(Thomas Wright), noted African-American jazz pianist, organist, singer, bandleader, and composer; b. N.Y., May 21, 1904; d. Kansas City, Mo., Dec. 15, 1943. As a child, Waller had private piano instruction and studied violin and double bass in school, but his most significant early lessons came from the player piano and nickelodeon pianists whom he studiously imitated. At 14 he was playing organ professionally in a Harlem theater, and at 16 he received piano training from Russell Brooks and JAMES P. JOHNSON. He claimed that he later had some lessons from Leopold Godowsky and studied composition with Karl Böhm at the Juilliard School of Music.

In 1922 Waller began to make recordings and in 1923 made his first appearance on the radio. He subsequently made frequent broadcasts as a singer and pianist. In 1928 he made his debut at N.Y.'s CARNEGIE HALL as a piano soloist. That year, with the lyricist Andy Razaf, he composed most of the music for the all-black Broadway musical Keep Shuffin'. They then collaborated on the shows Load of Coal and Hot Chocolates in 1929. He worked with Ted Lewis (1930), Jack Teagarden (1931), and Billy Banks's Rhythmakers (1932) before organizing his own band, Fats Waller and his Rhythm, in 1934.

In 1935 Waller relocated to the West Coast and appeared in the Hollywood films Hooray for Love and King of Burlesque. In 1938 and 1939 he toured Europe. In 1943 he appeared in the Hollywood film Stormy Weather leading an all-star band.

Waller was a leading exponent of STRIDE piano, playing with a delicacy and lightness of touch that belied his considerable bulk of almost 300 pounds. Much of his popularity was due to his skills as an entertainer. He was especially effective in improvising lyrics to deflate the sentimentality of popular songs.

A musical tribute to Waller, the revue Ain't Misbehavin, was one of the great successes of the N.Y. theater season in 1978.