Thread by @BoweryBoys

Nat King Cole, legendary crooner and one of the greatest entertainers of all time, was born 100 years ago today in Montgomery, AL. The enduring popularity of his music (Unforgettable, Mona Lisa) belies a career often hampered by racism and health issues. (1/10) #NatKingCole100

In 1946, when sponsors refused to support a radio show by a black artist, Cole underwrote it himself: King Cole Trio Time. A decade later, Cole also had difficulty finding sponsorship for his NBC TV show. He later said "Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark." 2/10 #NatKingCole100

In 1948 Adam Clayton Powell Jr officiated over Cole’s marriage to
singer Maria Hawkins Ellington at Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church. Thousands lined the sidewalks to see Nat and Maria dubbed 'the wedding of the century'. bit.ly/2W7JUpz (3/10) #NatKingCole100

Later that year, he and his wife moved into the upper-crust (and all white) neighborhood of Hancock Park in Los Angeles. One night the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan planted a burning cross on his front lawn. (4/10) #NatKingCole100

He was a chronic cigarette and pipe smoker. While playing an Easter Sunday concert at Carnegie Hall in 1953, according to @EBONYMag, "he collapsed with acute ulcers... Doctors had to remove part of his stomach to repair the damage.” (5/10) #NatKingCole100 bit.ly/2Y49C03

Cole continued to perform for all-white audiences in segregated venues, eventually angering his black fans. New Amsterdam News: "Thousands of Harlem blacks ... turned their backs on him this week as the crooner continue[d] to play to Jim Crow audiences." (6/10) #NatKingCole100

In 1956, during a concert in Birmingham, three members of the Ku Klux Klan of the Confederacy attacked Cole during a performance, intending to kidnap him. (Photo @DetroitLibrary) (7/10) #NatKingCole100 bit.ly/2CmihSk

The Birmingham incident, paired w. continuing criticism, led Cole to participate in the civil rights movement. He boycotted segregated venues and was even involved in early March on Washington planning. From Brian Ward's 'Just My Soul Responding: (8/10) #NatKingCole100

Cole died of lung cancer at age 45, an unbelievably young age for a performer with such prolific output. He’s described in his @latimes obit as “an inveterate cigaret and pipe smoker.” The @NYDailyNews published a strike front page: bit.ly/2Y2Dhqs (9/10) #NatKingCole100

Joining Cole’s grieving family at the funeral at Los Angeles' St. James Episcopal Church were Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Sammy Davis Jr, Jack Benny, Rosemarry Clooney, Peter Lawford and George Burns. (10/10) #NatKingCole100

Main sources for these Tweets include @EBONYMag, @latimes, @hwmag, @NYDailyNews, @NYAmNews and @aldotcom. You can read Ebony's original 1965 remembrance of Cole here: bit.ly/2UHy4lM