Jimmy Boyd

Jimmy Devon Boyd (January 9, 1939 – March 7, 2009) was an American singer, musician, and actor known for his 1952 recording of the song "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." Early years Jimmy Boyd was born in 1939 in Mississippi into a musical family, with father Leslie Boyd and mother Winnie Boyd. His father, in turn, was from a family of 21 children of musician Bill Boyd. The family relocated to the San Fernando Valley of Southern California when Jimmy was a pre-schooler. Jimmy briefly sang with "Texas Jim Lewis and his Lonestar Cowboys". At an early age, he won a local talent show that led to television appearances, including The Ed Sullivan Show, as well as The Frank Sinatra Show on CBS-TV. "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" Boyd recorded the song "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" for Columbia Records in 1952, when he was 13 years old. It became a hit, selling over two and a half million records in its first week's release and Boyd's name became known internationally. Boyd was presented with two gold records. Boyd's record went to number one on the charts again the following year at Christmas, and continues to sell as a Christmas song. Cumulative disc sales by 1966 amounted to over 11 million copies. Boyd owned horses, so Columbia presented him with a silver mounted saddle. Inscribed in the silver plate on the back of the saddle were the words, Presented by Columbia Records to Jimmy Boyd commemorating his 3,000,000 record of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus". When first released, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston condemned the song for implying even a tenuous link between sex and the religious holiday, and radio stations in several markets banned it. Boyd made worldwide news when he went to Boston to explain that, of course, Santa Claus and Daddy were the same man. The following Christmas the ban was lifted.