Pinky Tomlin(1907-1987)

Pinky Tomlin (so called because his pale hair and fair complexion sunburned easily) was born in Eros, Arkansas, but grew up on a farm in Durant, Oklahoma. A boyhood fascination with music soon gave him a reputation as a good banjoist--at 16 he was hired by Louis Armstrong for a riverboat gig--and Tomlin soon gravitated toward the guitar. He came to national attention when he personally introduced his original song, "The Object of My Affection." His disarming, easygoing style and lean, bespectacled looks belied a shrewd business instinct and an extensive education in music, law and geology. He earned featured roles in movies, as well as starring roles in four pleasant, low-budget features for Melody Pictures, but his first love was music, and he concentrated on songwriting and performing until too many hectic road tours soured him on the music business. He fell back on his collegiate interest in geology, and.soon became an oilman. His philosophy: "There are only three essentials: work to do, someone to love and something to hope for." Pinky Tomlin's biography, appropriately titled "The Object of My Affection," was published in 1981.