Benjamin Sherman "Scatman" Crothers

 Benjamin Sherman "Scatman" Crothers (May 23, 1910 – November 22, 1986)

Crothers was known for his work as Louie the Garbage Man on the TV show Chico and the Man, and as Dick Hallorann in the Stanley Kubrick film The Shining in 1980. He was also a prolific voiceover artist, and provided the voices of Meadowlark Lemon in the animated TV version of The Harlem Globetrotters, Jazz the Autobot in The Transformers, the title character in Hong Kong Phooey, and Scat Cat in the 1970 animated Disney film The Aristocats. Crothers made his official debut in the movie Meet Me at the Fair (1953). He worked in both movies and television, often taking bit parts. He also made musical shorts and played drums with Slim Gaillard in the mid-1940s. Crothers then landed a major supporting role in the 1970 animated film The Aristocats from Walt Disney Productions, providing the voice of "Scat Cat". He also performed the film's theme song "Ev'rybody Wants to be a Cat". Good friends with Jack Nicholson, he appeared in four of his films: The King of Marvin Gardens (1972), The Fortune (1975), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), and The Shining (1980). A heavy smoker most of his life, Crothers was diagnosed with lung cancer in late 1985, but he kept his condition a secret in order to continue working. The cancer eventually spread to his esophagus by mid 1986, leaving him unable to speak. He died of pneumonia on November 22, 1986 at his home in Van Nuys, California at age 76. Crothers is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood Hills.