Personality
Eldridge was famously considered competitive by those who knew him, pianist Chuck Folds saying, "I can't imagine anyone more competitive than he was in the 1970s. I've never met anyone scrappier than Roy, ever, ever, ever." Eldridge fully admitted to his competitive spirit, saying "I was just trying to outplay anybody, and to outplay them my way." Jazz trumpeter Jonah Jones reports that Eldridge's willingness to "go anywhere and play against anyone" even led to a cutting contest with his own hero, Rex Stewart. Roy could also become antagonistic, particularly in the face of those he deemed racist. Many noted Roy's constant restlessness, saxophonist Billie Bowen noting that Roy "could never, even as a youngster, sit down for more than a few minutes, he was alwas restless." Eldridge is also said to have suffered from sporadic stage fright. He occasionally found himself in trouble with women, including an incident that involved his being forced to sell his trumpet temporarily in order to reclaim a portion of the money that had been stolen from him by a woman with whom he had drunkenly spent the night. Roy is also said to have developed a fiery temper later in life, according to clarinettist Joe Muranyi, who worked with Eldridge at Ryan's and has called Elridge's temper "Mt. Vesuvius to the fifth power."
Read more about this topic: Roy Eldridge
Famous quotes containing the word personality:
“The great pines stand at a considerable distance from each other. Each tree grows alone, murmurs alone, thinks alone. They do not intrude upon each other. The Navajos are not much in the habit of giving or of asking help. Their language is not a communicative one, and they never attempt an interchange of personality in speech. Over their forests there is the same inexorable reserve. Each tree has its exalted power to bear.”
—Willa Cather (1873–1947)
“What we ought to see in the agonies of puberty is the result of the conditioning that maims the female personality in creating the feminine.”
—Germaine Greer (b. 1939)
“Dogs got personality. Personality goes a long way.”
—Quentin Tarantino, U.S. screenwriter and director, and Roger Avary. Jules (Samuel Jackson)