A Blog begun years ago as a stroll
on the Funny Side of Serious Street, highlighting India's problems.
Revived now by adding memories of old Bombay, including excerpts from
Dreams of One Country.
Does anyone remember Sabu?
He's India's only-ever Hollywood hero.
The boy star of several British and Hollywood movie hits, his is an amazing story. Sabu was born in 1924 and lost his father when he was 9. He was discovered by a British documentary producer who was shooting around Mysore. He watched the boy mahout playing with the Maharajah's elephants. The jumbos would draw water into their trunks and spray it over Sabu. The boy would run up the elephant's trunk and his friend would lift the trunk to help him reach its back. The jumbos and the boy were as chummy as school-friends. And so, Sabu's first movie was The Elephant Boy (1937). He starred in other London productions. Then he went off to Hollywood, where he settled down. All his movies were the teenage adventure type, some linked to Rudyard Kipling's stories set in India. Sabu married Marilyn Cooper, an actress. They had two children, Paul and Jasmine. (His son Paul Sabu started a band and went on to become a popular American vocalist.)
In 1944 Sabu joined the US Army's Air Force and fought in World War II as a turret gunner in American bombers targeting Germany. Among the honours he received for his wartime service were a Distinguished Flying Cross.
His movies include The Drum (1938), Thief of Baghdad (1940), Jungle Book (1944), Black Narcissus (1947) with Jean Simmons and Walt Disney's A Tiger Walks (1963).
He died at the age of 39 - of a heart attack. On Hollywood's famous Walk of Fame on Sunset Boulevard, Sabu has his palm imprint (made on wet cement) on the pavement in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater, along with those of other Hollywood notables.
Sabu's rise as an unlettered boy from a corner of India and his achievements in a short span of time are as incredible as any movie story! And yet, how many people in India remember him? That's life!
Tail-Lights:
India's OnlyEver Hollywood Hero
Does anyone remember Sabu?
He's India's only-ever Hollywood hero.
The boy star of several British and Hollywood movie hits, his is an amazing story. Sabu was born in 1924 and lost his father when he was 9. He was discovered by a British documentary producer who was shooting around Mysore. He watched the boy mahout playing with the Maharajah's elephants. The jumbos would draw water into their trunks and spray it over Sabu. The boy would run up the elephant's trunk and his friend would lift the trunk to help him reach its back. The jumbos and the boy were as chummy as school-friends. And so, Sabu's first movie was The Elephant Boy (1937). He starred in other London productions. Then he went off to Hollywood, where he settled down. All his movies were the teenage adventure type, some linked to Rudyard Kipling's stories set in India. Sabu married Marilyn Cooper, an actress. They had two children, Paul and Jasmine. (His son Paul Sabu started a band and went on to become a popular American vocalist.)
In 1944 Sabu joined the US Army's Air Force and fought in World War II as a turret gunner in American bombers targeting Germany. Among the honours he received for his wartime service were a Distinguished Flying Cross.
His movies include The Drum (1938), Thief of Baghdad (1940), Jungle Book (1944), Black Narcissus (1947) with Jean Simmons and Walt Disney's A Tiger Walks (1963).
He died at the age of 39 - of a heart attack. On Hollywood's famous Walk of Fame on Sunset Boulevard, Sabu has his palm imprint (made on wet cement) on the pavement in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater, along with those of other Hollywood notables.
Sabu's rise as an unlettered boy from a corner of India and his achievements in a short span of time are as incredible as any movie story! And yet, how many people in India remember him? That's life!
*
Tail-Lights:
New India Theme
A Revolutionary Theme, the people's inspired March to an Ek Desh India, lights up Dreams of One Country by Jagjit (and John Daniel). You can easily check it out on Amazon.com. If a transforming India theme appeals to you, venture to download the novel on any device - I-phone, pad or computer.
***
