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Berkeley, California
- Johnny grew up in a predominantly black neighborhood in Berkeley, California, where his father owned a grocery store.
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Personal life. [edit] Otis was born in Vallejo, California, to Greek immigrant parents, Alexander J. Veliotes, a Mare Island longshoreman and grocery store owner, and his wife, the former Irene Kiskakes, a painter. [ 4 ]
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Aug 6, 2024 · While growing up as part of a Greek immigrant family in Berkeley, California, Otis began a lifelong attraction and commitment to African American culture. He celebrated the vibrancy of African American music and its power to unite people across racial boundaries, coming to think of himself as “Black by persuasion.”
- Robert Walser
Jan 19, 2012 · Otis died Tuesday in the Los Angeles area, where he had lived for much of his life, said Tom Reed, a black-music historian. He was 90.
Born Ioannis Alexandres Veloites, the son of Greek immigrants, Johnny grew up during the Depression in a working class neighborhood in Berkeley, Calif. When he started playing music, he changed...
Otis was born John Veliotes, on Dec, 28, 1921, in Vallejo, California. Although Otis came from a Greek family, he chose to marry a black woman in 1941 and live as a member of the African American community.
entertainment.time.com · 2012/01/19 · johnny-otisJohnny Otis, the Greek Godfather of R&B, Dies at 90
Jan 19, 2012 · Otis wasn’t his family’s only emissary to an exotic culture: his younger brother, Nicholas Veliotes, served as Ambassador to Jordan and Egypt in the Carter and Reagan Administrations. But Johnny...
Jan 20, 2012 · In 1948 he and a partner opened a nightclub, the Barrelhouse, in the Watts section of Los Angeles. From 1950 to 1952 Mr. Otis had 15 singles on Billboard’s rhythm and blues Top 40,...
