Name	Harry James
Birth name	Henry Haag James
Born	March 15, 1916 Albany, Georgia, United States
Died	July 05, 1983Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Genre	Jazz, Big band
Occupation	Musician, Trumpeter, Bandleader
Years active	1937–1983
Associated acts	Frank SinatraBen PollackBenny Goodman
Spouses	Louise Tobin (1935–1943) 2 children Betty Grable (1943–1965) 2 childrenJoan Boyd (1968-1970)) 1 child

Henry Haag “Harry” James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician and bandleader. James was an instrumentalist of the swing era, employing a bravura playing style that made his trumpet work identifiable. He was one of the most popular bandleaders of the first half of the 1940s, and he continued to lead his band until just before his death, 40 years later. He toured with the band into the 1980s.

His was the first "name band" to employ vocalist Frank Sinatra, in 1939. He wanted to change Sinatra's name to 'Frankie Satin' but Sinatra refused. His later band included drummer Buddy Rich.

He played trumpet in the 1950 film Young Man with a Horn, dubbing Kirk Douglas. James's recording of "I'm Beginning to See the Light" appears in the motion picture My Dog Skip (2000). His music is also featured in the Woody Allen film Hannah and Her Sisters. James recorded many popular records and appeared in many Hollywood movies.

He was second only to Glenn Miller as the most successful recording artist of 1942. That same year, he married actress Betty Grable. They had two daughters, Victoria and Jessica, before divorcing in 1965. James married a third time in 1968 to Las Vegas showgirl Joan Boyd, whom he would divorce in March 1970. Contrary to some assertions, he did not marry a fourth time. He had five children (two by Tobin, two by Grable, one by Boyd) and (as of his death) 16 grandchildren.

James owned several thoroughbred racehorses that won races such as the California Breeders' Champion Stakes (1951) and the San Vicente Stakes (1954). He was also a founding investor in the Atlantic City Race Course. His knowledge of horse racing was demonstrated during a 1958 appearance on The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour entitled "Lucy Wins A Racehorse."

In 1983, James was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer, but he continued to work, playing his last professional job on June 26, 1983, in Los Angeles, California, just nine days before his death in Las Vegas, Nevada. Frank Sinatra gave the eulogy at the Bunkers Eden Vale Memorial Park in Las Vegas.

Filmography

Hollywood Hotel (1937) in Benny Goodman's band

Bathing Beauty (1944)

Best Foot Forward (1943)

Carnegie Hall (1947)

Do You Love Me (1946)

Greedy

If I'm Lucky (1946)

I'll Get By (1950)

Outlaw Queen (1957)

Private Buckaroo (1942)

Riot in Rhythm (1957)

Springtime in the Rockies (1942)

The Benny Goodman Story (1956)

The Sting II (1983)

Two Girls and a Sailor (1944)

The Opposite Sex (1956)

1955 De Soto commercial for Chrysler corp.

Singles

"Ain't She Sweet"

"All or Nothing at All" (1939)

"Blues in the Night" (1941)

"Boo-Woo"

"Cheek to Cheek"

"Ciribiribin" (1939)

"Cry Me a River"

"Doncha Go 'Way Mad" (with the Skylarks)

"Flight of the Bumblebee"

"Hernando's Hideaway" (1955)

"Honeysuckle Rose"

"I Cried for You" (1942)

"I Don't Want to Walk Without You" (1942)

"I'll Be Around"

"I'll Get By (As Long as I Have You)" (1940)

"I Need You Now"

"It All Depends on You"

"It's Been a Long, Long Time" (1945)

"I've Heard That Song Before" (1942)

"Life Goes to a Party"

"Manhattan Serenade"

"My Buddy" (1939)

"Oh My Pa-Pa (O Mein Papa)"

"One O'Clock Jump"

"Sing, Sing, Sing" (1937)

"Sleepy Lagoon" (1942)

"Somebody Loves Me"

"That Old Feeling"

"The Mole"

"The Nearness of You"

"Too Marvelous for Words" (1943)

"Truly" (with Gilda Malken and The Skylarks)

"Trumpet Blues and Cantabile"

"(Up a) Lazy River"

"Velvet Moon"

"When Your Lover Has Gone" (1944)

"Where or When"

"Woo-Woo"

"You Made Me Love You" (1941)

"You've Changed" (1941)

References

External links

The Harry James Orchestra - Official Site

Harry James at Find-A-Grave

Harry James and his big band

Solid! - Harry James

- The Man With The Horn - A Biography of Harry James

Harry James Official 10inch (78rpm) Discography (w/ Photo Vinyl & Cat. Numbers)

Category:Big band bandleaders Category:American trumpeters Category:Swing trumpeters Category:American jazz bandleaders Category:American jazz trumpeters Category:American racehorse owners and breeders Category:People from Beaumont, Texas Category:People from Albany, Georgia Category:Deaths from lymphoma Category:Musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Cancer deaths in Nevada Category:1916 births Category:1983 deaths

Name	Helen Forrest
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Helen Fogel
Born	April 12, 1917
Died	July 11, 1999
Origin	Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
Instrument	Vocals
Genre	Jazz
Occupation	Singer
Associated acts	Artie Shaw Benny Goodman, Harry James, Dick Haymes

Helen Forrest (April 12, 1917 – July 11, 1999) was one of the most popular female jazz vocalists during America's Big Band era. She was born Helen Fogel to a Jewish family in Atlantic City, New Jersey on April 12, 1917. She first sang with her brother's band at the age of 10, and later began her career singing on CBS radio under the name Bonnie Blue.

Biography

Career

Forrest achieved fame when bandleader Artie Shaw hired her in 1938. Shaw was looking for new talent when vocalist Billie Holiday had to leave the band after singing with the group for a short period of time. Forrest recorded 38 singles with Shaw's band. Two of her biggest hits with Shaw were the songs "They Say" and "All the Things You Are."

In late 1939, Forrest left Shaw and joined Benny Goodman, with whom she recorded a number of celebrated songs, including the hit song, "The Man I Love." She told the Pop Chronicles "Benny would look right above your eyebrows, in the middle, right on top of the brow. He was a very strange man."

She recorded with Nat King Cole and Lionel Hampton in 1940. In 1941, Forrest was hired by Harry James. It was with the Harry James Orchestra that she recorded what are arguably her most popular numbers, including "I Had the Craziest Dream" in 1942 and "I Don't Want to Walk Without You." Forrest also dated James, until he met the woman he would later marry, Betty Grable.

Because of her involvement with most of the popular bands of the big band era, Forrest was known as "the voice of the name bands."

Forrest left Harry James in late 1943 in pursuit of a solo career. From 1944 to 1947, she sang on Dick Haymes' radio show. It was with Haymes that she recorded the song, "Some Sunday Morning." In 1944, she made an appearance in the Esther Williams movie Bathing Beauty with Harry James and his orchestra. After a dip in recording in the 1950s, Forrest sang with Tommy Dorsey's orchestra, led by Sam Donahue in the early 1960s. She continued to sing in supper clubs in the 1970s and 1980s. Her final album was released in 1983.

She kept singing until the early 1990s, when arthritis forced her into retirement. Over the course of her career, she recorded more than 500 songs. Forrest acted in several musical films, including Bathing Beauty and Two Girls and a Sailor, which both came out in 1944. She was a civil rights activist as well.

Personal

Forrest married and divorced three times, and had one son, Michael Forrest Feinman, who currently resides in Lancaster, California.

Helen Forrest died from congestive heart failure on July 11, 1999 in Woodland Hills, California at the age of 82. Her final resting place is in Mount Sinai Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.

References

External links

Helen Forrest at AllMusic

Helen Forrest - voice of the name bands

Category:1917 births Category:1999 deaths Category:American female singers Category:American jazz singers Category:American Jews Category:Blue-eyed soul singers Category:Jewish American musicians Category:American singers Category:Bell Records artists Category:Deaths from congestive heart failure Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in California Category:People from Atlantic City, New Jersey

Name	Frank Sinatra
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Francis Albert Sinatra
Alias	Ol' Blue EyesThe Chairman of the Board
Death date	May 14, 1998
Death place	Los Angeles, California, United States
Death cause	Heart attack
Instrument	Vocals
Genre	Traditional pop, jazz, swing, big band, vocal
Occupation	Singer,
Years active	1935–1995
Label	Columbia, Capitol, Reprise
Associated acts	Rat Pack, Bing Crosby, Nancy Sinatra, Quincy Jones, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Frank Sinatra, Jr., Dean Martin
Url
Spouse	Nancy Barbato (1939-1951)Ava Gardner (1951–57)Mia Farrow (1966-1968)Barbara Marx (1976-1998)

Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor.

Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became a successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, being the idol of the "bobby soxers." His professional career had stalled by the 1950s, but it was reborn in 1954 after he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (for his performance in From Here to Eternity).

He signed with Capitol Records and released several critically lauded albums (such as In the Wee Small Hours, Songs for Swingin' Lovers, Come Fly with Me, Only the Lonely and Nice 'n' Easy). Sinatra left Capitol to found his own record label, Reprise Records (finding success with albums such as Ring-A-Ding-Ding, Sinatra at the Sands and Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim), toured internationally, was a founding member of the Rat Pack and fraternized with celebrities and statesmen, including John F. Kennedy. Sinatra turned 50 in 1965, recorded the retrospective September of My Years, starred in the Emmy-winning television special , and scored hits with "Strangers in the Night" and "My Way".

With sales of his music dwindling and after appearing in several poorly received films, Sinatra retired for the first time in 1971. Two years later, however, he came out of retirement and in 1973 recorded several albums, scoring a Top 40 hit with "(Theme From) New York, New York" in 1980. Using his Las Vegas shows as a home base, he toured both within the United States and internationally, until a short time before his death in 1998.

Sinatra also forged a successful career as a film actor, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in From Here to Eternity, a nomination for Best Actor for The Man with the Golden Arm, and critical acclaim for his performance in The Manchurian Candidate. He also starred in such musicals as High Society, Pal Joey, Guys and Dolls and On the Town. Sinatra was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1985 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997. Sinatra was also the recipient of eleven Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Trustees Award, Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Early life

Born in December 1915, Sinatra was the only child of Italian immigrants Natalie Della Garaventa and Antonino Martino Sinatra. Sinatra was raised Catholic. He left high school without graduating, having attended only 47 days before being expelled because of his rowdy conduct. His mother, known as Dolly, was influential in the neighborhood and in local Democratic Party circles, but also ran an illegal abortion business from her home; she was arrested several times and convicted twice for this offense. Sinatra was arrested for carrying on with a married woman, a criminal offense at the time. Sinatra's father, often referred to as Tony, served with the Hoboken Fire Department as a Fire Captain. During the tough years of the 1930s, when the Great Depression hit North America, Dolly nevertheless provided ready pocket money to their son for outings with friends and fancy clothes. Sinatra then worked for some time as a delivery boy at the Jersey Observer newspaper, and as a riveter at the Tietjan and Lang shipyard. Sinatra began singing for tips at the age of eight, standing on top of the bar at a local nightclub in Hoboken. He began singing professionally as a teenager in the 1930s.

