Eddie Hodges

Samuel "Eddie" Hodges (born March 5, 1947) is an American former child actor and recording artist. His 1961 cover of the Isley Brothers' single "I'm Gonna Knock on Your Door" reached number 1 in Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden and Australia, and rose to number 12 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. When Hodges became an adult, he made the decision to leave show business.

Hodges was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States, and traveled to New York City with his family in 1952. This began a long career in show business for Hodges in films, on stage, and in popular recordings.

At the age of ten, Hodges made his professional acting debut on stage in Meredith Willson's 1957 Broadway musical The Music Man, in which he originated the character of Winthrop Paroo, and introduced the song "Gary, Indiana", with Robert Preston and Pert Kelton.

Hodges made his film debut in the 1959 film A Hole in the Head with Frank Sinatra and Edward G. Robinson, in which Hodges and Sinatra performed the Oscar-winning song "High Hopes". However, when Sinatra recorded the song for Capitol Records, Hodges was not invited to participate because his own record label, Decca, would not grant him permission to record with Capitol.

Hodges acted in eight feature films and made numerous TV guest appearances. He is probably best remembered for playing the title role in Michael Curtiz's 1960 film The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He also appeared in the 1962 film Advise and Consent in a minor role as well as the Disney films Summer Magic (1963) and The Happiest Millionaire (1967).

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.