Pinky Tomlin(1907-1987)
- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Pinky Tomlin (so called because his pale hair and fair complexion
sunburned easily) was born in Eros, Arkansas, but grew up on a farm in
Durant, Oklahoma. A boyhood fascination with music soon gave him a
reputation as a good banjoist--at 16 he was hired by
Louis Armstrong for a riverboat
gig--and Tomlin soon gravitated toward the guitar. He came to national
attention when he personally introduced his original song, "The Object
of My Affection." His disarming, easygoing style and lean, bespectacled
looks belied a shrewd business instinct and an extensive education in
music, law and geology. He earned featured roles in movies, as well as
starring roles in four pleasant, low-budget features for Melody
Pictures, but his first love was music, and he concentrated on
songwriting and performing until too many hectic road tours soured him
on the music business. He fell back on his collegiate interest in
geology, and.soon became an oilman. His philosophy: "There are only
three essentials: work to do, someone to love and something to hope
for." Pinky Tomlin's biography, appropriately titled "The Object of My
Affection," was published in 1981.
