- He wrote the popular Christmas song "Mary's Boy Child", a top-ten hit in 1956 for Harry Belafonte and a standard today.
- Spent his formative years in Homestead, Massachusetts, where he graduated from high school (1921).
- Received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Tufts University in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts (1929). Was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.
- He wrote the song "Amen" used if the film Lilies of the Field (1963) and dubbed the singing voice for Sidney Poitier. "Amen" was a Top 10 hit in 1964 for The Impressions.
- He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 6161 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 12, 1992.
- He survived by three grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
- Following his death, he was interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.
- Has appeared in three films that were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture: The Alamo (1960), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and In the Heat of the Night (1967).
- He portrayed King Moses on the syndicated radio show "Bold Venture" (1950-1952).
- Has appeared in three films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant": Sullivan's Travels (1941), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and In the Heat of the Night (1967).
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