William Clayton "Pee Wee" Marquette (October 10, 1914 – September 21, 1992) was the former master of ceremonies at the
Birdland jazz club in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Born in
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...
, Marquette was the son of Willis and Kinnie Markett (or sometimes, Markette). Marquette was under four feet tall; some reports have stated three-and-a-half feet.
Marquette began his career with the
Francis Craig
Francis Craig (September 10, 1900 – November 19, 1966) was an American songwriter, honky tonk piano player, and leader of a Nashville dance band. His works included " Dynamite" and "Near You", the latter being the first Billboard #1 hit out of ...
Orchestra in
Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
, and was a part of that organization for ten years, both dancing and telling jokes. While in Nashville, Marquette lived in the home of Dr. Oliver L. Hambrick, an African American general practitioner. In 1936, "Willie (Pee Wee) Marquette" is listed as one of the performers in Nashville's spring musical, presented by the Friendship Interest Club, and held in the parlors of the Gardner Undertaking Company. In 1943, he moved to New York City "with $35 in his pocket". The owner of Club Zanzibar saw him walking by on the street, and offered him a job hosting; Marquette worked there off-and-on for five years, also hosting at Hank Armstrong's Melody Room. In 1949, he became host at the
Birdland jazz club in Manhattan, remaining there until 1965. On July 25, 1955, Marquette and other Birdland regulars like
Count Basie
William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...
appeared at New York's Dunderberg Field for an exhibition
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
game.
He had a reputation for being mean and demanding "tips" to the point of
extortion
Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...
. An explanation of his system was given by vibraphonist
Bobby Hutcherson
Robert Hutcherson (January 27, 1941 – August 15, 2016) was an American jazz vibraphone and marimba player. "Little B's Poem", from the 1966 Blue Note album '' Components'', is one of his best-known compositions.Huey, Steve. "Components – Bob ...
in an interview. He claimed Marquette told him on his first day that he was not needed and that he should "pack your things and get on out of here." This did not occur as he had been asked to play, but Marquette made Hutcherson's first night playing at the club difficult. Marquette intentionally mispronounced his name to embarrass Hutcherson and blew cigar smoke in his face to further the irritation. However once Marquette was paid his "tip" he pronounced Hutcherson's name correctly. This is said to have been a pattern for him: other musicians had similar stories of having to pay him to avoid
public humiliation
Public humiliation or public shaming is a form of punishment whose main feature is dishonoring or disgracing a person, usually an offender or a prisoner, especially in a public place. It was regularly used as a form of judicially sanctioned puni ...
. Perhaps because of this, or because of the era, most musicians who knew him still referred to him as a "
midget
Midget (from ''midge'', a tiny biting insect) is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered by some to be pejorative due to its etymology. While not a medical term like "dwarfism", a medical condition with a number of ca ...
".
He appeared on ''
Late Night with David Letterman
''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on NBC, the first iteration of the ''Late Night'' franchise. It premiered on February 1, 1982, and was produced by Letterman's production company ...
'' on February 6, 1985, during which he discussed his memories of being at the jazz club.
In 1988, Marquette filed a $2 million lawsuit against
Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
in Manhattan Supreme Court, alleging that the
Clint Eastwood
Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...
film ''
Bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
'' portrayed him (via actor Tony Cox) in an unflattering and demeaning manner. "It's a shame what they did," he said. "There's only one of me and everyone knows me." During this time, Marquette was working as a greeter and doorman at the Hawaii Kai restaurant in
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
.
Marquette died of
pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...
in September 1992.
A
compact disc
The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...
composed entirely of his emcee introductions, entitled ''Every Night at Birdland: The Lost Introductions'' was released in 2008. His voice can be heard making the introductions on the
Art Blakey
Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s.
Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...
Quintet's 1954 recordings issued as ''
A Night at Birdland''. His announcements are also documented on Blakey's other Birdland albums ''
At the Jazz Corner of the World'' (1959) and ''
Ugetsu
, is a 1953 Japanese historical drama and fantasy film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi starring Masayuki Mori and Machiko Kyō. It is based on two stories in Ueda Akinari's 1776 book of the same name, combining elements of the ''jidaigeki'' (peri ...
'' (1963). He can be heard in the introductory sequence and tail of "
Birdland" on the
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...
album ''
Back on the Block
''Back on the Block'' is a 1989 studio album produced by Quincy Jones. The album features legendary musicians and singers from across three generations, including Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Joe Zawinul, Ice-T, Big Daddy Kane, Sarah Vaughan, Di ...
'' (released in 1989) as well as the introduction on
Us3's hit song, "
Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)
"Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" is a song by British jazz-rap group Us3, originally released in October 1992 by Blue Note Records as the lead single from the group's debut album, ''Hand On the Torch'' (1993). The song was recorded as a demo a year b ...
."
Marquette introduction
/ref>
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marquette, Pee Wee
1914 births
1992 deaths
Musicians from Montgomery, Alabama
Entertainers with dwarfism
American people with disabilities
Masters of ceremonies