Arena Season 1, Episode 339

The Unforgettable Nat King Cole · BBC Four · Friday, December 23

When Nat King Cole died in 1965, the world lost its greatest ballad singer. Last year, 22 years after his death, When I Fall in Love reached number 4 in the British charts. This portrait traces the singer's life from his birthplace in Alabama through his early career as a brilliant young jazz pianist in Chicago to world famous vocalist. Tonight's programme includes vintage film of Cole talking and performing his best loved songs with contributions from his wife Maria, and his daughter Natalie, and from friends and colleagues including Harry Belafonte, Ella Fitzgerald, Quincy Jones, Buddy Greco, Eartha Kitt, Oscar Peterson and Frank Sinatra who says: 'I just wanted to sound as good as Nat - I don't know if! made it'.