NEW ORLEANS (press release) – New Orleans legendary “Crawfish King” Al Scramuzza, who first popularized eating the seasoned mudbugs back in the early 1950s and changed Louisiana’s culinary culture forever, passed away at his home in Metairie on May 11 after a brief illness. He was 97.
Funeral services will be held May 19 at Lake Lawn Funeral Home in New Orleans, for Louisiana legendary “Crawfish King” Al Scramuzza, who introduced the seasoned mudbugs to backyard parties in the early 1950s. Scramuzza, passed away at his home in Metairie on Mother’s Day May 11 after a brief illness. He was 97.
Visitation will begin at 9 a.m. May 19 at Lake Lawn Funeral Home at 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd in New Orleans. A Funeral Mass will follow at 11 a.m. at the funeral home followed by a traditional New Orleans Second Line Parade from the funeral home to the nearby Lake Lawn Cemetery.
Scramuzza was the founder of Seafood City, which took up an entire city block in the 1800 block of North Broad Street in Mid-City and at one time was one of the largest seafood dealers in the Gulf South.
When Scramuzza first started selling crawfish in 1951, they sold for only 15 cents a pound. In the early days, Scramuzza even had to host lessons on how to peel the tasty crustaceans since nearly no one knew how to eat them. At his peak, Scramuzza would sell more than 20,000 pounds of crawfish in a single day.
Scramuzza is best known for his outlandish but iconic television crawfish commercials which he wrote and produced himself along with the catchy and memorable jingle of: “Stay with Al Scramuzza, and you’ll never be a looza.”
Born on September 19, 1927, Scramuzza grew up in a poor family in the French Quarter where he often recovered produce and other food items that fell from delivery trucks in the French Market to bring home to his mother to cook. His mother would later put Al in the Hope Haven Orphanage in Marrero, where he learned to play all kinds of sports which would later become a lifelong passion.
In 1969, Scramuzza launched a successful music career while continuing to operate his bustling seafood business. He opened Scram Records and later two other record labels featuring such New Orleans musical legends as jazz funk singer Eddie Bo, blues singer Johnny “Little Sonny” Jones and blues singer Walter “Wolfman” Washington & the Pony Express.
Scramuzza later ventured into New Orleans politics, running unsuccessfully for the Louisiana state legislature. But he remained a key political figure in several state political organizations for decades. In 1993, after more than 44 years in business, Seafood City closed, and Scramuzza retired. Following his successful seafood career, Scramuzza dedicated his life to coaching and mentoring thousands of young children at Johnny Bright Playground in Metairie, securing several All-Star team local and regional championships in various sports including football, basketball, baseball and soccer. On Al’s 97th birthday last September during a huge citywide celebration, Jefferson Parish officials renamed the street along Johnny Bright playground in Metairie “Al Scramuzza Way.”
Scramuzza is survived by two daughters, Toni Scramuzza and Saralyn Scramuzza Warren, five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
WLAE Channel 32 Public Television will rebroadcast its hour-long documentary “Al Scramuzza: The Crawfish King” in the coming days. The documentary delves into Scramuzza’s rise in the business world as well as his private, personal challenges. The legendary Crawfish King reveals his lifelong emotional battles including his drinking and gambling addictions that brought him to the brink of financial and spiritual bankruptcy.
