- Born
- Died
- Birth nameGeorge Albert Shearing
- Nickname
- "The Serene Poet of Jazz"
- George Shearing was born on August 13, 1919 in Battersea, London, England, UK. He was a composer and actor, known for Bedtime Stories (2008), Green Book (2018) and The Muppets (2011). He was married to Eleanor Geffert and Beatrice Bayes. He died on February 14, 2011 in New York City, New York, USA.
- SpousesEleanor Geffert(July 27, 1984 - February 14, 2011) (his death)Beatrice Bayes (divorced)
- British (later naturalized American) jazz pianist/composer, accidentally blinded when only a few days old. A prolific recording artist for the MGM, Capitol, and Concord Jazz labels, with his quintet and trio, his theme song, which he also composed, is "Lullabye of Birdland."
- He was awarded the O.B.E. (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen's Honours List for his services to jazz music.
- He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 1716 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.
- Born the youngest of nine children to impoverished working-class parents--his father was a coal delivery man and his mother cleaned trains in the evening.
- Learned to play piano from the age of three. During his teens he played in a blind students' band led by Claude Bampton before joining the orchestra of Bert Ambrose. During World War II he played in Harry Parry's Radio Rhythm Club Band, doubling on accordion for Frank Weir and his Sextet in 1947.
- Everything, everything, whether jazz or classical music, literature or conversation, must have architecture and direction. And those who criticize us for confining jazz to such a requirement do not appreciate that in music, abandonment is fine, but indiscipline is death.
- 'Have you been blind all your life?" an interviewer asked. "Not yet," said George Shearing
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