Louis Armstrong
Known for: Acting
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana. Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an "inventive" cornet and trumpet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the music's focus from collective improvisation to solo performance. With his instantly recognizable deep and distinctive gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes. He was also greatly skilled at scat singing, vocalizing using sounds and syllables instead of actual lyrics. Renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet-playing, Armstrong's influence extends well beyond jazz music, and by the end of his career in the 1960s, he was widely regarded as a profound influence on popular music in general. Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to "cross over," whose skin-color was secondary to his amazing talent in an America that was severely racially divided. It allowed him socially acceptable access to the upper echelons of American society that were highly restricted for a person of color. While he rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay of fellow African-Americans, he was privately a huge supporter of the Civil Rights movement in America.
Filmography
Series
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
1962
Series
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self (archive footage)
1962
Series
The Dick Cavett Show
Self - Guest
1968
Series
Omnibus
Self
1967
Series
Omnibus
1967
Series
What's My Line?
Self
1950
Series
The Colgate Comedy Hour
Self
1950
Series
The Steve Allen Show
Self - Jazz Trumpeter
1956
Series
The Oscars
Self
1953
Series
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self
1948
Series
Kraft Music Hall
Self
1958
Series
Discorama
Self
1959
Series
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
Self
1956
Series
The Danny Kaye Show
Self
1963
Series
The Flip Wilson Show
Self
1970
Series
The Bell Telephone Hour
Self
1959
Series
Shindig!
Self - Singer
1964
Series
Shindig!
Self
1964
Series
The Hollywood Palace
Self
1964
Series
DuPont Show of the Month
Self
1957
Series
The Johnny Cash Show
Self
1969
Series
Jazz
Self (archive footage)
2001
Film
High Society
Louis Armstrong
1956
Film
Hello, Dolly!
Orchestra Leader
1969
Film
Paris Blues
Wild Man Moore
1961
Film
Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues
Self (archive footage)
2022
Film
Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat
Self (archive footage)
2024
The Pearl Bailey Show
Self
1971
Film
The Glenn Miller Story
Louis Armstrong
1954
Film
That's Entertainment, Part II
(archive footage)
1976
Film
Jazz Evolution
Self - Trumpet
2008
Film
Glory Alley
Shadow Johnson
1952
Film
A Song Is Born
Louis Armstrong
1948
Film
Saluti e baci
himself
1953
Film
Cabin in the Sky
The Trumpeter
1943
Film
The Sound of 007
Self (archive footage)
2022
Film
Bing Crosby: Rediscovered
Self (archive footage)
2014
Film
Bert Stern - Original Madman
2011
Film
A Man Called Adam
Willie Ferguson
1966
Film
Here Comes the Groom
Louis Armstrong (uncredited)
1951
Film
The Five Pennies
Louis Armstrong
1959
Film
The Beat Generation
Louis Armstrong
1959
Film
Going Places
Gabe
1938
Film
The All-Star Christmas Show
Self
1958
Film
Pennies from Heaven
Henry
1936
Film
The Strip
Himself
1951
Film
It's Black Entertainment
Self (archive footage)
2002
Film
Coldplay: Music of the Spheres - Live Broadcast from Buenos Aires
Self (voice) (archive sound)
2022
Film
Artists & Models
Self
1937
Film
Show-Business at War
Self
1943
Film
Auf Wiedersehen
er selbst
1961
Film
When the Boys Meet the Girls
Louise Armstrong
1965
Film
Atlantic City
Himself
1944
Film
Birth of the Blues
Self (archive footage)
1941
Film
The World of Polygoon
Self (archive footage)
1994
Film
Every Day's a Holiday
Louis Armstrong
1937
Film
New Orleans
Himself
1947
Film
Frankie Laine: An American Dreamer
Self (archive footage)
2006
Film
Shine
Self
1942
Film
I'm in the Revue
Band Leader
1950
Film
Bluesland: A Portrait in American Music
Self (archive footage)
1993
Film
Bix: Ain't None of Them Play Like Him Yet
Self
1982
Film
Ex-Flame
Louis Armstrong
1930
Film
A Rhapsody in Black and Blue
Himself
1932
Film
Pillow to Post
Orchestra Leader
1945
Film
Jazz on a Summer's Day
Self
1960
Film
Doctor Rhythm
Trumpet Player
1938
Film
Satchmo: The Life of Louis Armstrong
Self (archival footage)
1992
Louis Armstrong v Praze
Self
1965
Film
The Harlem Renaissance
Self (archive footage)
2004
Film
Eric Burdon: Rock 'n' Roll Animal
Self (Archive Footage) (Uncredited)
2019
Film
Mahalia Jackson: The Power and the Glory
1997
Film
Jazz Ball
Self (archive footage)
1956
Film
The Day of the Oath
Self
1965
Film
København, Kalundborg og -?
1934
Film
The Jazz Ambassadors
Self (archive footage)
2018
Film
Louis Armstrong: Live in Australia
Chanteur, Trompettiste,
1964
Film
Kærlighedens melodi
Musician with Orchestra
1959
Film
Disneyland After Dark
1962
Cole Porter in Hollywood: True Love
Self (Archive Footage)
2003
Film
…Sings Musicals
Self (archive footage)
2012
Berlin-Melodie
1963
Film
The Story Of The Blues
Self
2004
Film
The Best Of Danny Kaye - The Television Years
Self (archive footage)
1993
Film
The Edsel Show
Self
1957
Film
The Magic of Bing Crosby
Self (archive footage)
1991
Film
Dark Eyes
Self (archive footage)
2021
Film
Louis Armstrong: 100th Anniversary 1901-2001
Himself (archive footage)
2001
Film
La Paloma
Louis Armstrong
1959
Film
Louis Armstrong: The Louis Armstrong Show
Trumpet/Vocals
2005
Film
The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong
Self (archive footage)
1999
Sleepy Time Down South
Self
1942
The Best Of Louis Armstrong: Satchmo At His Best
Self
2009
Film
I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You
Louis Armstrong
1932
Film
Jam Session
Himself
1944
Hallo Satchmo
Self
1965
Film
Billie Holiday: The Ultimate Collection
Himself
2005
Film
Jazz Legends in Their Own Words
Self (archive footage)
2014
Film
Why America
Self (archive footage)
1970
Film
Benny Goodman - Adventures In The Kingdom Of Swing
Self (archive footage)
1993
Film
Louis Armstrong: Live in '59
Trumpet, Vocal
2006
Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong: Ella and Louis & Ella and Louis Again
Self
2013
Film
Satchmo the Great
1957
Film
Good Evening Ev'rybody: In Celebration of Louis Armstrong
Self
2008
Rhein-Melodie - Wein, Gesang und gute Laune
himself
1966
Film
Music Inn
Himself (archive footage)
2007
Film
Året var 1955
Self (archive footage)
2005
Film
Louis Armstrong & Benny Goodman - Sounds in Motion
2000
Louis Armstrong in Copenhagen
Himself
1934
Film
Swingin' on Nothin'
Self
1942
Film
Swing With Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman and Tony Bennett
2001
On the Road with Duke Ellington
Self
1974
Louis Armstrong in Concert
Self - Performer (archive footage)
2021
Film
Louis Armstrong - Live In Stockholm 1962
Self
2007