1935–40: Start of career, work with James and Dorsey

Sinatra got his first break in 1935 when his mother persuaded a local singing group, The Three Flashes, to let him join. With Sinatra, the group became known as the Hoboken Four,

On March 18, 1939, Sinatra made a demo recording of a song called "Our Love", with the Frank Mane band. The record has "Frank Sinatra" signed on the front. The bandleader kept the original record in a safe for nearly 60 years. In June, Harry James hired Sinatra on a one year contract of $75 a week. It was with the James band that Sinatra released his first commercial record "From the Bottom of My Heart" in July, 1939 - US Brunswick #8443 and UK Columbia #DB2150.

Fewer than 8,000 copies of "From the Bottom of My Heart" (Brunswick #8443) were sold, making the record a very rare find that is sought after by record collectors worldwide. Sinatra released ten commercial tracks with James through 1939, including "All or Nothing At All" which had weak sales on its initial release but then sold millions of copies when re-released by Columbia at the height of Sinatra's popularity a few years later.

In November 1939, in a meeting at the Palmer House in Chicago, Sinatra was asked by bandleader Tommy Dorsey to join his band as a replacement for Jack Leonard, who had recently left to launch a solo career. This meeting was a turning point in Sinatra's career, since by signing with Dorsey's band, one of the hottest bands at the time, he got greatly increased visibility with the American public. Though Sinatra was still under contract with James, James recognized the opportunity Dorsey offered and graciously released Sinatra from his contract. Sinatra recognized his debt to James throughout his life and upon hearing of James's death in 1983, stated: "he [James] is the one that made it all possible."

On January 26, 1940, Sinatra made his first public appearance with the Dorsey band at the Coronado Theater in Rockford, Illinois. In his first year with Dorsey, Sinatra released more than forty songs, with "I'll Never Smile Again" topping the charts for twelve weeks beginning in mid-July.

Sinatra's relationship with Tommy Dorsey was troubled, because of their contract, which awarded Dorsey ⅓ of Sinatra's lifetime earnings in the entertainment industry. In January 1942, Sinatra recorded his first solo sessions without the Dorsey band (but with Dorsey's arranger Axel Stordahl and with Dorsey's approval). These sessions were released commercially on the Bluebird label. Sinatra left the Dorsey band late in 1942 in an incident that started rumors of Sinatra's involvement with the Mafia. A story appeared in the Hearst newspapers that mobster Sam Giancana coerced Dorsey to let Sinatra out of his contract for a few thousand dollars. This story was famously fictionalized in the movie The Godfather. According to Nancy Sinatra's biography, the Hearst rumors were started because of Frank's Democratic politics. In fact, the contract was bought out by MCA founder Jules Stein for $75,000.

His appeal to bobby soxers, as teenage girls of that time were called, revealed a whole new audience for popular music, which had been recorded mainly for adults up to that time.

On December 31, 1942, Sinatra opened at the Paramount Theater in New York.

during World War II.]]

During the musicians' strike of 1942–44, Columbia re-released Harry James and Sinatra's version of "All or Nothing at All" (music by Arthur Altman and lyrics by Jack Lawrence), recorded in August 1939 and released before Sinatra had made a name for himself. The original release didn’t even mention the vocalist's name. When the recording was re–released in 1943 with Sinatra's name prominently displayed, the record was on the best–selling list for 18 weeks and reached number 2 on June 2, 1943.

Sinatra signed with Columbia on June 1, 1943 as a solo artist, and he initially had great success, particularly during the 1942-43 musicians' strike. And while no new records had been issued during the strike, he had been performing on the radio (on Your Hit Parade), and on stage. Columbia wanted to get new recordings of their growing star as fast as possible, so Sinatra convinced them to hire Alec Wilder as arranger and conductor for several sessions with a vocal group called the Bobby Tucker Singers. These first sessions were on June 7, June 22, August 5, and November 10, 1943. Of the nine songs recorded during these sessions, seven charted on the best–selling list.

Sinatra did not serve in the military during World War II. On December 11, 1943, he was classified 4-F ("Registrant not acceptable for military service") for a perforated eardrum by his draft board. Additionally, an FBI report on Sinatra, released in 1998, showed that the doctors had also written that he was a "neurotic" and "not acceptable material from a psychiatric standpoint." This was omitted from his record to avoid "undue unpleasantness for both the selectee and the induction service." Active-duty servicemen, like journalist William Manchester, said of Sinatra, "I think Frank Sinatra was the most hated man of World War II, much more than Hitler", because Sinatra was back home making all of that money and being shown in photographs surrounded by beautiful women. His deferment would resurface throughout his life and cause him grief when he had to defend himself. There were accusations, including some from noted columnist Walter Winchell, that Sinatra paid $40,000 to avoid the service — but the FBI found no evidence of this.

When Sinatra returned to the Paramount Theater in October 1944, 35,000 fans caused a near riot outside the venue because they were not allowed in.

In 1945, Sinatra co-starred with Gene Kelly in Anchors Aweigh. That same year, he was loaned out to RKO to star in a short film titled The House I Live In. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, this film on tolerance and racial equality earned a special Academy Award shared among Sinatra and those who brought the film to the screen, along with a special Golden Globe for "Promoting Good Will." 1946 saw the release of his first album, The Voice of Frank Sinatra, and the debut of his own weekly radio show.

By the end of 1948, Sinatra felt that his career was stalling, something that was confirmed when he slipped to No. 4 on Down Beat's annual poll of most popular singers (behind Billy Eckstine, Frankie Laine, and Bing Crosby).

The year 1949 saw an upswing, as Frank co-starred with Gene Kelly in Take Me Out to the Ball Game. It was well received critically and became a major commercial success. That same year, Sinatra teamed up with Kelly for a third time in On the Town.

1950–60: Rebirth of career, Capitol concept albums

After two years' absence, Sinatra returned to the concert stage on January 12, 1950, in Hartford, Connecticut. His voice suffered and he experienced hemorrhaging of his vocal cords on stage at the Copacabana on April 26, 1950.

Also in 1953, Sinatra starred in the NBC radio program Rocky Fortune. His character, Rocko Fortunato (aka Rocky Fortune) was a temp worker for the Gridley Employment Agency who stumbled into crime-solving by way of the odd jobs to which he was dispatched. The series aired on NBC radio Tuesday nights from October 1953 to March 1954, following the network's crime drama hit Dragnet. During the final months of the show, just before the 1954 Oscars, it became a running gag that Sinatra would manage to work the phrase "from here to eternity" into each episode, a reference to his Oscar-nominated performance.

In 1953, Sinatra signed with Capitol Records, where he worked with many of the finest musical arrangers of the era, most notably Nelson Riddle,

1960–70: Ring-A-Ding-Ding, Reprise records, Basie, Jobim, "My Way"

Sinatra started the 1960s as he ended the 1950s. His first album of the decade, Nice 'n' Easy, topped Billboard's chart and won critical plaudits. Sinatra grew discontented at Capitol and decided to form his own label, Reprise Records. His first album on the label, Ring-A-Ding-Ding (1961), was a major success, peaking at #4 on Billboard and #8 in the UK.

His fourth and final Timex TV special was broadcast in March, 1960, and earned massive viewing figures. Titled It's Nice to Go Travelling, the show is more commonly known as . Elvis Presley's appearance after his army discharge was somewhat ironic; Sinatra had been scathing about him in the mid fifties, saying: "His kind of music is deplorable, a rancid smelling aphrodisiac. It fosters almost totally negative and destructive reactions in young people." Presley had responded: "... [Sinatra] is a great success and a fine actor, but I think he shouldn't have said it... [rock and roll] is a trend, just the same as he faced when he started years ago." Later, in efforts to maintain his commercial viability, Sinatra recorded Presley's hit "Love Me Tender" as well as works by Paul Simon ("Mrs. Robinson"), The Beatles ("Something", "Yesterday"), and Joni Mitchell ("Both Sides Now").

Following on the heels of the film Can Can was Ocean's 11, the movie that became the definitive on-screen outing for "The Rat Pack".

From his youth, Sinatra displayed sympathy for African Americans and worked both publicly and privately all his life to help them win equal rights. He played a major role in the desegregation of Nevada hotels and casinos in the 1960s. On January 27, 1961, Sinatra played a benefit show at Carnegie Hall for Martin Luther King, Jr. and led his fellow Rat Pack members and Reprise label mates in boycotting hotels and casinos that refused entry to black patrons and performers. He often spoke from the stage on desegregation and repeatedly played benefits on behalf of Dr. King and his movement. According to his son, Frank Sinatra, Jr., King sat weeping in the audience at a concert in 1963 as Sinatra sang Ol' Man River, a song from the musical Show Boat that is sung by an African-American stevedore.

On September 11 and 12, 1961, Sinatra recorded his final songs for Capitol.

In 1962, he starred with Janet Leigh and Laurence Harvey in the political thriller, The Manchurian Candidate, playing Bennett Marco. That same year, Sinatra and Count Basie collaborated for the album Sinatra-Basie. This popular and successful release prompted them to rejoin two years later for the follow-up It Might as Well Be Swing, which was arranged by Quincy Jones. One of Sinatra's more ambitious albums from the mid-1960s, The Concert Sinatra, was recorded with a 73-piece symphony orchestra on 35mm tape.

Sinatra's first live album, Sinatra at the Sands, was recorded during January and February 1966 at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

In June, 1965, Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Dean Martin played live in Saint Louis to benefit Dismas House. The concert was broadcast live via satellite to numerous movie theaters across America. Released in August, 1965, was the Grammy Award–winning album of the year, September of My Years, with a career anthology, A Man and His Music, following in November, itself winning Album of the Year at the Grammys in 1966. The TV special, Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music, garnered both an Emmy award and a Peabody Award.

In the spring, That's Life appeared, with both the single and album becoming Top Ten hits in the US on Billboard's pop charts. Strangers in the Night went on to top the Billboard and UK pop singles charts, winning the award for Record of the Year at the Grammys. The album of the same name also topped the Billboard chart and reached number 4 in the UK.

Sinatra started 1967 with a series of important recording sessions with Antônio Carlos Jobim. Later in the year, a duet with daughter Nancy, "Somethin' Stupid", topped the Billboard pop and UK singles charts. In December, Sinatra collaborated with Duke Ellington on the album Francis A. & Edward K..

During the late 1960s, press agent Lee Solters would invite columnists and their spouses into Sinatra's dressing room just before he was about to go on stage. The New Yorker recounted that "the first columnist they tried this on was Larry Fields of the Philadelphia Daily News, whose wife fainted when Sinatra kissed her cheek. 'Take care of it, Lee,' Sinatra said, and he was off." The professional relationship Sinatra shared with Solters focused on projects on the west coast while those focused on the east coast were handled by Solters' partner, Sheldon Roskin of Solters/Roskin/Friedman, a well-known firm at the time.

Back on the small-screen, Sinatra once again worked with Jobim and Ella Fitzgerald on the TV special, A Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim.

