PALM DESERT, California (AP) – Jimmie Rodgers, singer of the 1957 hits “Honeycomb” and “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine,” whose music and film career was interrupted by a serious head injury a decade later, die at age 87.
Rodgers died of kidney disease Jan. 18 in Palm Desert, California, and had also tested positive for COVID-19, publicist Alan Eichler, who was quoting his family, said Saturday.
Rodgers acted for $ 10 a night around Nashville while staying there with the U.S. Air Force after the Korean War. He appeared on a talent show and got an audition with Roulette Records, who signed him after hearing him perform “Honeycomb,” a Bob Merrill song.
With a style of singing and playing guitar that included elements of country, folk and pop, the Camas, a native of Washington, recorded many other Top 10 hits in the late 1950s, including “Secretly,” “Oh-Oh, I’m Falling in Love “Again” and “Are You Really Mine? “
Rodgers continued to make albums for most of the 1960s, producing music that ranged from traditional songs such as “The Wreck Of The ‘John B.” and “English Country Garden” to popular foods such as the ballad “Child of Clay.” ”
He had established himself on television with performances in variety shows when he began acting in films during the 1960s. His film credits included “The Little Shepherd of the Coming Kingdom” and “Back Door to Hell” with a young Jack Nicholson.
In 1967, Rodgers was found in his car on a Los Angeles freeway suffering from a fractured skill and other injuries. He said he had stopped and stopped in response to a driver behind him who was making lights and that an attack by an off-duty police officer had injured his head.
“I rolled the window down to ask what was going on,” he told The Toronto Star in 1987. “That’s the last thing I remember.”
Los Angeles police officers insisted Rodgers had been injured in a fall while on drum. Rodgers filed a lawsuit and agreed to a $ 200,000 settlement. He later developed a condition that caused spasms in the muscles of his voice box. He also had occasional seizures, which he said were due to the attack.
After his initial recovery, Rodgers had a summer television show on ABC in 1969 and also performed at his own theater in Branson, Missouri.
In a 2016 interview with The Spectrum, a Utah newspaper, Rodgers recalled finding a $ 10 guitar and singing when he was in the Air Force and parked in Korea in 1953.
“We were sitting on the ground with only candles for the light, and these hard soldiers had tears running down their cheeks. I realized that if my music could have that effect, that was what I wanted to do with my life, ”he said.
Among the survivors are his wife, Mary Louise Biggerstaff, and five children from three marriages.