaching No. 5 on ''Billboard'''s Best Selling R&B chart in November 1952. In 1953, he released singles on Big Town Records and Modern's subsidiary

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

. In 1960, Caesar and his band the Ark Angels recorded for Jack Bee Records which soon became

Downey Records Downey Records was an American record label owned by Bill Wenzel (July 26, 1912 – November 20, 1999) in Downey, California, and distributed at times by Dot Records. Wenzel worked as a sound engineer for MGM studios and in 1958, opened We ...

. Caesar turned to acting in 1960, and until 1993, he appeared in numerous films and television shows. He appeared on the shows ''Julia'', ''

Sanford and Son ''Sanford and Son'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977. It was based on the British sitcom ''Steptoe and Son'', which initially aired on BBC One in the United ...

'', ''

Good Times ''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was television's first African ...

'', ''

The Dukes of Hazzard ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' is an American action comedy TV series that was aired on CBS from January 26, 1979 to February 8, 1985. The show aired for 147 episodes spanning seven seasons. It was consistently among the top-rated television series ...

'', and ''

L.A. Law ''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series that ran for eight seasons on NBC, from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, it centers on the partners, associates and staff of a Los ...

''. Caesar appeared in films such as ''The Longest Yard'' (1974),

Murder in Mississippi ''Murder in Mississippi'' is a 1990 television film which dramatized the last weeks of civil rights activists Michael "Mickey" Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney, and the events leading up to their disappearance and subsequent murder ...

(1990), and ''

'' (1992). In between acting jobs, Caesar continued to perform. He appeared with

Joe Liggins Joseph Christopher Liggins, Jr. (born Theodro Elliott; July 9, 1916 – July 26, 1987) was an American R&B, jazz and blues pianist and vocalist who led Joe Liggins and his Honeydrippers in the 1940s and 1950s. His band appeared often on the ''B ...

in the 1980s. In 1992, Casesar performed at the Desert Dixieland Jazz 7 at the Riviera Resort Hotel in

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land a ...

. Caesar was married to Marion Kane Bernot, they had three daughters: Jacqueline, Valerie, and Kimberly. He died on June 12, 1994, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. He is buried at

Inglewood Park Cemetery Inglewood Park Cemetery, 720 East Florence Avenue in Inglewood, California, was founded in 1905. A number of notable people, including entertainment and sports personalities, have been interred or entombed there. History The proposed est ...

Discography

Albums

* 1983: ''Lying Woman... Goodbye Baby'' (Route 66) *2008: ''Your On The Hour Man: The Complete Modern, Dolphin And Downey Recordings 1952-1960'' (Ace Records)

Singles

* 1952: "Don't Mention The Blues" / "Talkin' To Myself" (

233) * 1952: "(Going Down To) The River" / "Long Time Baby" (Recorded In Hollywood 234) * 1952: "Goodbye Baby" / "If I Could See My Baby" (Recorded In Hollywood 235) – peaked at No. 5 on

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

* 1952: "Lying Woman" / "Move Me" (Recorded In Hollywood 236) * 1953: "Here Is A Letter" / "You're Part of Me" -side_by_Red_Callender_Sextette.html" ;"title="Red_Callender.html" ;"title="-side by Red Callender">-side by Red Callender Sextette">Red_Callender.html" ;"title="-side by Red Callender">-side by Red Callender Sextette(Recorded In Hollywood 237) * 1953: "Your Money Ain't Long Enough" / "Do Right Blues" (Recorded In Hollywood 238) * 1953: "You Can't Bring Me Down" / "Atomic Love" (Recorded In Hollywood 239) * 1953: "Big Eyes" / "Can't Stand It All Alone" (Big Town 106) * 1953: "Chains of Love Have Disappeared" / "Tried To Reason With You Baby" (

393) * 1960: "I Hope That It's Me" / "What Are They Laughing About" (Jack Bee 1005) * 1960: "The Ghost of Mary Meade" / "The Ghost of Mary Meade (Instrumental)" (Jack Bee 1008) * 1964: "Show Me The Time" / "What Are They Laughing About" (Ride M-140)

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Little Caesar
on Unca Marvy {{DEFAULTSORT:Caesar, Little 1928 births 1994 deaths United States Army soldiers Male actors from Pittsburgh Musicians from Pittsburgh Male actors from Youngstown, Ohio Musicians from Youngstown, Ohio African-American male actors Recorded In Hollywood artists Modern Records artists RPM Records (United States) artists Downey Records artists 20th-century African-American male singers