Watertown (1970) was one of Sinatra's most acclaimed concept albums but was all but ignored by the public. Selling a mere 30,000 copies and reaching a peak chart position of 101, its failure put an end to plans for a television special based on the album.

With Sinatra in mind, singer-songwriter Paul Anka wrote the song "My Way", inspired from the French "Comme d'habitude" ("As Usual"), composed by Claude François and Jacques Revaux. (The song had been previously commissioned to David Bowie, whose lyrics did not please the involved agents.) "My Way" would, ironically, become more closely identified with him than any other song over his seven decades as a singer even though he reputedly did not care for it.

1970–80: Retirement and comeback

On June 13, 1971 — at a concert in Hollywood to raise money for the Motion Picture and TV Relief Fund — at the age of 55, Sinatra announced that he was retiring, bringing to an end his 36-year career in show business.

In 1973, Sinatra came out of retirement with a television special and album, both entitled Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back. The album, arranged by Gordon Jenkins and Don Costa, was a great success, reaching number 13 on Billboard and number 12 in the UK. The TV special was highlighted by a dramatic reading of "Send in the Clowns" and a song and dance sequence with former co-star Gene Kelly.

In January, 1974, Sinatra returned to Las Vegas, performing at Caesars Palace despite vowing in 1970 never to play there again after the manager of the resort, Sanford Waterman, pulled a gun on him during a heated argument. With Waterman recently shot, the door was open for Sinatra to return.

In Australia, he caused an uproar by describing journalists there — who were aggressively pursuing his every move and pushing for a press conference — as "fags", "pimps", and "whores." Australian unions representing transport workers, waiters, and journalists went on strike, demanding that Sinatra apologize for his remarks. Sinatra instead insisted that the journalists apologize for "fifteen years of abuse I have taken from the world press."

Also in 1981, Sinatra was embroiled in controversy when he worked a ten-day engagement for $2 million in Sun City, South Africa, breaking a cultural boycott against Apartheid South Africa. See Artists United Against Apartheid

He was selected as one of the five recipients of the 1983 Kennedy Center Honors, alongside Katharine Dunham, James Stewart, Elia Kazan, and Virgil Thomson. Quoting Henry James in honoring his old friend, President Ronald Reagan said that "art was the shadow of humanity" and that Sinatra had "spent his life casting a magnificent and powerful shadow."

In 1984, Sinatra worked with Quincy Jones for the first time in nearly two decades on the album, L.A. Is My Lady, which was well received critically. The album was a substitute for another Jones project, an album of duets with Lena Horne, which had to be abandoned. (Horne developed vocal problems and Sinatra, committed to other engagements, could not wait to record.)

1990s: Duets, final performances

In 1990, Sinatra celebrated his 75th birthday with a national tour, and was awarded the second "Ella Award" by the Los Angeles–based Society of Singers. At the award ceremony, he performed for the final time with Ella Fitzgerald.

In December, as part of Sinatra's birthday celebrations, Patrick Pasculli, the Mayor of Hoboken, made a proclamation in his honor, declaring that "no other vocalist in history has sung, swung, crooned, and serenaded into the hearts of the young and old ... as this consummate artist from Hoboken." The same month Sinatra gave the first show of his Diamond Jubilee Tour at the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

In 1993 Sinatra made a surprise return to Capitol and the recording studio for Duets, which was released in November.

The other artists who added their vocals to the album worked for free, and a follow-up album (Duets II) was released in 1994 that reached #9 on the Billboard charts.

Still touring despite various health problems, Sinatra remained a top concert attraction on a global scale during the first half of the 1990s. At times during concerts his memory failed him and a fall onstage in Richmond, Virginia, in March, 1994, signaled further problems.

Sinatra's final public concerts were held in Japan's Fukuoka Dome in December, 1994. The following year, on February 25, 1995, at a private party for 1200 select guests on the closing night of the Frank Sinatra Desert Classic golf tournament, Sinatra sang before a live audience for the very last time. Esquire reported of the show that Sinatra was "clear, tough, on the money" and "in absolute control." His closing song was "The Best is Yet to Come".

Sinatra was awarded the Legend Award at the 1994 Grammy Awards, where he was introduced by Bono, who said of him, "Frank's the chairman of the bad attitude.... Rock 'n roll plays at being tough, but this guy is the boss--the chairman of boss.... I'm not going to mess with him, are you?" Sinatra called it "the best welcome...I ever had." But his acceptance speech ran too long and was abruptly cut off, leaving him looking confused and talking into a dead microphone.

In 1995, to mark Sinatra's 80th birthday, the Empire State Building glowed blue. A star-studded birthday tribute, Sinatra: 80 Years My Way, was held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. It was Sinatra's last televised appearance.

In recognition of his many years of association with Las Vegas, Frank Sinatra was elected to the Gaming Hall of Fame in 1997.

Personal life

Sinatra had three children, Nancy, Frank Jr., and Tina, all with his first wife, Nancy Barbato (married 1939-1951). He was married three more times, to actresses Ava Gardner (1951–1957) and Mia Farrow (1966–1968) and finally to Barbara Marx (married 1976), to whom he was still married at his death.

Throughout his life, Sinatra had mood swings and bouts of depression. He acknowledged this, telling an interviewer in the 1950s: "Being an 18-karat manic-depressive, and having lived a life of violent emotional contradictions, I have an over-acute capacity for sadness as well as elation." In her memoirs My Father's Daughter, his daughter Tina wrote about the "eighteen-karat" remark: "As flippant as Dad could be about his mental state, I believe that a Zoloft a day might have kept his demons away. But that kind of medicine was decades off."

Death

Sinatra began to show signs of senility in his last years and after a heart attack in February 1997, he made no further public appearances. After suffering a further heart attack,The official cause of death was listed as complications from senility, heart and kidney disease, and bladder cancer. His death was confirmed by the Sinatra family on their website with a statement accompanied by a recording of the singer's version of "Softly As I Leave You." The next night the lights on the Las Vegas Strip were dimmed for 10 minutes in his honor. President Bill Clinton, as an amateur saxophonist and musician, led the world's tributes to Sinatra, saying that after meeting and getting to know the singer as President, he had "come to appreciate on a personal level what millions of people had appreciated from afar." Elton John stated that Sinatra, "was simply the best - no one else even comes close." Tony Curtis,

Discography

Awards and recognitions

.]]

Legacy

The U.S. Postal Service issued a 42-cent postage stamp in honor of Sinatra on May 13, 2008. The design of the stamp was unveiled Wednesday, December 12, 2007 — on the anniversary of what would have been his 92nd birthday — in Beverly Hills, California, with Sinatra family members on hand. The Hoboken Post Office was renamed in his honor in 2002.

To commemorate the anniversary of Sinatra's death, Patsy's Restaurant in New York City, which Sinatra frequented, exhibited in May 2009 fifteen previously unseen photographs of Sinatra taken by Bobby Bank. The photos are of his recording "Everybody Ought to Be in Love" at a nearby recording studio. Memorabilia in the restaurant includes his Oscar for "From Here to Eternity", his Emmy for "", his Grammy for "Strangers in the Night", photographs and a gold album he received for "Classic Sinatra".

There is a residence hall at Montclair State University named for him in recognition of his status as an iconic New Jersey native.

The Frank Sinatra International Student Center at Israel's Hebrew University, Mt. Scopus campus, was dedicated in 1978 in recognition of Sinatra's charitable and advocacy activities on behalf of the State of Israel.

Film portrayals

Main article: Sinatra (TV miniseries)

In 1992, CBS aired a TV mini-series about the entertainer's life called Sinatra, directed by James Steven Sadwith and starred Philip Casnoff as Sinatra. Opening with his childhood in Hoboken, New Jersey, the film follows Sinatra's rise to the top in the 1940s, through the dark days of the early 1950s and his triumphant re-emergence in the mid-1950s, to his status as pop culture icon in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In between, the film hits all of the main events, including his three marriages, his connections with the Mafia and his notorious friendship with the Rat Pack. Tina Sinatra was executive producer. Casnoff received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance.

In 1998, Ray Liotta portrayed Sinatra in the HBO movie The Rat Pack, alongside Joe Mantegna as Dean Martin and Don Cheadle as Sammy Davis, Jr. It depicted their contribution to John F. Kennedy's election as U.S. president in 1960.

In 2003, Sinatra was portrayed by James Russo in "Stealing Sinatra", which revolved around the kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr. in 1963

Also in 2003, he was portrayed by Dennis Hopper in "The Night we Called it a Day", based upon events that occurred during a tour of Australia where Frank had called a member of the news media a "two-bit hooker" and all the unions in the country came crashing down on him.

Sinatra was also portrayed by Sebastian Anzaldo in the film Tears of a King, who also impersonated Sinatra in a TV episode of The Next Best Thing.

Brett Ratner is currently developing a film adaptation of George Jacobs' memoir Mr. S: My Life With Frank Sinatra. Jacobs, who was Sinatra's valet, will be portrayed by Chris Tucker.

Alleged organized crime links

Sinatra garnered considerable attention due to his alleged personal and professional links with organized crime, including figures such as Carlo Gambino, Lucky Luciano, The FBI kept Sinatra under surveillance for almost five decades beginning in the 1940s. The documents include accounts of Sinatra as the target of death threats and extortion schemes. They also portray rampant paranoia and strange obsessions at the FBI and reveal nearly every celebrated Sinatra foible and peccadillo.

For a year Hoover investigated Sinatra's alleged Communist affiliations, but found no evidence. The files include his rendezvous with prostitutes, and his extramarital affair with Ava Gardner, which preceded their marriage. Celebrities mentioned in the files are Dean Martin, Marilyn Monroe, Peter Lawford, and Giancana's girlfriend, singer Phyllis McGuire.

The FBI's secret dossier on Sinatra was released in 1998 in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.

Political views

Sinatra held differing political views throughout his life.

Sinatra's parents had immigrated to the United States in 1895 and 1897 respectively. His mother, Dolly Sinatra (1896–1977), was a Democratic Party ward boss.

in 1960, was an ardent supporter of the Democratic Party until 1968.]]

Sinatra remained a supporter of the Democratic Party until the early 1970's when he switched his allegiance to the Republican Party.

Political activities 1944-1968

In 1944 after sending a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Sinatra was invited to meet Roosevelt at the White House, where he agreed to become part of the Democratic party's voter registration drives.

He donated $5,000 to the Democrats for the 1944 presidential election, and by the end of the campaign was appearing at two or three political events every day.

After World War II, Sinatra's politics grew steadily more left wing, and he became more publicly associated with the Popular Front. He started reading liberal literature, and supported many organizations that were later identified as front organizations of the Communist party by the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s, though Sinatra was never brought before the Committee.

Sinatra spoke at a number of New Jersey high schools in 1945, where students had gone on strike in opposition to racial integration. Later that year Sinatra would appear in The House I Live In, a short film that stood against racism. The film was scripted by Albert Maltz, with the title song written by Earl Robinson and Abel Meeropol (under the pseudonym of Lewis Allen).

