---
name: "Cab Calloway"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/cab-calloway"
fi1m_id: "cab-calloway"
imdb_id: "nm0130572"
tmdb_id: 7173
wikidata_id: "Q273079"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "25 December 1907"
died: "18 November 1994"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-17T23:34:36.362415+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Cab Calloway

## Identity

Cab Calloway

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/cab-calloway
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** cab-calloway
- **IMDb ID:** nm0130572
- **TMDB ID:** 7173
- **Wikidata ID:** Q273079
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cab_Calloway, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q273079, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0130572/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/7173

Actor. Born 25 December 1907 in Rochester, New York, USA. Died 18 November 1994.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 25 December 1907, Rochester, New York, USA
- **Died:** 18 November 1994
- **Also known as:** Cabell Calloway III
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cab_Calloway, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q273079, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0130572/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/7173

## Streaming the US now

- **Netflix:** [*The Blues Brothers*](https://film.one/film/the-blues-brothers.md) (81)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Cab Calloway, also credited as Cabell Calloway III, was an American singer, bandleader and actor. Born in Rochester, New York, he led a prominent big band from the 1930s through the 1940s and was associated with Harlem's Cotton Club. He performed the hit song "Minnie the Moocher" and appeared in films including *Stormy Weather* (1943) and *The Cincinnati Kid* (1965).

Calloway also worked in theatre, playing Sportin' Life in a touring production of *Porgy and Bess* (1952–1954) and Horace Vandergelder in the all-Black Broadway revival of *Hello, Dolly!* (1967). In 1980 he played the orphanage janitor Curtis in *The Blues Brothers*, performing "Minnie the Moocher" on screen. He continued performing until shortly before his death in 1994.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Blues Brothers* (1980), Fi1m 81, as Curtis — [page](https://film.one/film/the-blues-brothers.md)

## Complete filmography (36)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Fleischer Cartoons: The Art & Inventions of Max Fleischer* (2024), as The Old Man of the Mountain (voice) (archive sound)
- *The Blues Brothers* (1980), as Curtis — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/the-blues-brothers.md)
- *The Love Boat* (1977), series, as Lionel J. Bigelow
- *The Great Balloon Race* (1977), Actor
- *Harry O* (1974), series, Actor
- *The Littlest Angel* (1969), as Gabriel
- *The Cincinnati Kid* (1965), as Yeller
- *St. Louis Blues* (1958), as Blade
- *Porgy and Bess in Wien* (1953), Actor
- *Hallmark Hall of Fame* (1951), series, Actor
- *Cab Calloway Home Movie #1* (1951), Director
- *Cab Calloway Home Movie #3* (1951), Director
- *Cab Calloway Home Movie: Haiti* (1951), Director
- *Cab Calloway Home Movie #4* (1950), Director
- *Cab Calloway Home Movie #2* (1950), Director
- *Cab Calloway Home Movies* (1948), Director, Cinematography
- *Cab Calloway Home Movie #5* (1948), Director
- *Hi-De-Ho* (1947), as Cab
- *Foo a Little Bally-Hoo* (1945), Actor
- *I Was Here When You Left Me* (1945), Actor
- *Blowtop Blues* (1945), Actor
- *Walking with My Honey* (1945), Actor
- *Sensations of 1945* (1944), as Cab Calloway
- *Stormy Weather* (1943), as Cab Calloway
- *Blues in the Night* (1942), Actor
- *Hi-De-Ho* (1937), as Cab Calloway
- *The Singing Kid* (1936), as Cab Calloway
- *Cab Calloway's Jitterbug Party* (1935), Actor
- *Cab Calloway's Hi-De-Ho* (1934), as Cab Calloway
- *Betty Boop's Rise to Fame* (1934), as Old Man / Reporter
- *Jazz Icons: Cab Calloway* (1934), Actor
- *Snow-White* (1933), as Koko the Clown (voice)
- *International House* (1933), as Cab Calloway
- *The Big Broadcast* (1932), as Cab Calloway
- *Minnie the Moocher* (1932), as Cab Calloway
- *Ebony Parade*, as (archive footage)

## Gallery

- ![Cab Calloway](https://film.one/media/person/117527/gallery-9f99d6989393.jpg) Cab Calloway — Carl Van Vechten, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Cab_Calloway_1933.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Gottlieb, William P., 1917-, photographer. [Portrait of Cab Calloway, Columbia studio, New York, N.Y., ca. Mar. 1947] 1 negative : b&w ; 4 x 5 in. Notes: Go](https://film.one/media/person/117527/gallery-eff42c5f4234.jpg) Gottlieb, William P., 1917-, photographer. [Portrait of Cab Calloway, Columbia studio, New York, N.Y., ca. Mar. 1947] 1 negative : b&w ; 4 x 5 in. Notes: Go — The Library of Congress, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/%28Portrait_of_Cab_Calloway%2C_Columbia_studio%2C_New_York%2C_N.Y.%2C_ca._Mar._1947%29_%28LOC%29_%284888069887%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Gottlieb, William P., 1917-, photographer. [Portrait of Cab Calloway, Columbia studio, New York, N.Y., ca. Mar. 1947] 1 negative : b&w ; 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 in. N](https://film.one/media/person/117527/gallery-25cabdc25864.jpg) Gottlieb, William P., 1917-, photographer. [Portrait of Cab Calloway, Columbia studio, New York, N.Y., ca. Mar. 1947] 1 negative : b&w ; 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 in. N — The Library of Congress, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/%28Portrait_of_Cab_Calloway%2C_Columbia_studio%2C_New_York%2C_N.Y.%2C_ca._Mar._1947%29_%28LOC%29_%284888070807%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Gottlieb, William P., 1917-, photographer. [Portrait of Cab Calloway, Columbia studio, New York, N.Y., ca. Mar. 1947] 1 negative : b&w ; 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 in. N](https://film.one/media/person/117527/gallery-ad493b511752.jpg) Gottlieb, William P., 1917-, photographer. [Portrait of Cab Calloway, Columbia studio, New York, N.Y., ca. Mar. 1947] 1 negative : b&w ; 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 in. N — The Library of Congress, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/%28Portrait_of_Cab_Calloway%2C_Columbia_studio%2C_New_York%2C_N.Y.%2C_ca._Mar._1947%29_%28LOC%29_%284888071559%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Cab Calloway](https://film.one/media/person/117527/gallery-7d8e953e0fb0.jpg) Cab Calloway — Image via TMDB
- ![Cab Calloway](https://film.one/media/person/117527/gallery-401a084b03e1.jpg) Cab Calloway — Image via TMDB
- ![Cab Calloway](https://film.one/media/person/117527/gallery-d0501d71cba9.jpg) Cab Calloway — Image via TMDB
- ![Cab Calloway](https://film.one/media/person/117527/gallery-3d3d7961d199.jpg) Cab Calloway — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Other awards — 3 won

- Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award 2008: Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (won)
- National Medal of Arts 1993: National Medal of Arts (won)
- Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame 1982: Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/cab-calloway