Fats Waller , born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer. Thomas Wright Waller was the youngest of four children born to Adaline Locket Waller and the Reverend Edward Martin Waller. He started playing the piano when he was six and graduated to the organ of his father's church four years later. At the age of fourteen he was playing the organ at Harlem's Lincoln Theater and within twelve months he had composed his first rag. Waller's first piano solos were recorded in October 1922 when he was 18 years old. He was the prize pupil, and... later friend and colleague, of stride pianist James P. Johnson. Fats Waller was the son of a preacher and learned to play the organ in church with his mother. Overcoming opposition from his clergyman father, Waller became a professional pianist at 15, working in cabarets and theaters. In 1918 he won a talent contest playing Johnson's "Carolina Shout", a song he learned from watching a player piano play it.
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| Birthdate: | May 21, 1904 |
| Birthplace: | New York City |
| Date of death: | December 15, 1943 |
| Weight: | 299.8 lbs. |
| Also known as: | Waller Fats, Thomas Wright Waller, Thomas 'Fats' Walter |