In 1948, Sinatra actively campaigned for President Harry S. Truman. In 1952 and 1956, he also campaigned for Adlai Stevenson. a rival singer and a Republican, for Kennedy's visit to Palm Springs in 1962. Kennedy had planned to stay at Sinatra's home over the Easter holiday weekend, but decided against doing so, because of problems with Sinatra's alleged connections to organized crime, President Kennedy's brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, was intensifying his own investigations into organized crime figures at the time, such as Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana, who had earlier stayed at Sinatra's home.

Despite his break with Kennedy, however, he still mourned over Kennedy after he learned he was assassinated.

During Nixon's Presidency, Sinatra visited the White House on several occasions.

by President Ronald Reagan.]]

In the 1980 presidential election, Sinatra supported Ronald Reagan, and donated $4 million to Reagan's campaign. Sinatra said he supported Reagan as he was "the proper man to be the President of the United States... it's so screwed up now, we need someone to straighten it out." Reagan's victory gave Sinatra his closest relationship with the White House since the early 1960s. as he had done for Kennedy 20 years previously.

In 1984 Sinatra returned to his birthplace in Hoboken, bringing with him President Reagan, who was in the midst of campaigning for the 1984 presidential election. Reagan had made Sinatra a fund-raising ambassador as part of the Republicans' 'Victory 84'' get-the-vote-out-drive.

President Clinton never met Sinatra before taking office. They had dinner after Clinton's inauguration. Clinton later said that he was glad "to appreciate on a personal level what hundreds of millions of people around the world, including me, appreciated from afar."

See also

Rat Pack

Sinatra Doctrine

1920 US Census with Sinatras

1930 US Census with Sinatras

List of jazz musicians

Best selling music artists

Frank Sinatra discography

Frank Sinatra filmography

The Frank Sinatra Show (CBS)

The Frank Sinatra Show (ABC)

Anthony Martin Sinatra

Further reading

Biographies

Freedland, Michael. (2000) All the Way: A Biography of Frank Sinatra. St Martins Press. ISBN 0-7528-1662-4

Grudens, Richard (2010) Sinatra Singing. Celebrity Profiles Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9763877-8-7

Havers, Richard. (2004) Sinatra. Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 1-4053-1461-3

Kaplan, James. (2010) Frank: The Voice. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0385518048

Kelley, Kitty. (1986) His Way: The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra. Bantam Press. ISBN 0-553-26515-6

Lahr, John. (1987) Sinatra. Random House. ISBN 0-7538-0842-0

Munn, Michael. (2002) Sinatra: The Untold Story. Robson Books Ltd. ISBN 1-86105-537-4

Rockwell, John. (1984) Sinatra: An American Classic. Rolling Stone. ISBN 0-394-53977-X

Rojek, Chris. (2004) Frank Sinatra. Polity. ISBN 0-7456-3090-1

Santopietro, Tom. (2008) Sinatra In Hollywood. Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 978-0-312-36226-3

Summers, Antony and Swan, Robbyn. (2005) Sinatra: The Life. Doubleday. ISBN 0-552-15331-1

Taraborrelli, J. Randall. (1998) Sinatra: The Man Behind the Myth. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 1-84018-119-2

Wilson, Earl. (1976) Sinatra.

Memoirs

Ash, Vic. (2006) I Blew it My Way: Bebop, Big Bands and Sinatra. Northway Publications. ISBN 0-9550908-2-2

Jacobs, George and Stadiem, William. (2003) Mr. S.: The Last Word on Frank Sinatra. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-330-41229-9

Falcone, Vincent. (2005) Frankly - Just Between Us: My Life Conducting Frank Sinatra's Music Hal Leonard. ISBN 978-0634094989

Criticism

Fuchs, J. & Prigozy, R., ed. (2007) Frank Sinatra: The Man, the Music, the Legend. The Boydell Press. ISBN 1-58046-251-0

Granata, Charles L. (1999) Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1-55652-509-4

Hamill, Pete. (2003) Why Sinatra Matters. Back Bay Books. ISBN 0-316-73886-7

Mustazza, Leonard, ed. (1998) Frank Sinatra and Popular Culture. Praeger. ISBN 0-275-96495-7

Petkov, Steven and Mustazza, Leonard, ed. (1997) The Frank Sinatra Reader. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-511389-6

Pugliese, S., ed. (2004) Frank Sinatra: "History, Identity, and Italian American Culture ". Palgrave. ISBN 1-4039-6655-9

Smith, Martin. (2005) When Ol' Blue Eyes Was a Red. Redwords. ISBN 1-905192-02-9

Zehme, Bill. (1997) The Way You Wear Your Hat: Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Livin'. Harper Collins. ISBN 0-06-093175-2

Jazz Times Magazine, May 1998">"Frank Sinatra — Through the Lens of Jazz", Jazz Times Magazine, May 1998

Friedwald, Will. (1999) Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-684-19368-X

Granata, Charles L. (1999) Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 1-55652-509-5

McNally, Karen. (2008) When Frankie Went to Hollywood: Frank Sinatra and American Male Identity University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-03334-5

Sinatra family publications

Pignone, Charles, with foreword by Sinatra, Frank Jr. and Jones, Quincy. (2004) The Sinatra Treasures. Virgin Books. ISBN 1-85227-184-1

Pignone, Charles, with foreword by Sinatra, Amanda. (2007) Frank Sinatra: The Family Album Little Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-00349-2

Sinatra, Julie. (2007) Under My Skin: My Father, Frank Sinatra The Man Behind the Mystique iuniverse.com, ISBN 0-595-43478-9

Sinatra, Nancy. (1986) Frank Sinatra, My Father. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-23356-9

Sinatra, Nancy. (1998) Frank Sinatra 1915-1998: An American Legend. Readers Digest. ISBN 0-7621-0134-2

Sinatra, Tina. (2000) My Father's Daughter. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-87076-2

Cultural criticism

Gigliotti, Gilbert L. A Storied Singer: Frank Sinatra as Literary Conceit. Greewood, 2002.

Hamill, Pete. Why Sinatra Matters. Back Bay Books, 2003.

Mustazza, Leonard, ed. Frank Sinatra and Popular Culture. Praeger, 1998.

Petkov, Steven and Mustazza, Leonard, ed. The Frank Sinatra Reader. Oxford University Press, 1997.

Pugliese, S., ed. Frank Sinatra: "History, Identity, and Italian American Culture ". Palgrave, 2004.

Smith, Martin. When Ol' Blue Eyes was a red. Redwords, 2005.

Zehme, Bill. The Way You Wear Your Hat: Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Livin'. Harper Collins, 1997.

Other

Gigliotti, Gilbert L., ed. (2008) Sinatra: But Buddy I'm a Kind of Poem. Entasis Press ISBN 978-0-9800999-0-4

Havers, Richard. (2004) Sinatra. Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 1-4053-1461-3

Ingham, Chris. (2005) The Rough Guide to Frank Sinatra. Rough Guides. ISBN 1-84353-414-2

Knight, Timothy. (2010) Sinatra - Hollywood His Way. Running Press. ISBN 9780762437436

Lloyd, David. (2003) The Gospel According to Frank. New American Press. ISBN 1-930907-19-2

O'Neill, Terry, ed. Morgan, Robert. (2007) Sinatra: Frank and Friendly. Evans Mitchell Books. ISBN 1-901268-32-2

The New Rolling Stone Record Guide, Rolling Stone Press, 1983.

Tom and Phil Kuntz. (2000) The Sinatra Files: The Secret FBI Dossier. Three Rivers Press ISBN 0-8129-3276-5

Giordmaina, Diane [McCue]. (2009) "Sinatra and The Moll". iUniverse. ISBN 978-0-595-53234-6

References

External links

Watch

The House I Live In (1945)

The Frank Sinatra Show (1950-1952)

Listen

Category:1915 births Category:1998 deaths Category:1930s singers Category:1940s singers Category:1950s singers Category:1960s singers Category:1970s singers Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:20th-century actors Category:Academy Honorary Award recipients Category:Actors from New Jersey Category:American actors of Italian descent Category:American crooners Category:American film actors Category:American jazz musicians of Sicilian descent Category:American jazz singers Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American philanthropists Category:American pop singers Category:American Roman Catholics Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winners Category:Burials at Desert Memorial Park Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in California Category:California Republicans Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Columbia Records artists Category:Congressional Gold Medal recipients Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Musicians from New Jersey Category:New Jersey Democrats Category:People from Hoboken, New Jersey Category:People with bipolar disorder Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:Qwest Records artists Category:Reprise Records artists Category:Swing singers Category:Torch singers Category:Traditional pop music singers

Name	Buddy Rich
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth name	Bernard Rich
Alias	Traps the Drum Wonder (as a boy) and "B" (as an adult)
Born	September 30, 1917
Died	April 02, 1987
Origin	Brooklyn, New York, USA
Instrument	Drums, percussion
Genre	Jazz, big band, swing, bebop
Occupation	Musician, songwriter, bandleader, actor
Years active	1919–1987
Associated acts	Joe MarsalaBunny BeriganArtie ShawTommy DorseyBenny CarterHarry JamesLes BrownCharlie VenturaJazz at the PhilharmonicNat King ColeElla FitzgeraldGene Krupa and Louis Armstrong
Url	http://www.buddyrich.com/

Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.

Early life

Rich was born in Brooklyn, New York, to vaudevillians Robert and Bess Rich. His talent for rhythm was first noted by his father, who saw that Buddy could keep a steady beat with spoons at the age of one. He began playing drums in vaudeville when he was 18 months old, billed as "Traps the Drum Wonder." At the peak of Rich's childhood career, he was reportedly the second-highest paid child entertainer in the world (after Jackie Coogan). At 11 he was performing as a bandleader. He received no formal drum instruction, and went so far as to claim that instruction would only degrade his musical talent. He also never admitted to practicing, claiming to play the drums only during performances and was not known to read music. He expressed great admiration for, and was influenced by, the playing of Chick Webb, Gene Krupa, Dave Tough, and Jo Jones, among others.

Jazz career

He first played jazz with a major group in 1937 with Joe Marsala and guitarist Jack Lemaire, then played with Bunny Berigan (1938) and Artie Shaw (1939). Rich even instructed a 14-year-old Mel Brooks in drumming for a short period when playing for Shaw. At 21, Rich participated in his first major recording with the Vic Schoen Orchestra (the band that backed the Andrews Sisters). In 1938, he was also hired to play in Tommy Dorsey's orchestra where Rich met and performed with Frank Sinatra. In 1942, Rich left the Dorsey band to join the United States Marine Corps. He rejoined the Dorsey group two years later after leaving the Marines. In 1946, Rich formed his own band with financial support from Sinatra and continued to lead different groups on and off until the early fifties.

