THE NAT "KING" COLE SHOW

The Nat "King" Cole Show, premiered on NBC as a fifteen-minute weekly musical variety show in November 1956. Cole, an international star as a jazz pianist and uniquely gifted vocalist, became the first major black performer to host a network variety series. It was a bruising experience for him, however, and an episode in television history that illuminates the state of race relations in the United States at the dawn of the modern civil rights movement.

REGULAR PERFORMERS

Nat "King" Cole
The Boataneers (1953)
The Herman McCoy Singers
The Randy Van Horne Singers (1957)
The Jerry Graft Singers (1957)
The Cheerleaders (1957)
Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra

1.  1st Half-Hour Show  01-July-1957

W/ Frankie Lane

2. June Christy & Mel Torme

3. Pearl Bailey

4. Sammy Davis Jr.