Jimmy Scott, had "a rare genetic condition called Kallmann syndrome, which caused his body to stop maturing before he reached puberty."

His "voice never changed, and he remained an eerie, androgynous alto his whole life."

Standing 4-foot-11, with a hairless face to match his boyish voice, he was originally billed as Little Jimmy Scott, and he was presented to audiences as a child until well into his 20s. In his mid-30s he unexpectedly grew eight inches taller and, although he otherwise remained physically unchanged, doctors told him an operation might stimulate his hormonal development. He decided against it.

He said he "was afraid of entering uncharted territory." His "distinctively plaintive delivery and unusually high-pitched voice earned him a loyal following and, late in life, a taste of bona fide stardom."

Here's his 1950 recording of "Everybody's Somebody's Fool."



Jimmy Scott died yesterday at the age of 88.