THAT TIME DUKE ELLINGTON'S WIFE SLASHED HIS FACE WITH A RAZOR

A story the Ellington's kept under wraps since 1928.
By Tom Rizzuto 

Do a quick Google image search for jazz icon and American musical pioneer, Duke Ellington. Notice anything? All of the profile shots seem to be of the right side of his face? Why is that?

Why so many questions, baby?

Ellington, who made a name for himself baring his soul on such well known compositions as "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" and "Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me," was in actuality a very private man. Bandmates worked with him everyday and still had no idea about his personal life. At times, even those closest to him were kept in the dark.

However, in today's celebrity driven culture it's hard for us to believe that any salacious story could be kept a secret for so long. Especially if that story resulted in the dissolution of a marriage and a permanent scar on the left side a man's face.

A rare photograph of Ellington with the Queen of England shows the scar.

To understand it completely, the first thing you have to know is that Duke Ellington was a ladies' man. According to his bandmates, he kept a woman (or several) in every city he toured in. In fact, one account had Ellington renting multiple hotel rooms at once, one for each of his girlfriends, and waiting until the end of the evening to decide which one, if any, would get to spend the night with him.

Of course, Ellington was married at the time. Duke tied the knot when he was only nineteen years old, and by all accounts was never one to remain faithful. His wife, Edna, endured numerous affairs throughout their marriage, but by 1928 she had had enough. Not many details are known about the incident but what we do know is that after a particularly heated fight about one of Duke's girlfriends, Edna took a razor and slashed him across the left side of his face.

It's believed that actress Fredi Washington, shown here, was the woman that instigated the fight.

The attack scarred Ellington in more ways than one. He was notoriously vain and was terribly embarrassed to show the left side of his face in public, much less let it be photographed. He also left his wife for good, though they never officially divorced and Ellington supported her financially for the rest of his life. It was said that after the attack, he never spoke of Edna again and many of his acquaintances assumed she had died.

Admittedly, the scar did eventually become public knowledge, though few journalists ever mentioned it. Ellington also never told the story in public and was guarded about the subject even in his autobiography. Many subsequent Ellington biographies touch upon the subject, but few take the time to explain the torrid details. If you're interested in learning more, I recommend Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington by Terry Teachout, the cover of which features a rare picture of Ellington that shows the scar.

Tom Rizzuto is a freelance musician and writer working in New York. He has also taught guitar and music history at several local universities. It would appear that despite what he would have you believe, Ellington got around quite a bit. 
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