Profile of Slim Whitman on Famous Like Me

Slim Whitman (born January 20, 1924 in Tampa, Florida) is an American country music singer and songwriter.

Born Otis Dewey Whitman, Jr., he is one of the best-selling and most influential artists in country music history and yet at the same time is one of the most unrecognized by the American public at large. Growing up, Whitman liked the country music of Jimmie Rodgers that he was hearing on the radio but did not embark on a musical career until the end of World War II after he had served in the South Pacific with the United States Navy.

Self-taught on the guitar, Otis Whitman worked at a shipyard in Tampa while developing a musical career, eventually performing with a band known as the "Variety Rhythm Boys". Whitman's first big break came when agent Colonel Tom Parker heard him singing on the radio and offered to represent him. Signed with RCA Records, he was billed as the cowboy singer, "Slim Whitman" and released his first 45rpm single in 1948. He toured and sang at a variety of venues including on the popular radio show, the Louisiana Hayride. Nevertheless, he was not able to make a living from music and had to keep a part-time job. That changed in the early 1950s after he recorded a version of the Bob Nolan hit "Love Song of the Waterfall" that made it into the country music Top 10 chart. His next single, "Indian Love Call", was even more successful, going to the No.2 position, and actually saving the world in the 1996 movie Mars Attacks!, where it proves fatal to the invading Martians. A yodeler, Whitman avoided the "down on yer luck-buried in booze" songs, preferring instead to sing laid-back romantic melodies about simple life and love.

In 1955, in the United Kingdom, he had a No.1 hit on the pop music charts with "Rose Marie". With eleven weeks at the top of the charts, the song set a record that lasted for thity-six years. Soon after recording this big hit Whitman was invited to join the Grand Ole Opry and in 1957, along with other musical stars, he appeared in the film musical, Jamboree. Despite this type of exposure, he never achieved the level of stardom in the United States that he did in Britain where he had a number of hits during the 1950s and 60s. Throughout the early 1970s, he continued to record and was a guest on Wolfman Jack's musical television show, "The Midnight Special". At the time, Whitman's recording efforts were yielding only minor hits and in 1974 he stopped making new records. Five years later, a collection of his best songs were put into an album and heavily marketed on television. The success of the album brought more releases of old songs and regular tours for loyal fans in the U.S. and particularly in Europe that have continued for more than two decades.

For his contribution to the recording industry, Slim Whitman has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1709 Vine Street.

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