Scott, Tommy, 1917-2013

Tommy Scott began his career in entertainment playing guitar and singing for local square dances. He performed on a radio broadcast for the first time in 1933, and, in 1936, joined Doc Chamberlain's Medicine Show, which had toured the South since 1890. In 1938, Scott took over the show, which was later known as Ramblin' Tommy Scott's Hollywood Hillbilly Jamboree. Scott performed on radio station WWVA in Wheeling, W. Va., where he developed characters and routines that were later featured in his live, radio, and television appearances, including a blackface character named Lightning and a ventriloquist act featuring the puppet Luke McLuke. Scott wrote a number of hit country and western songs and appeared in several feature films. The Ramblin' Tommy Scott Show, which began airing in 1948, was the first country music show on television. During the 1950s, Scott had another show on television called Tommy Scott's Smokey Mountain Jamboree.

Country performer. Born June 24, 1917. Full name: Tommy Lee Scott. AKA: Ramblin' Tommy Scott. Career active 1930s-2000s. Leader of what he calls "America's Last Real Medicine Show." Started career as a medicine show performer in the 1930s. A television pioneer, in 1946 he filmed fifty-two quarter-hour shows for syndication. Recorded for several labels, including King, Bullet, and Four Star. Briefly appeared on the Grand Ole Opry as a ventriloquist.

Ramblin' Tommy Scott was born on 24 June 1917 near Toccoa, Ga. He began his career in entertainment playing guitar and singing for local square dances. He performed on a radio broadcast for the first time in 1933, on WTFL in Athens, Ga. In 1936, he joined Doc Chamberlain's Medicine Show, which had toured the South since 1890. In 1938, Scott took over the show.

In 1937, Scott joined the cast of the Uncle Pete and Minervy Show on WPTF in Raleigh, N.C. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Wheeling, W. Va., where he joined the Kentucky Partners, a band fronted by Charlie Monroe, the brother of bluegrass legend Bill Monroe. The Kentucky Partners performed on WWVA, where Scott developed characters and routines that were featured in his live, radio, and television appearances in subsequent years, including a blackface character named Lightning and a ventriloquist act featuring the puppet Luke McLuke. He also appeared on the Garrett and Dental Snuff Program at WMC in Memphis, Tenn., and on the Grand Ole Opry with Roy Acuff and Uncle Dave Mason.

Scott wrote a number of hit country and western songs, including Rosebuds and You and You Are the Rainbow of My Dreams. He continued to tour with Doc Chamberlain's Medicine Show, now known as Ramblin' Tommy Scott's Hollywood Hillbilly Jamboree. His wife, Frankie Scott, whom he married in 1939, and his daughter, Sandre Scott, both performed in the show. Tommy Scott appeared in the feature films Trail of the Hawk, Mountain Capers, Hillbilly Harmony, and Southern Hayride . The Ramblin' Tommy Scott Show, which began airing in 1948, was the first country music show on television. During the 1950s, Scott had another show on television, Tommy Scott's Smokey Mountain Jamboree . In subsequent decades, Scott continued to tour in the medicine show (Scott claimed that the show performed more than 29,000 times) and appeared on The Today Show, Late Night with David Letterman, and Oprah Winfrey . He was the subject of a PBS documentary Still Ramblin' . In 2007, he published his memoir, Snake Oil, Superstars, and Me .