Lew Childre, the son of Charles T. and Ada Atwell Childre, was born on April 29, 1901, at Valley Grove, Alabama. The family soon moved to Opp, and he was educated in the city schools where his talent for music and entertainment was discovered.
After completing his schoolwork in Opp, Lewis accepted a job with a traveling tent show. He was soon featured in singing and instrumental playing, especially strings. For several years he was connected with the Milt Tolbert Shows, leaving them only a few years ago. He eventually appeared with the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville where he became known as the Boy from Ala-Bam and made Opp well known through his remarks. He was featured on the Red Foley TV show from Springfield, Missouri, and was a performer for WWL in New Orleans. His radio transcriptions, his early morning radio shows, and the Grand Ole Opry shows were recorded by Starday Records.
Lew was a natural entertainer. His singing, his buck dancing, his banjo and guitar music, and his witty remarks earned many admirers all over the South. He learned his dancing on the street corners in Opp; his songs were humorous, or quietly simple. He told his stories as he accompanied himself on a Spanish guitar, which he taught himself to play. He moved to Sparta, Tennessee, rented a fishing camp and stayed right there till he mastered that guitar. In six months, he was able to step back on that stage as a single, playing his own accompaniment.
Lew never smoked or drank. He was a great nature lover and hunted and fished all over America. He established a fishing pole business in Foley, which his son, L.J., Jr. ran until his untimely death in a plane crash. Other members of the family still run the business, and Lew’s wife presently lives in Foley. He also has a grandson there.
Lew and Roy Acuff entertained the soldiers during World War II in Alaska and in Korea.
His carefree, smiling manner and ready wit made him a showstopper before audiences large and small. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1978.
