R.I.P. Jimmy Boyd

[Reza]

NY Times March 10, 2009

Jimmy Boyd, Actor and Child Singer, Dies at 70

By DENNIS HEVESI

Jimmy Boyd, who as a skinny, red-headed kid of 12 recorded “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” then reprised it dozens of times on television variety shows in the 1950s and went on to an acting career in movies and television, died on Saturday in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 70 and lived on a sailboat moored in Santa Monica Bay.

The cause was cancer, said Eleanor Pillsbury, a longtime friend.

The song begins:

I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus ,

underneath the mistletoe last night.

She didn’t see me creep

down the stairs to have a peep;

She thought that I was tucked up in my bedroom fast asleep.

Written by Tommie Connor, it was an immediate hit in 1952, selling 2.5 million copies within weeks of its release. It has been covered through the years by, among many others, the Jackson Five, John Mellencamp and Twisted Sister.

It was not popular with everyone back in 1952. Initially ­ until it was made clear that Santa was really Daddy in costume ­ the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston condemned it as mixing sex with Christmas.

For Jimmy, the song was the ticket to appearances on television shows hosted by Ed Sullivan , Perry Como, Doris Day , Bing Crosby and Bob Hope , among others. His boyish charm and a comedic touch led to an acting career.

At 15, he was cast by Universal Pictures as the kid brother in “The Second Greatest Sex,” a musical set in the Old West. In 1957, he played the title role in The United States Steel Hour’s telecast of a musical version of “Huckleberry Finn.” For 25 episodes, from 1958 to 1962, he was the boyfriend of the daughter on the sitcom “Bachelor Father.” Among his film roles was the biology student in “Inherit the Wind,” the 1960 movie classic about the Scopes “Monkey Trial.”

Born on Jan. 9, 1939, on a small farm in McComb, Miss., Mr. Boyd was one of two sons of Leslie and Winnie Boyd. Struggling in the Depression, the family resettled in Riverside, Calif.

When Jimmy was 4, his father started giving him guitar and harmonica lessons. At 7, he was playing and singing at barn dances. Texas Jim Lewis, a country-western bandleader, heard Jimmy sing and signed him up for his Saturday night radio show. That led to a winning performance in a radio talent show in Los Angeles and the contract to sing “I Saw Mommy...“

Mr. Boyd was married from 1960 to 1962 to Yvonne Craig, an actress, and from 1980 to 1984 to the former Anne Forrey. Both marriages ended in divorce. He is survived by a son, Devon, from his second marriage.