William Henry Joseph Bonaparte Bertholoff Smith, also known as "The Lion", was an American jazz pianist and one of the masters of the stride style, usually grouped with James P. Johnson and Thomas "Fats" Waller as the three greatest practitioners of the genre in its golden age, from about 1920 to 1943.

How he got the name "The Lion" is a story of legend. He always dressed impeccably and always announced his arrival in a club with a warning growl "The Lion is here!"

Born in Goshen, NY, his mother and grandmother chose names to reflect different parts of his heritage:
Joseph (St. Joseph), Bonaparte (French), Bertholoff (his father), and William and Henry for spiritual balance. Smith (his stepfather's name) was added at age 3.

His father, Frank Bertholoff was Jewish. Willie was conversant in Yiddish. His mother Ida Allen was of mixed-blood and his grandmother Ann Oliver was a banjo player. When his father died in 1910 his mother married John Smith and after that he grew up in Newark, NJ.
 

John Smith worked in a slaughter house and Willie went with him to work on weekends, as his mother wanted to ensure her husband would return home after work rather than stopping off to spend the money earned on drink. On a more personal note, according to Smith, he would deliver clean clothes to his mother's clients, one of which was a prosperous Jewish family. They invited him to sit in on Hebrew lessons on Saturday mornings. He was Bar Mitzvaed in Newark at age 13. Later in life he worked as a Hebrew cantor for a Black Jewish congregation in Harlem.

At about age 6 Willie discovered, in their cellar, an old organ his mother used to play. When she discovered his interest in the instrument she taught him the melodies she knew. As the story goes, Willie wanted a piano very badly but every time his mother thought they could afford the piano she had another baby.

Eventually Willie took a job at a local shoe store. The owner liked Willie because he spoke Yiddish. The store owner held a contest in a local newspaper and Willie won the contest. The prize was an upright piano. From that day on he learned to play all the songs he heard in clubs like "Maple Leaf Rag" by Scott Joplin and picked up other tunes from the saloons like "She's Got Good Booty" and "Baby Let Your Drawers Hang Low". By the early 1910's Willie was playing at clubs in Atlantic City and New York City.

Smith served action in World War I. There he saw action in France and played drums with the African American regimental Band let by Tim Brymn. Legend has it that his nickname "The Lion" came from his reported bravery while serving as a heavy artillery gunner. He was a decorated veteran of the 350th Field Artillery regiment of the

After the war he returned to working in Harlem clubs and in rent parties. Smith and his contemporaries James P Johnson and Fats Waller developed a new more sophisticated piano style called stride. In some ways he was working in obscurity but he was a "musician's musicians" influencing   artists including Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, and Artie Shaw.
Billy Taylor and Thelonious Monk

In 1958 when Art Kane published his famous "Great Day in Harlem" photograph, Smith showed up for the shoot. He tired of all the standing around and fuss and chose to sit on the stoop of a house nearby while that photo was being taken.

In 1964 Smith appeared in the movie "Jazz Dance" and the following year he wrote his autobiography "Music on My Mind". He died at age 75 on April 18, 1973.
 

to watch a video of Willie "The Lion" Smith produced by NPR.org