In addition to Tommy Dorsey (1939–1942, 1945, 1954–1955), Rich also played with Benny Carter (1942), Harry James (1953-1956–1962, 1964, 1965), Les Brown, Charlie Ventura, and Jazz at the Philharmonic, as well as leading his own band and performing with all-star groups. In the early fifties Rich played with Dorsey and also began to perform with trumpeter Harry James, an association which lasted until 1966. In 1966, Rich left James in order to develop a new big band. For most of the period from 1966 until his death, he led successful big bands in an era when the popularity of big bands had waned from their 1930s and 40s peak. In this later period, Rich continued to play clubs but he had stated in multiple interviews that the great majority of his big band's performances were at high schools, colleges and universities, with club performances done to a much lesser degree. Rich also served as the session drummer for many recordings, where his playing was often much more understated than in his own big-band performances. Especially notable were Rich's sessions for the late-career comeback recordings of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, on which he worked with pianist Oscar Peterson and his famous trio featuring bassist Ray Brown and guitarist Herb Ellis.

Drumming technique and well known performances

Rich's technique has been one of the most standardized and coveted in drumming. His dexterity, musicality of playing style, speed and smooth execution are considered "holy grails" of drum technique and have been considered next to impossible to duplicate. While Rich typically held his sticks using traditional grip, he was also a skilled "match grip" player, and was one of few drummers to master the one-handed roll on both hands. Some of his more spectacular moves are crossover riffs, where he would criss-cross his arms from one drum to another, sometimes over the arm, and even under the arm at great speed.

He often used contrasting techniques to keep long drum solos from getting mundane. Aside from his energetic explosive displays, he would go into quieter passages. One passage he would use in most solos starts with a simple single-stroke roll on the snare picking up speed and power, then slowly moving his sticks closer to the rim as he gets quieter and then eventually playing on just the rim itself while still maintaining speed. Then he would reverse the effect and slowly move towards the center of the snare while increasing power.

Rich also demonstrated incredible skill at brush technique. On one album, 1955's The Lionel Hampton Art Tatum Buddy Rich Trio, Rich plays brushes almost exclusively throughout.

Another technique that few drummers have been able to perfect is the stick-trick where he does a fast roll just by slapping his two sticks together in a circular motion. When performing a single-stroke roll, Rich could be clocked at up to 20 strokes per second, a feat now only being approached decades later by Mike Mangini, Jojo Mayer, Matt Smith and others.

In 1942, Rich and drum teacher Henry Adler co-authored the instructional book Buddy Rich's Modern Interpretation of Snare Drum Rudiments, regarded as one of the more popular snare-drum rudiment books.

One of Adler's former students introduced Adler to Rich. "The kid told me Buddy played better than [Gene] Krupa. Buddy was only in his teens at the time and his friend was my first pupil. Buddy played and I watched his hands. Well, he knocked me right out. He did everything I wanted to do, and he did it with such ease. When I met his folks, I asked them who his teacher was. 'He never studied,' they told me. That made me feel very good. I realized that it was something physical, not only mental, that you had to have."

In a 1985 interview, Adler clarified the extent of his teacher-student relationship to Rich and their collaboration on the instructional book:

"I had nothing to do with [the rumor that I taught Buddy how to play]. That was a result of Tommy Dorsey's introduction to the Buddy Rich book," Adler said. "I used to go around denying it, knowing that Buddy was a natural player. Sure, he studied with me, but he didn't come to me to learn how to hold the drumsticks. I set out to teach Buddy to read. He'd take six lessons, go on the road for six weeks and come back. He didn't have time to practice."

"Tommy Dorsey wanted Buddy to write a book and he told him to get in touch with me. I did the book and Tommy wrote the foreword. Technically, I was Buddy's teacher, but I came along after he had already acquired his technique."

When asked about Rich's ability to read music, Bobby Shew, lead trumpeter in Rich's mid-60s big band replied, :"No. He’d always have a drummer there during rehearsals to read and play the parts initially on new arrangements... He’d only have to listen to a chart once and he’d have it memorized. We'd run through it and he'd know exactly how it went, how many measures it ran and what he'd have to do to drive it... The guy had the most natural instincts."

The West Side Story Medley

Perhaps his most popular later performance was a big band arrangement of a medley derived from the Leonard Bernstein classic West Side Story, first released on the 1966 album Buddy Rich's Swingin' New Big Band

The West Side Story medley is a complex and difficult-to-perform big-band arrangement which highlights Rich's remarkable ability to blend the rhythm of his drumming into his band's playing of the musical chart. Penned by Bill Reddie, Rich received the West Side Story arrangement of Leonard Bernstein's melodies from the famed musical in the mid-1960s and found it to be very challenging even for him. It consists of many rapid-fire time changes and signatures and took almost a month of constant rehearsals to perfect. It since became a staple in all his performances, clocking in at various lengths from seven to fifteen minutes. Bernstein himself had nothing but praise for it. In 2002, a DVD was released called The Lost West Side Story Tapes that captured a 1985 performance of this along with other numbers. These tapes had been previously thought to have been lost in a fire. Rich's ability to create spontaneous drum solos that matched and melded with the musical intricacies and intensity of big band scores was chief among his musical brilliance.

Channel One Suite

After the West Side Story Medley, Rich's most famous performance was the Channel One Suite by Bill Reddie. Like the West Side Story Medley, the Channel One Suite generally was a quite long performance ranging from about 12 minutes to about 26 minutes and usually contained 2 or 3 drum solos. Although 26 minute performances of the Channel One Suite were not incredibly common, they were not unheard of. A recording of one of his live performances was released in 2006 which contained a 26 minute Channel One Suite.

TV guest appearances

In the 1950s, Rich was a frequent guest on The Steve Allen Show and other television variety shows. Beginning in 1962, Rich was also a frequent guest on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show and The Merv Griffin Show, among others, and appeared with his Big Band on British television, on Michael Parkinson's talk show Parkinson and on the Terry Wogan Show (the last on October 29, 1986, only a few months prior to his death). One of his most widely seen television performances was in a 1978 episode of The Muppet Show, where he engaged Muppet drummer "Animal" (played by Ronnie Verrell) in a drum battle. Rich also made a guest appearance on the TV show Here's Lucy.

Instruments

Buddy was known as a performer and endorser of Slingerland Radio King, and Rogers Drums. He switched to Ludwig drums for much of the 1970s to the early 1980s. While recovering from a heart attack in 1959, Rich was presented with an original Slingerland Radio King 5X14 wood snare drum completely reconditioned by the Eames drum company. Later, a mismatched Radio King set was completely refurbished for Rich and he used that set right up to his death in 1987. His typical setup included a 14"X26" bass drum, 9"X13" mounted tom, two 16"X16" floor toms (although he rarely used the second tom where he would simply place a towel on the surface), and a 5"X14" snare drum. His cymbals were typically Zildjian consisting of standard 14" hi hats, 20" ride, either a 6" or 8" splash, two 18" crashes, and a 20" swish.

Personality

Although Rich was usually helpful and friendly, he had a short temper. While he threatened many times to fire members of his band, he seldom did so, and for the most part he lauded his band members during television and print interviews.

The tapes

Rich's temper, mercurial attitude and imposing personality are documented in secret recordings that pianist Lee Musiker made during some of his tantrums on tour buses and backstage in the early 1980s. These recordings, long circulated in bootleg form, have done much to fuel the reputation of Rich's personality. The tapes were popular with comedians Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, who used three quotes from them more or less verbatim on Seinfeld:

"If I have to tell you again, we're gonna take it outside and I'm gonna show you what it's like!" ("The Opposite")

"This guy - this is not my kind of guy." ("The Understudy")

"Then let's see how he does, up there, without all the assistance!" ("The Butter Shave")

On one recording, Rich threatens to fire Dave Panichi, a trombonist, for wearing a beard. Days before Rich died, he was visited by Mel Tormé, who claims that one of Rich's last requests was "to hear the tapes" that featured his angry outbursts. At the time, Tormé was working on an authorized biography of Rich which was released after Rich's death, titled Traps, The Drum Wonder: The Life of Buddy Rich.

Miscellaneous

The Beastie Boys song "Sabotage": "I'm Buddy Rich when I fly off the handle," referred to Rich's temper.

Dusty Springfield allegedly slapped Rich after several days of "putting up with Rich's insults and show-biz sabotage."

Band member and lifelong friend David Lucas says that "Rich had a soft heart underneath it all. His favorite song was "It's Not Easy Being Green".

Buddy Rich held a black belt in karate, as mentioned in a CNN television interview with Larry King, c. 1985.

In an episode of Michael Parkinson's British talk show, Parkinson kidded Rich about his Donny Osmond kick, by claiming that Rich was the president of The Osmonds' fan club. Reportedly, prior to heart surgery, when asked by a nurse if he was allergic to anything; he replied, "Yes, Country and Western music!"

Carter Beauford, drummer for the Dave Matthews Band, was first introduced to drumming when his father, who couldn't find a baby-sitter, took Carter to a Buddy Rich show. Beauford learned his ambidextrous drumming style by watching recordings of Buddy Rich on television and mirroring his technique, thereby learning to keep time with both hands somewhat accidentally.

Death and legacy

Buddy Rich remained active performing until the end of his life. On April 2, 1987, Rich died of heart failure following surgery for a malignant brain tumor. He is interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. He was 69.

Since Rich's death, a number of memorial concerts have been held. In 1994, the Rich tribute album was released. Produced by Rush drummer/lyricist Neil Peart, the album features performances of Rich staples by a number of rock and jazz drummers such as Kenny Aronoff, Dave Weckl, Steve Gadd, Max Roach, Steve Smith, Matt Sorum and Peart himself, accompanied by the Buddy Rich Big Band. A was issued in 1997.

Discography

Studio and live albums as leader or co-leader

1953: The Flip Phillips Buddy Rich Trio (Clef Records)

1954: The Swinging Buddy Rich (Norgran Records)

1955: Sing and Swing with Buddy Rich (Norgran)

1955: Buddy and Sweets (Norgran)

1955: The Lester Young Buddy Rich Trio (Norgran)

1955: The Wailing Buddy Rich (Norgran)

1955: Krupa and Rich (Clef) (with Gene Krupa)

1955: The Lionel Hampton Art Tatum Buddy Rich Trio (Clef)

1956: Buddy Rich Sings Johnny Mercer (Verve Records)

1956: This One's for Basie (Verve) — re-issued 1967 as Big Band Shout

1957: Buddy Rich Just Sings (Verve)

1958: Buddy Rich in Miami (Verve)

1959: Richcraft (Mercury Records) – also The Rich Rebellion (Wing)

1959: Rich versus Roach (Mercury) (with Max Roach)

1959: The Voice is Rich (Mercury)

1960: The Driver (EmArcy Records)

1961: Blues Caravan (Verve)

1961: Playtime (Argo Records)

1962: Burnin' Beat (Verve) (with Gene Krupa)

1965: ''Are You Ready for This? (Roost) – with Louie Bellson

1966: Swingin' New Big Band (Pacific Jazz Records/Blue Note Records)

1966: The Sounds of '66 (Reprise Records) (Live, with Sammy Davis, Jr.)

