Birthday: Sept. 15, 1924.
Birthplace: Danville, Ill.
Occupation: Saloon singer.
Current homes: New York City and the South of France.
Marital status: Single.
Pet: I have an 8-year old Dalmatian named Chili.
Working on: My book, “Bobby Short: The Life and Times of a Saloon Singer” (Clarkson Potter Inc.); a new album, “Songs of New York”; and performing at the Carlyle Hotel in New York.
I stay home to watch: Something cultural, like an opera or a good drama.
Favorite childhood memory: My rides on the old railroad between Chicago and Danville.
Prized possession: My piano. I’ve had it since 1972.
Personal heroes: Duke Ellington and Fred Astaire.
I wish I could stop: Eating between meals-peanuts, potato chips and cookies.
I’ve never been able to: Read music properly.
If I could do it over I: Would have gone to college and studied philosophy and language.
My fantasy is: I’m on a very clean, nearly secluded, quiet beach. The surf is very calm and I can swim for miles.
The one thing I can’t stand: Bad manners.
People who knew me in high school thought I was: Cheerful and optimistic.
I knew I was a grown-up when I: Hit the saloon circuit in Chicago in 1942 when I was 17.
The best time of my life: Paris in the 1950s, because of the freedom I enjoyed and the sheer wonder of living in such a beautiful place.
The worst time of my life: Growing up poor in Danville.
My friends like me because: I don’t complain.
Behind my back they say: “He’s so extravagant.”
If I’ve learned one thing in life it’s: Have a goal.
Major accomplishment: Survival.
Three words that best describe me: Enthusiastic, shy and diligent.
