Jimmy Boyd, performer who recorded "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," was born 83 years ago today.
A singer, musician and actor, Boyd was born near McComb, Mississippi. As a child, he was taken to a country and western dance. Jimmy's older brother, Kenneth, about nine years old at the time, went up to the bandstand and told the band leader, Texas Jim Lewis, that he should hear his little brother sing and play the guitar. Lewis called seven-year-old Jimmy up to the stage to perform.
After the dance was over, Lewis and the manager of a local radio station approached Boyd’s parents to ask if he could be a part of the hour-long radio show they planned to broadcast from the dance every Saturday night, offering to pay Boyd $50 for every appearance.
While in Los Angeles, the family was told about auditions being held for the Al Jarvis Talent Show on KLAC-TV (now KCOP-TV). Boyd auditioned for Jarvis and appeared on the show that night. He won the contest, and the next day Jarvis and KLAC received numerous telegrams and telephone calls from viewers.
Al Jarvis, with co-host Betty White, had a five-hour-a-day, six-day-a-week talk show on KLAC-TV called Hollywood On Television. Jarvis immediately announced that Boyd would be a regular on the show. Several appearances singing and doing comedy skits with Frank Sinatra on CBS-TV's The Frank Sinatra Show soon followed.
Boyd recorded the song "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" for Columbia Records, when he was 13. It became a hit, selling over two and a half million records in its first week's release and Boyd's name became known internationally. Columbia Records executives were baffled at the song's popularity. They had already presented Boyd with two gold records.
Boyd's record went to #1 on the charts again the following year at Christmas, and continues to sell as a Christmas song. It has reportedly sold more than sixty million copies since its initial release. Boyd owned horses, so Columbia presented him with a silver mounted saddle.
Inscribed in the silver plate on the back of the saddle were the words, "Presented by Columbia Records to Jimmy Boyd commemorating his 3,000,000 record of 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus'."
When first released, Boyd's record was banned in Boston by the Roman Catholic Church on the grounds it mixed sex with Christmas. Boyd made worldwide news when he went to Boston and met with the leaders of the Church to explain the song. The following Christmas the ban was lifted.
Boyd died of cancer in 2009 at the age of 70.
Here, Boyd performs “With A 'No' That Sounds Like 'Yes'” with Betty White, 1958