Pinky Tomlin Movies and Career Information

Truman "Pinky" Tomlin (1907–1987) was a singer, songwriter, and bandleader of the 1930s and 1940s. He also acted in occasional motion pictures. During his lifetime, he wrote and published 22 songs, several of which were in the top ten on the "Hit Parade." In 1938, a song he had written, titled "In Ole Oklahoma," was adopted as Oklahoma’s state song. Born Truman Tomlin in Eros, Arkansas (and nicknamed Pinky because his red hair and fair complexion sunburned easily), he grew up in Durant, Oklahoma. A boyhood fascination with music soon gave him a widespread reputation as a banjoist and, at age 16 he was hired to play on a riverboat in St. Louis, with the Louis Armstrong band. During that time, Pinky learned to play the guitar, which later became an important part of his live shows, both at the Roxy Theatre in New York and at the Biltmore Bowl in Hollywood. His disarming, easy style, belied an excellent business instinct and an extensive education in music, law, and geology, on which he would come to rely later in his life. He can be heard as a contestant on the 24th February 1958 edition of You Bet Your Life, performing The Object of My Affection before the quiz. He came to national