1. Jimmy Boyd was born in 1939 in Mississippi into a musical family, with father Leslie Boyd and mother Winnie Boyd.
16 Facts About Jimmy Boyd
1. 2.
The family relocated to the San Fernando Valley of Southern California when Jimmy was a pre-schooler.
3.
Jimmy Boyd briefly sang with "Texas Jim Lewis and his Lonestar Cowboys".
4.
Jimmy Boyd recorded the song "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" for Columbia Records in 1952, when he was 13 years old.
5.
Jimmy Boyd's record went to number one on the charts again the following year at Christmas, and continues to sell as a Christmas song.
6.
Jimmy Boyd owned horses, so Columbia presented him with a silver mounted saddle.
7.
Jimmy Boyd made worldwide news when he went to Boston to explain that, of course, Santa Claus and Daddy were the same man.
8.
Jimmy Boyd's next-biggest hit was "Tell Me a Story," a duet with Frankie Laine, which peaked at number 4 on the charts during 1953.
9.
In 1956, Jimmy Boyd played Huckleberry Finn in the United States Steel Hour production of Frank Luther's musical adaptation of "Tom Sawyer".
10.
Jimmy Boyd reprised the role a year later when Luther adapted "Huck Finn" as a musical.
11.
Jimmy Boyd was a regular cast member on the situation comedy Date with the Angels, starring Betty White, playing the role of Wheeler.
12.
Jimmy Boyd played the role of Howard Meechum, awkward classmate and sometime boyfriend of Corcoran's character Kelly.
13.
Jimmy Boyd's acting career was interrupted by military service when he was drafted into the US Army in 1960.
14.
In 1960, Jimmy Boyd married actress Yvonne Craig who he met when they were costars in the Bing Crosby musical High Time.
15.
Jimmy Boyd remained single for the rest of his life.
16.
Jimmy Boyd died of cancer in 2009 at the age of 70.