Charles "Bird" Parker, Jr. (August 29, 1920 - March 12, 1955) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Early in his career Parker was dubbed "Yardbird" (there are many contradictory stories of the name's origin). It was later shortened to "Bird" and remained Parker's nickname for the rest of his life and inspiration for the titles of his works, such as "Yardbird Suite" and "Bird Feathers". Wikipedia
The definitive Wikipedia entry for Charlie Parker. Wikipedia is the biggest multilingual free-content encyclopedia on the Internet. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Parker
According to Frederick J. Spencer, MD, Charlie Parker died from lobar pneumonia on the 12th of March 1955 whilst watching the Dorsey Brothers TV show. www.birdlives.co.uk/
Buyer's Guides & Discographies Parker, Charlie [Charles, Jr.; Bird; Chan, Charlie; Yardbird] ( b Kansas City, KS, August 29, 1920; d New York, March 12, 1955) alto saxophonist. www.jazzdisco.org/bird/
Charlie "Bird" Parker Birth: Aug. 29, 1920 Kansas City Wyandotte County Kansas, USA Death: Mar. 12, 1955 Jazz Musician. www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1426&a...