Bill Henderson born 19 March 1926

William Randall "Bill" Henderson (March 19, 1926 – April 3, 2016) was an American jazz singer and actor in television and film. 

Born in Chicago, Henderson made his show business debut as a singer and dancer at the age of four, winning in Phil Baker's Artist and Models amateur show. He did a two-year stint in the Army, serving in Europe with a Special Services orchestra and sharing vocal duties with Vic Damone. Returning to Chicago's musically rich South Side as a civilian, Henderson obtained a steady gig at a club called Stelzer Lounge, performing with the then little-known Ramsey Lewis Trio.

New York City beckoned Henderson in 1956. It was there he recalls that he "got my first sanction as a singer. I was singing at the Village Vanguard and Sonny Rollins was backstage with his sax. Before I knew it, he was onstage, sitting in and playing behind me. What a thrill!" Henderson's first big break came in 1957 when Horace Silver hired him to record a vocal version of Silver's popular instrumental "Senor Blues" for Blue Note Records. This recording still stands as one of the biggest selling singles in the label's history.

 

 

                          
After touring with Silver and a second recording of "Angel Eyes" for Blue Note, this time backed by the Jimmy Smith Trio, Henderson started recording for the Vee-Jay label and remained with them from 1958 to 1961, "I got to work with musicians such as Ramsey, Tommy Flanagan, Eddie Higgins and Eddie Harris and arrangers like Jimmy Jones and Thad Jones. Also, during that time, I toured Japan with an edition of Blakey's Jazz Messengers that included Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter and Bobby Timmons." A 1963 album with Oscar Peterson, which remains the biggest seller of his career, was followed by the more commercial When My Dreamboat Comes Home for Verve.

Then, in 1965 and at the recommendation of Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Henderson joined the Count Basie band. During his two years with the band, only one song featuring Henderson (an arrangement of The Beatles' "Yesterday") appeared on vinyl on the Verve album Basie's Beatles Bag.  
It was also during his time with Basie that he received his "second sanction". It was in New York City at the now defunct club Basin Street East and it came in the person of Frank Sinatra. It seems that Henderson was getting ready to go on and Sinatra appeared on stage. "It was a setup," he recalls. "The band had his arrangements ready and everything. So, Sinatra did four tunes and then introduced me!"
 
After this, Henderson stepped into his "second" career. At the suggestion of his friend Bill Cosby, he decided to pursue an acting career and in 1967 relocated to Hollywood. Henderson started with mostly voice-overs and commercials but they were shortly followed by a steady stream of TV and movie roles. His television credits include such shows as Sanford and Son, Happy Days, Hill Street Blues, In The Heat of the Night, NYPD Blue, ER, Cold Case and, most recently, My Name Is Earl. Henderson's movie work includes appearances in Silver Streak, Mother, Juggs & Speed, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, Fletch, City Slickers, White Men Can't Jump, Maverick, Conspiracy Theory, Lethal Weapon 4 and The Alibi.
 
Henderson was a fixture on the Playboy circuit in the 1970s and appeared often at many festivals, including Playboy Jazz at the Hollywood Bowl, Monterey Jazz and the Litchfield Jazz Festival in Connecticut. Later, he performed at The Kennedy Centre and in New York at the Hotel Algonquin's Oak Room and at Lincoln Centre.  He occasionally led a group containing both pianist Dave MacKay and pianist/vocalist Joyce Collins. Henderson (who recorded a couple of albums for Discovery in the 1970s) performed regularly in the Los Angeles area.
 
Henderson also recorded his own vocal tracks as "King Blues" for the comedy film Get Crazy (1983). He   made a guest vocal appearance on Charlie Haden's album The Art of the Song (1999). In his 80s, he released a self-produced album, Beautiful Memory, co-produced by Lynne Robin Green.
 
In his later years Henderson suffered from Alzheimer's disease. He died of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles, April 3, 2016, two weeks after his 90th birthday.
 
(Compiled and edited from various sources but mainly from All about jazz)