Entertainer Jimmy Watson, who died Feb. 24 at age 81, began his stage career when he replaced one of the original Ink Spots in 1954 and later became a popular emcee at Colorado nightclubs and conventions.
From the late 1960s to the ’80s, Watson starred as a headline attraction at local venues, including The Tropics, 400, Omni, Horizon, Club Shalimar, Tacosa Country Club, the New Ready Room, the Voters’ Club and the Lido in Greeley.
James Arvin Watson was one of three children born in Chicago to a career military man and his wife. Because the family moved repeatedly for his father’s assignments, Watson became practiced at making friends by striking up conversations with strangers.
Tall and handsome with a born performer’s sense of timing, Watson won over strangers with wry quips and a flair for transforming a straggle of onlookers into an audience. Later, he endeared himself to club audiences by warmly greeting late arrivals by name, and calling attention to stylish patrons’ catchy ensembles.
“Oh, look what she’s got on,” he would say, interrupting himself in the middle of a song or dance. “Isn’t that gorgeous? And there’s Sam. Don’t you look good? Joe! C’mon in, man!”
While his family and friends were never quite clear on the details, they know Watson married several times.
“He was good, very good”
He got into show business during his years in California, when he won a spot in the 1954-62 incarnation of the Ink Spots, whose last big hit in the group’s original form was “To Each His Own” in 1948.
The Ink Spots gigs led to befriending the pianist who accompanied Sammy Davis Jr. and, according to Watson’s friends, keeping company with Sammy Davis Jr. as well.
The drowning death of Watson’s youngest child devastated him and ended one marriage. By the early 1960s, Watson was in Colorado, forging a career in jazz clubs and other outlets, including local versions of the Playboy Club.
“He was a typical comedian- emcee,” said longtime friend Peggy Derry. “And he sang and danced. I wish he’d followed his singing. He was good, very good. He could have been a singer or a dancer. He was multitalented.”
Watson was one of the most popular emcees at The Tropics, a Denver nightclub known for its gimmick of spraying patrons with a mist every hour. Watson tailored his act to The Tropics’ theme, making “Girl from Ipanema” a regular song in his act there.
“Original, witty, contemporary and above all, entertaining,” wrote Donald A. Waknin, general manager of the Regency Rodeway Inn, after Watson performed there in 1972.
“Come early and try our PRIME RIB DINNER and stay for an evening of fine entertainment,” urged the New Ready Room, which often featured Watson.
Emcee skills filled the gap
Emceeing wavered between being vocation and avocation, depending on Watson’s marital status and financial responsibilities. As disco and rock clubs replaced jazz bars and nightclubs, Watson increasingly relied upon day jobs to supplement his entertainment income.
He worked as a security guard at Stapleton International Airport, and for a time sold cars at the former Seifert dealership near Buckingham Square.
As The Tropics, the New Ready Room and other longtime standby clubs started closing, Watson found himself emceeing benefit dinners and fundraisers. He was a hit with local chapters of the NAACP, Concerned Citizens Congress of Northeast Denver, Freedom Fund advocates and other organizations.
When his son Jimmy was born in 1982, Watson took on the job of raising him mostly on his own.
His son became Little Jimmy. The nickname stuck even after adulthood, when Little Jimmy’s physique was markedly more substantial than that of his father.
Watson taught his son everything he knew about jazz and entertainment. He took Little Jimmy backstage to meet performers and get their autographs. Watson trained Little Jimmy as an a capella singer as well.
Among friends, Watson burnished his reputation as a Louisiana comfort-foods chef. He fixed excellent gumbo, shrimp Creole, red beans and rice, and sweet desserts featuring canned fruit.
His jokes, ranging from raunchy to family-friendly, included many references to his experience as a black man. At home, Watson encouraged his son’s friendships with those of different backgrounds.
“He and I had friends – Muslim friends, Buddhist friends, Jewish friends, American Indian friends – and he made ’em all laugh,” Little Jimmy Watson said. “He always told me, ‘Laughter is what brings people together.”‘
A memorial service for Watson will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Heritage Christian Center, 9495 E. Florida Ave. He is survived by his son, who lives in Denver.
Staff writer Claire Martin can be reached at 303-820-1477 or cmartin@denverpost.com.
