Herbert Herb Jeffries

Herbert "Herb" Jeffries is an American jazz singer and actor. Born Herbert Jeffrey Ball, he is the son of Howard C. Jeffrey (Ball), a musician of mixed African-American descent and his wife, Mildred, who was of Irish descent, by way of French Canada.  The family lived in a rented home on 224 Watson Street in Detroit's third ward.

Jeffries was awarded a Star on the Walk of Fame in 2004 for his prominence as a recording artist. A deep baritone, he sang with Duke Ellington in the early 1940s. His most famous song, "Flamingo", sold over 50 million copies .

As a producer and actor, Jeffries played the lead in the first all-black American western films He starred as a singing cowboy in Harlem on the Prairie, The Bronze Buckaroo, Harlem Rides the Range and Two-Gun Man from Harlem. in which he sang his own western compositions.

Jeffries obtained financing for the movies and hired Spencer Williams to appear with him. In addition to starring  and singing in the films, Jeffries performed his own stunts as the cowboy character, "Bob Blake."