1967: Big Swing Face (Pacific Jazz) (Live)

1967: The New One! (Pacific Jazz) — aka Take it Away

1968: Rich à la Rakha (World Pacific) (with Alla Rakha)

1968: Mercy, Mercy (Pacific Jazz) (Live)

1969: Buddy & Soul (Pacific Jazz) (Live)

1970: Keep the Customer Satisfied (Liberty Records) (Live)

1971: A Different Drummer (RCA Records)

1971: Rich in London (RCA) — expanded UK release = Buddy Rich: Very Alive at Ronnie Scott's (RCA (UK)) (Live)

1972: Stick It (RCA)

1973: The Roar of '74 (Groove Merchant Records)

1974: Very Live at Buddy's Place (Groove Merchant) (Live)

1974: Transition (Groove Merchant) — with Lionel Hampton

1974: The Last Blues Album, Vol. 1 (Groove Merchant)

1975: Big Band Machine (Groove Merchant)

1976: Speak No Evil (RCA)

1977: Buddy Rich Plays and Plays and Plays (RCA)

1977: Lionel Hampton Presents Buddy Rich (Who's Who In Jazz) — aka Buddy's Cherokee... also released as The Sound of Jazz, Vol 10

1977: Class of '78 (The Great American Gramophone Company) — also released as The Greatest Drummer That Ever Lived with The Best Band I Ever Had

1977: Europe '77 (Magic)

1978: (Gryphon/Century) — aka When I Found You (with Mel Tormé)

1980: Live at Ronnie Scott's (DRG) — aka The Man from Planet Jazz (Live)

1981: The Buddy Rich Band (Universal Special Products)

1983: Rich and Famous (Amway) — aka The Magic of Buddy Rich, aka Buddy Rich - The Man

1985: Mr. Drums: Live on King Street, San Francisco (Café) (Live)

Posthumous releases of previously unreleased recordings

2001: Wham! The Buddy Rich Big Band Live (Label M)

2004: No Funny Hats (Lightyear)

Notable compilation albums

1960: The Drum Battle (Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich at JATP) (Verve)

196?: The Best of Buddy Rich (Pacific Jazz)

1969: Super Rich (Verve)

1971: Time Being (Bluebird/RCA)

1987: Compact Jazz: Buddy Rich (Verve)

1990: Compact Jazz: Gene Krupa & Buddy Rich (Verve)

1992: No Jive (Novus)

1998: Buddy Rich: The Legendary '47-'48 Orchestra Vol. 1 (Hep Records)

1998: Buddy Rich: The Legendary '46-'48 Orchestra Vol. 2 (Hep)

2005: Classic EmArcy, Verve, Small Group Buddy Rich Sessions (7 CD Box set, Mosaic Records #232)

References

External links

Official website

Buddy Rich at Wikiquote

(Discography and brief biography)

Buddy Rich videos, pictures, quotes, and set-up at TotalDrumsets.com

Category:1917 births Category:1987 deaths Category:American jazz drummers Category:American jazz composers Category:American Jews Category:Jewish American musicians Category:Bebop drummers Category:Big band drummers Category:Cancer deaths in California Category:Deaths from brain cancer Category:Deaths from heart failure Category:Jazz bandleaders Category:Mainstream jazz drummers Category:Musicians from New York Category:People from Brooklyn Category:Swing drummers Category:Vaudeville performers

Name	Kitty Kallen
Background	solo_singer
Born	May 05, 1922Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Genre	Big band, popular music

Kitty Kallen (born May 25, 1922) is an American popular singer who sang with a number of big bands in the 1940s, coming back in the 1950s to score her biggest hit, "Little Things Mean a Lot" in 1954.

Career

Born in Philadelphia to a Jewish family, she won an amateur contest as a child doing imitations of some singers of the day. When she brought her prize (a camera) home, her father refused to believe her and thought she had stolen the camera, so he punished her severely. Later, when neighborhood people came to congratulate her father, he realized that her story was true. Subsequently she sang (while still a child) on The Children's Hour, and Jack Teagarden in 1940. While with the Savitt band, she briefly was a roommate of Dinah Shore. She married Clint Garvin, who played clarinet in Teagarden's band, and when Teagarden fired Garvin, she left as well. The marriage was annulled.

Kallen later married Budd Granoff, a famous publicist, agent, and television producer. They were married over forty-five years, until Granoff's death. Still only a teenager at that time—after a short stay with Bobby Sherwood--she joined the Jimmy Dorsey band, replacing Helen O'Connell. Eventually, in 1944, she appeared as the vocalist for Dorsey's US number-one hit, "Besame Mucho". Most of her singing assignments were in duets with Bob Eberly, and when Eberly left to go into the service toward the end of 1943, she joined Harry James' band.

Kallen became a popular artist on radio, film, and nightclub. With the 1954 hit "Little Things Mean a Lot" (voted the most popular record), Kallen was voted most popular female singer in Billboard and Variety polls, this followed by "Chapel in the Moonlight". She also recorded a version of "True Love" for Decca. After those hit recordings and at the height of her career, she lost her voice and did not record again until 1959; first for Columbia where she had a hit version of "If I Give My Heart to You". In 1963, she had the biggest selling version of "My Coloring Book" which appeared on RCA. Her final album was Quiet Nights, a bossa nova based long play for 20th Century Fox Records. Shortly thereafter, following this highly successful comeback, she was forced to retire permanently due to a lung complication brought on by an erroneous medical prescription for an infection. Her breathing mechanism, while singing, became highly stressed obliging her to make that difficult decision to end a stellar career.

A compilation of her hits on various labels is available on the Sony CD set, The Kitty Kallen Story.

During Kallen's height of popularity, there were three imposters who billed themselves as Kitty Kallen. When one of them (Genevieve Angostinello) died, it was reported that Kallen had died, and that is where the mis-information about Kallen's birth name originated.

For her recording work, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2009 she was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

Kallen is known as a one-hit wonder in the UK, as her song "Little Things Mean a Lot", went to number 1 in the UK Singles Chart, but she failed to follow it up.

Hit recordings

Listen

Big Band Serenade podcast 155 contains information with many recordings of her singing

References

Category:1922 births Category:American female singers Category:American Jews Category:Jewish American musicians Category:American singers Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Traditional pop music singers Category:Bell Records artists Category:Decca Records artists

Name	June Allyson
Caption	in The Secret Heart (1946)
Birth name	Eleanor Geisman
Birth date	October 07, 1917
Birth place	The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Death date	July 08, 2006
Death place	Ojai, California, U.S.
Years active	1937–2001
Occupation	Actress
Spouse	(his death) 2 childrenAlfred Glenn Maxwell (m. 1963–1965, m. 1966–1970) (divorced) her death
Website	http://www.juneallyson.com/

June Allyson (October 7, 1917 – July 8, 2006) was an American film and television actress, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was a major MGM contract star. Allyson won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her performance in Too Young to Kiss (1951). From 1959–1961, she hosted and occasionally starred in her own CBS anthology series, The DuPont Show with June Allyson. A later generation knew her as a spokesperson for Depend undergarments.

Early life

Allyson was born Eleanor Geisman, nicknamed "Ella", in The Bronx, New York City, to Clara (née Provost) and Robert Geisman. She claimed to be raised as a Roman Catholic but there is discrepancy relating to her early life as her studio biography was often the source of the confusion. Her paternal grandparents, Harry Geisman and Anna Hafner, were immigrants from Germany, Studio biographies listed her as "Jan Allyson" born to French-English parents. On her death, her daughter said Allyson was born "Eleanor Geisman to a French mother and Dutch father."

In April 1918, when Allyson was only six months old, her alcoholic father, who had worked as a janitor, abandoned the family. Allyson was brought up in near poverty, living with her maternal grandparents. To make ends meet, her mother worked as a telephone operator and restaurant cashier, and when she had enough funds, she would occasionally reunite with her daughter, but more often Allyson was "farmed" out to her grandparents or other relatives. The heavy branch killed her dog outright while Allyson had a fractured skull and broken back. Her doctors said she would never walk again and confined her to a heavy steel brace from neck to hips for four years. She ultimately regained her health but when Allyson had become famous, she was terrified that people would discover her background from the "tenement side of New York City" and readily agreed to studio tales of a "rosy life" including a concocted story that she underwent months of swimming exercises in rehabilitation to emerge as a star swimmer.

After gradually progressing from a wheelchair to crutches to braces, Allyson's true "escape" from her impoverished life was to go to the movies where she was enraptured by Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire movies. She also tried to emulate the singing styles of movie stars, although she never mastered reading music. When her mother remarried and the family was reunited with a more stable financial standing, Allyson was enrolled in the Ned Wayburn Dancing Academy and began to enter dance competitions with the stage name of "Elaine Peters." With the death of her stepfather and a bleak future ahead, she left high school after only completing two and half years, to seek jobs as a dancer. Her first $60-a-week job was as a tap dancer at the Lido Club in Montreal. Returning to New York, she subsequently found work as an actress in movie short subjects filmed by Educational Pictures at its Astoria, Long Island studio. Fiercely ambitious, Allyson tried her hand at modeling, but, to her consternation being the "sad-looking before part" in a before-and-after bathing suit magazine ad. Her first career "break" came when Educational cast her as an ingenue opposite singer Lee Sullivan, comic dancers Herman Timberg, Jr. and Pat Rooney, Jr. and future comedy star Danny Kaye. When Educational ceased operations, Allyson moved over to Vitaphone in Brooklyn, and starred or co-starred (with dancer Hal Le Roy) in musical shorts.

Career

Interspersing jobs in the chorus line at the Copacabana Club with acting roles at Vitaphone, the diminutive 5'1" (1.55 m), weighing less than 100 pounds, red-headed Allyson landed a chorus job in the Broadway show Sing out the News in 1938.

During World War II, after her appearance in the Broadway musical, Allyson was selected for the 1943 film version of Best Foot Forward. When she arrived in Hollywood, the production had not started so MGM "placed her on the payroll" of Girl Crazy (1943). Despite playing a "bit part", Allyson received good reviews as a sidekick to Best Foot Forward's star, Lucille Ball, but was still relegated to the "drop list". MGM's musical supervisor, Arthur Freed saw her test sent up by an agent and insisted that Allyson be put on contract immediately. Another musical, Thousands Cheer (1943) was again a showcase for her singing and dancing, albeit still in a minor role. As a new starlet, although Allyson had already been a performer on stage and screen, she was presented as an "overnight sensation", with Hollywood press agents attempting to portray her as an ingenue, selectively slicing almost a decade off her true age. Studio bios listed her variously as being born in 1922 and 1923. was fostered by her being cast alongside long-time acting chum, Van Johnson, the quintessential "boy next door." As the "sweetheart team," Johnson and Allyson were to appear together in four later films.

Allyson's early success as a musical star led to several other postwar musicals, including Two Sisters from Boston (1946) and Good News (1947). (1950)]]

An extremely active star in the 1940s and 1950s, in 1950, Allyson had been signed to appear opposite her childhood idol Fred Astaire in Royal Wedding, but had to leave the production due to pregnancy. (She was replaced initially by Judy Garland, and later Jane Powell.) She starred in 1956 with a young rising star named Jack Lemmon in a musical comedy, You Can't Run Away From It. Besides Van Johnson, James Stewart was a frequent costar, teaming up with Allyson in films such as The Glenn Miller Story, The Stratton Story and Strategic Air Command.

