A.K.A. Doc Pomus

About The Film

One of American music’s great untold stories, A.K.A. DOC POMUS pays homage to an unlikely rock ‘n’ roll legend who overcame polio and poverty to pen the soundtrack of the baby boomer generation.

Starting his career as a blues singer, Jerome Felder (better known as Doc Pomus) later reinvented himself as a songwriter, churning out a staggering string of Top 10 hits for artists like Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Ray Charles, Andy Williams, the Coasters and the Drifters. The Brooklyn-born son of poor Jewish immigrants, who was largely confined to crutches and a wheelchair, the spirited Doc never allowed private pain or personal limitations to derail a life of extraordinary accomplishment. A.K.A. DOC POMUS treats audiences to a treasure trove of performance footage and enduring music of the 1950s and ‘60s, including such Billboard chart-toppers as Save the Last Dance for Me and This Magic Moment.

Interviews with collaborators and friends, as well as excerpts from his personal diary (read aloud by rock musician Lou Reed), augment this moving tribute to a musical genius, co-directed by William Hechter and Peter Miller (Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story).