A versatile performer, Allyson appeared on radio and after her film career ended, Allyson made a handful of nightclub singing engagements. In later years, Allyson appeared on television, not only in her own series, but in such popular programs as The Love Boat and Murder, She Wrote. The DuPont Show with June Allyson on CBS ran for two seasons and was an attempt to use a "high budget" formula but her efforts were dismissed by critics such as the entertainment reviewer in the LA Examiner as "reaching down to the level of mag fiction." TV Guide and other fan magazines such as TV, however, considered Allyson's foray into television as revitalizing her fame and career for a younger audience, further characterizing that her stereotyping by the movie industry as the "girl next door" was the "waste and neglect of talent on its own doorstep."

Personal life

On her arrival in Hollywood, studio heads attempted to enhance the pairing of Van Johnson and Allyson by sending out the two contracted players on a series of "official dates" which were highly publicized and led to a public perception that a romance had been kindled. Although dating David Rose, Peter Lawford and John F. Kennedy, Allyson was actually being courted by movie heartthrob and powerful Hollywood "player" Dick Powell, who was 13 years her senior and had been previously married to Mildred Maund and Joan Blondell.

On August 19, 1945, Allyson caused MGM studio chief, Louis B. Mayer some consternation by marrying Dick Powell. After defying him twice by refusing to stop seeing Powell, in a "tactical master stroke", she asked Mayer to give her away at the wedding. He was so disarmed that he agreed but put Allyson on suspension anyway. The Powells had two children, Pamela Allyson Powell (adopted in 1948 through the Tennessee Children's Home Society in an adoption arranged by Georgia Tann) and Richard Powell, Jr. (born December 24, 1950). In 1961, Allyson underwent a kidney operation and later, throat surgery, temporarily affecting her trademark raspy-voice. The couple briefly separated in 1961, but reconciled and remained married until his death on January 2, 1963.

Powell's wealth made it possible for Allyson to effectively retire from show business after his death, making only occasional appearances on talk and variety shows. Allyson returned to the Broadway stage in 1970 in the play Forty Carats and later toured in a production of No, No Nanette.

After Powell's death, Allyson committed herself to charitable work on his behalf, championing the importance of research in urological and gynecological diseases in seniors, and represented the Kimberly-Clark Corporation in commercials for Depend adult incontinence products. Following a life-long interest in health and medical research (Allyson had initially wanted to use her acting career to fund her own training as a doctor),

Following her separation from Summers, Allyson was twice married and divorced to businessman Alfred Glenn Maxwell, who owned a number of barbershops and had been Powell's barber,

Her autobiography, June Allyson by June Allyson (1982) received generally complimentary reviews due to its insider look at Hollywood in one of its golden ages. A more critical appraisal came from Janet Maslin at the New York Times in her review, "Hollywood Leaves Its Imprint on Its Chroniclers", who noted: “Miss Allyson presents herself as the same sunny, tomboyish figure she played on screen Hollywood... like someone who has come to inhabit the very myths she helped to create on the screen."

As a personal friend of President and Mrs. Reagan she was invited to many White House Dinners, and in 1988, President Reagan appointed her to “The Federal Council of Aging”. Allyson and her later husband, Dr. Ashrow, actively supported fund-raising efforts for both the James Stewart and Judy Garland museums; both Stewart and Garland had been close friends. In December 1993, Allyson christened the Holland America Maasdam, one of the flagships of the Holland America line. Although her heritage, like much of her personal story, was subject to different interpretations, Allyson always claimed to be proud of a Dutch ancestry. Until 2003, Allyson remained as busy as ever touring the country making personal appearances, headlining celebrity cruises and speaking on behalf of Kimberly-Clark, a long-time commercial interest.

Awards

In 1952, Allyson won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actress—Musical/Comedy, for Too Young To Kiss. In 1954, she was awarded the Special Jury Prize for Ensemble Acting at the Venice Festival, for Executive Suite, in the same year that she was voted Most Popular Female Star by Photoplay magazine. In 1955, Allyson was named the ninth most popular movie star in the annual Quigley Exhibitors Poll and the second most popular female star (behind Grace Kelly). In 1985, she received the Cannes Festival Distinguished Service Award.

Filmography

Features

Best Foot Forward (1943)

Thousands Cheer (1943)

Girl Crazy (1943)

Meet the People (1944)

Two Girls and a Sailor (1944)

Music for Millions (1944)

Her Highness and the Bellboy (1945)

The Sailor Takes a Wife (1945)

Two Sisters from Boston (1946)

Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)

The Secret Heart (1946)

High Barbaree (1947)

Good News (1947)

The Bride Goes Wild (1948)

The Three Musketeers (1948)

Words and Music (1948)

Little Women (1949)

The Stratton Story (1949)

The Reformer and the Redhead (1950)

Right Cross (1950)

Too Young to Kiss (1951)

The Girl in White (1952)

Battle Circus (1953)

Remains to Be Seen (1953)

The Glenn Miller Story (1953)

Executive Suite (1954)

Woman's World (1954)

Strategic Air Command (1955)

The Shrike (1955)

The McConnell Story (1955)

The Opposite Sex (1956)

You Can't Run Away from It (1956)

Interlude (1957)

My Man Godfrey (1957)

A Stranger in My Arms (1959)

They Only Kill Their Masters (1972)

Blackout (1978)

That's Entertainment! III (1994)

A Girl, Three Guys, and a Gun (2001)

Short subjects

Ups and Downs (1937)

Pixilated (1937)

Swing for Sale (1937)

Dime a Dance (1937)

Dates and Nuts (1937)

Not Now (1938)

Sing for Sweetie (1938)

The Prisoner of Swing (1938)

The Knight Is Young (1938)

All Girl Revue (1940)

Screen Snapshots: Hollywood, City of Stars (1956)

References

;Notes ;Citations ;Bibliography

Allyson, June. June Allyson's Feeling Great: A Daily Dozen Exercises for Creative Aging. New York: Da Capo Press, 1987. ISBN 978-0884962571.

Allyson, June and Frances Spatz Leighton. June Allyson by June Allyson. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1982. ISBN 0-39912-726-7.

Basinger, Jeanine. The Star Machine. New York: Knopf, 2007. ISBN 978-1400041305.

Becker, Christine. It's the Pictures That Got Small: Hollywood Film Stars on 1950s Television (Wesleyan Film). Indianapolis, Indiana: Wesleyan, 2009. ISBN 978-0819568946.

Davis, Ronald L. Van Johnson: MGM’s Golden Boy (Hollywood Legends Series). Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 2001. ISBN 978-1578063772.

Eyman, Scott. Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Meyer. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005. ISBN 978-0743204811.

Fordin, Hugh. M-G-M's Greatest Musicals. New York: Da Capo Press, 1996. ISBN 978-0306807305.

Hirschhorn, Clive. The Hollywood Musical. London: Pyramid Books, 1991, first edition 1981. ISBN 1-955-100-800.

Kennedy, Matthew. Joan Blondell: A Life between Takes (Hollywood Legends Series). Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 2007. ISBN 978-1578069613.

Milner, Jay Dunston. Confessions of a Maddog: A Romp through the High-flying Texas Music and Literary Era of the Fifties to the Seventies. Denton, Texas: University of North Texas Press, 1998. ISBN 978-1574410501.

Mormon, Robert. Demises of the Distinguished. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2007. ISBN 978-1434315465.

Parish, James Robert and Michael R. Pitts. Hollywood Songsters: Singers Who Act and Actors who can Sing. London: Routledge, 2003. ISBN 978-0415943321.

Wayne, Jane Ellen. The Golden Girls of MGM: Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly and Others. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2002. ISBN 978-0786711178.

Wayne, Jane Ellen. The Leading Men of MGM. New York: Da Capo Press, 2006. ISBN 978-0786717682.

External links

June Allyson's Official Web Site

Joe Daurril's Allyson Without Tears

Obituary in the Los Angeles Daily News

Obituary in The New York Times (July 11, 2006)

Photographs and literature

Category:1917 births Category:2006 deaths Category:Actors from New York Category:American film actors Category:American musical theatre actors Category:American stage actors Category:American television actors Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:California Republicans Category:Deaths from respiratory failure Category:Deaths from bronchitis Category:People from the Bronx Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:20th-century actors Category:New York Republicans

Jerry Vale (born Gennaro Luigi Vitaliano, July 8, 1932, The Bronx, New York) is an American singer.

Career

In high school, in order to make some money, he took a job shining shoes in a barbershop in New York City. He sang while he shined shoes, and his boss liked the sound so well that he paid for music lessons for the boy. Enjoying the lessons, Vale started singing in high school musicals and at a local club. This led to additional club dates, including one that lasted for three years at a club in the suburb of Yonkers, New York, just north of the city. When Paul Insetta, (who was a road manager for Guy Mitchell and a hit songwriter) heard him there, he signed him to a management contract, changed his name, and further coached him. He then arranged for Vale to record some demonstration records of songs he'd written, and brought the demos to Columbia Records. Vale then signed a recording contract with Columbia Records, and Insetta managed him for many years.

His version of the National Anthem, recorded in the late 1960s, was a fixture at sporting events for many years.

Vale and Rita, his wife of over forty years, reside in Palm Desert, California. His autobiography, A Singer's Life, was published in 2000 by Celebrity Profiles, Long Island, New York. He made cameo appearances as himself in the 1990 film "Goodfellas" and the 1995 film "Casino".

Singles

See also

List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart

External links

Jerry Vale at MySpace

Bio on NNDB site

Bio on VH1 site

Category:1932 births Category:Living people Category:American male singers Category:Traditional pop music singers Category:American musicians of Italian descent Category:People from the Bronx

Name	Huntz Hall
Birth name	Henry Richard Hall
Birth date	c. August 15, 1919
Occupation	Actor
Children	Reverend Gary Hall

Henry Richard "Huntz" Hall (August 15, 1919; to Joseph Patrick Hall and Mary Ellen Mullen, an Irish-born air-conditioner repairman and his wife, He was the 14th of 16 children. He was nicknamed "Huntz" because of his Teutonic-looking nose. ...

He attended Catholic grammar school. He started in radio at age 5. Hall was then cast along with the other Dead End Kids in the 1937 film Dead End, directed by William Wyler and starring Humphrey Bogart.

Hall later played the increasingly buffoonish Horace DeBussy "Sach" Jones in 48 "Bowery Boys" entries, graduating to top billing when Leo Gorcey left the series in 1955.

He appeared in films not associated with the comedy team, such as his portrayal of Private Carraway in the war film, A Walk in the Sun, in 1945.

In 1977 he played movie mogul Jesse Lasky in Ken Russell's film Valentino. He performed in dinner theater productions, then he retired in 1994 after his fourth wife died.

References

External links

Category:1920 births Category:1999 deaths Category:American stage actors Category:American film actors Category:American radio actors Category:American Roman Catholics Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in California Category:Deaths from congestive heart failure

Name	Gene Krupa
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth name	Eugene Bertram Krupa
Born	January 15, 1909Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	October 16, 1973Yonkers, New York, U.S.
Instrument	Drums
Genre	JazzSwingDixielandBig band
Occupation	DrummerComposerBandleader
Years active	1920s – mid 1960s, with intermittent performances in the 1970s
Associated acts	Eddie CondonBenny GoodmanLouie Bellson

Gene Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973) was an influential American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.

Biography

Eugene Bertram Krupa was born in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest of nine children in the family of Bartlomiej Krupa and Anna (née Oslowski) Krupa. His father was an immigrant from Poland, and his mother was born in Shamokin, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania; his siblings were Clarence, Eleanor, Casimir, Leo, Peter and Julius.

Krupa studied with Sanford A. Moeller and began playing professionally in the mid 1920s with bands in Wisconsin. He broke into the Chicago scene in 1927, when he was picked by MCA to become a member of "Thelma Terry and Her Playboys", the first notable American Jazz band (outside of all-girl bands) to be led by a female musician. The Playboys were the house band at The Golden Pumpkin nightclub in Chicago and also toured extensively throughout the eastern and central United States.

Krupa made his first recordings in 1927, with a band under the leadership of banjoist Eddie Condon and Red McKenzie: along with other recordings beginning in 1924 by musicians known in the "Chicago" scene such as Bix Beiderbecke, these sides are examples of "Chicago Style" jazz. The numbers recorded at that session were: "China Boy", "Sugar", "Nobody's Sweetheart" and "Liza". The McKenzie - Condon sides are also notable for being some of the early examples of the use of a full drum kit on recordings. Eddie Condon describes what happened in the Okeh Records studio on that day (in 'We Called It Music' - pub: Peter Davis, 1948):

Quietly we waited for the playback. When it came, pounding out through the big speaker, we listened stiffly for a moment. We had never been an audience for ourselves...Rockwell came out of the control-room smiling. 'We'll have to get some more of this... (Rockwell nodded towards Krupa): didn't bother the equipment at all,' he said. 'I think we've got something,'.

Krupa also appeared on six recordings made by the Thelma Terry band in 1928 In 1929, he was part of the Mound City Blue Blowers sessions, that also included Red McKenzie, Glenn Miller, and Coleman Hawkins, which produced "Hello Lola" and "One Hour", which Krupa was credited with co-writing.

In 1929 he moved to New York City and worked with the band of Red Nichols. In 1933, Krupa first played with Benny Goodman. He became part of the Benny Goodman trio, the first popular integrated musical group in the United States. In 1934 he joined Benny Goodman's band, where his featured drum work made him a national celebrity. His tom-tom interludes on their hit "Sing, Sing, Sing" were the first extended drum solos to be recorded commercially. In 1938, Krupa performed with the Goodman Orchestra in the famous Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert.

After a public fight with Goodman at the Earl Theater in Philadelphia, Krupa left Goodman to launch his own band and had several hits with singer Anita O'Day and trumpeter Roy Eldridge.

In 1939, Gene Krupa and his Orchestra appeared in the Paramount movie Some Like It Hot, which starred Bob Hope, performing the title song, "Blue Rhythm Fantasy", and "The Lady's in Love with You". Krupa made a memorable cameo appearance in a pivotal scene of the 1941 film Ball of Fire, in which he and his band performed an extended version of the hit "Drum Boogie", which he composed with trumpeter Roy Eldridge.

, NY]]In 1943, Krupa was arrested for possession of two marijuana cigarettes and was given a three-month jail sentence. Krupa was not a wealthy man and spent most of his savings defending himself of this charge and fell into a depression for several months, believing his career to be over. Then, Goodman invited him to perform with his orchestra. Audiences welcomed Krupa's performances, and while the reunion would never last, Krupa was performing again, thanks to this nudge.

Krupa soon formed his second orchestra. This one was notable for its large string section, and also featured Charlie Ventura on sax. It was one of the largest dance bands of the era, sometimes containing up to forty musicians. He also invited another drummer into the band so that he could take breaks and lead the orchestra from the front. However, audiences were not paying to see him conduct, and he gradually accepted this.

The end of the swing era

As the 1940s closed, large orchestras fell by the wayside: Count Basie closed his large band and Woody Herman reduced his to an octet. Krupa also gradually cut down the size of the band in the late 1940s, and from 1951 on led a trio or quartet, often featuring the multi-instrumentalist Eddie Shu on tenor sax, clarinet and harmonica. He appeared regularly with the Jazz At the Philharmonic shows.

Krupa had a fleeting brush with Hollywood, too. He was given a musical sequence in the 1941 film comedy hit Ball of Fire and delivers a cameo appearance in the 1946 screen classic The Best Years Of Our Lives. His athletic drumming style, timing methods and cymbal technique evolved during this decade to fit in with changed fashions and tastes, but he never quite adjusted to the Be-Bop period. In 1954, Krupa returned to Hollywood, performing, along with Louis Armstrong, "Basin Street Blues" in Jimmy Stewart's bio-pic The Glenn Miller Story. He also joined fellow Benny Goodman alumni Harry James, Teddy Wilson, and Lionel Hampton in The Benny Goodman Story, starring Steve Allen. In 1959, the movie biography The Gene Krupa Story was released, with Sal Mineo portraying Krupa and a cameo appearance by Red Nichols. Rainn Wilson writes for Turner Classic Movies about this film, which was most unusual for a biopic in its era. Wilson says, "More fact than fiction, The Gene Krupa Story avoids sugarcoating Krupa's life and takes a warts-and-all approach which gives the film an emotional honesty that other screen biographies often lack. In fact, Mineo's portrayal of Krupa is so needy, egocentric, manic and ruthlessly ambitious that you may find yourself rooting for his comeuppance which he receives in spades, starting with a drug bust for marijuana. Dave Frishberg, a pianist who played with Krupa, was particularly struck by the accuracy of one key moment in the film. "The scene where the Krupa character drops his sticks during the big solo, and the audience realizes that he's "back on the stuff." I remember at least a couple of occasions in real life when Gene dropped a stick, and people in the audience began whispering among themselves and pointing at Gene."

Krupa continued to perform even in famous clubs in the 1960s like the Metropole, near Times Square in New York City, often playing duets with African American drummer Cozy Cole. Increasingly troubled by back pain, he retired in the late 1960s and opened a music school. One of his pupils was Kiss drummer Peter Criss. He occasionally played in public in the early 1970s until shortly before his death. Krupa married Ethel Maguire-- twice, in fact; the first marriage lasted from 1934-1942; the second one dates from 1946 to her death in 1955. Their relationship was dramatized in the biopic about him. Krupa remarried in 1959 (to Patty Bowler). He died of leukemia and heart failure in Yonkers, New York at the age of sixty-four. He was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Calumet City, Illinois.

Legacy

Many consider Krupa to be one of the most influential drummers of the 20th century, particularly regarding the development of the drum kit. Many jazz historians believe he made history in 1927 as the first kit drummer ever to record using a bass drum pedal. Others, however, believe this was done earlier by Baby Dodds. His drum method was published in 1938 and immediately became the standard text. He is also credited with inventing the rim shot on the snare drum.

Krupa in the 1930s prominently featured Slingerland drums. At Krupa's urging, Slingerland developed tom-toms with tuneable top and bottom heads, which immediately became important elements of virtually every drummer's set-up. Krupa also developed and popularised many of the cymbal techniques that became standards. His collaboration with Armand Zildjian of the Avedis Zildjian Company developed the modern hi-hat cymbals and standardized the names and uses of the ride cymbal, the crash cymbal, the splash cymbal, the pang cymbal and the swish cymbal.

Krupa was featured in the 1946 Warner Bros. cartoon Book Revue in which a rotoscoped version of Krupa's drumming is used in an impromptu jam session.

The 1937 recording of Louis Prima's "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)" by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra featuring Gene Krupa on drums was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

In 1978, Gene Krupa became the first drummer inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame.

Rhythm, the UK's best selling drum magazine voted Gene Krupa the third most influential drummer ever, in a poll conducted for its February 2009 issue. Voters included over 50 top-name drummers.

Discography

Benny Goodman: The Famous Carnegie Hall Concert 1938 (Columbia)

Drummin´ Man (Charly, 1938–41) with Roy Eldridge, Anita O'Day, Benny Carter, Charlie Ventura

Drum Boogie (Columbia, 1940–41)

Uptown (Columbia, 1941–1949)

Lionel Hampton/Gene Krupa (Forlane, 1949) with Don Fagerquist, Frank Rehak, Frank Rosolino, Roy Eldridge

The Exciting Gene Krupa (Enoch's Music, 1953) with Charlie Shavers, Bill Harris, Willie Smith, Ben Webster, Teddy Wilson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, Israel Crosby

Krupa and Rich (Verve, 1955) with Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie, Illinois Jacquet, Flip Phillips, Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, Buddy Rich

Gene Krupa Big Band: Drummer Man featuring Anita O'Day & Roy Eldridge (Verve, 1956)

References

External links

Gene Krupa at traditional-jazz.com

The Gene Krupa Reference Page

Gene Krupa Drummerworld Page

Let Me Off Uptown: A Gene Krupa Biography by John Twomey

Category:1909 births Category:1973 deaths Category:American jazz drummers Category:American jazz bandleaders Category:American people of Polish descent Category:American musicians of Polish descent Category:Big band bandleaders Category:Big band drummers Category:Cancer deaths in New York Category:Deaths from leukemia Category:Dixieland drummers Category:Musicians from Chicago, Illinois Category:RCA Victor artists Category:Verve Records artists Category:Columbia Records artists Category:Swing drummers

Name	Cesar Romero
Caption	Romero as photographed by Carl Van Vechten in 1934
Birth name	Cesar Julio Romero, Jr.
Birth date	February 15, 1907
Birth place	New York City, New York,United States
Death date	January 01, 1994
Death place	Santa Monica, California,United States
Other names	Butch, Latin from Manhattan
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1933–1990

Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. (February 15, 1907 – January 1, 1994) was a Cuban American film and television actor, who played The Joker in the 1960s television series Batman. In 1966, the show was transferred to movie theaters, and Romero became the first actor to portray the Joker in a motion picture.

Early life

Romero was born in New York to prosperous Cuban parents. That lifestyle, however, changed dramatically when his parents lost their sugar import business and suffered losses in the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Fortunately, Romero's Hollywood earnings allowed him to support his large family, all of whom followed him to the West Coast, years later. Romero lived on and off with various family members, especially his sister, for the rest of his life.

In October 1942, he voluntarily enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard and served in the Pacific Theater. He reported aboard the Coast Guard-manned assault transport USS Cavalier in November, 1943. According to a press release from the period he saw action during the invasions of Tinian and Saipan. The same article mentioned that he preferred to be a regular part of the crew and was eventually promoted to the rank of chief Boatswain's Mate.

Career

Romero played "Latin lovers" in films from the 1930s until the 1950s, usually in supporting roles. He starred as The Cisco Kid in six westerns made between 1939 and 1941. Romero danced and performed comedy in the 20th Century Fox films he starred in opposite Carmen Miranda and Betty Grable, such as Week-End in Havana and Springtime in the Rockies, in the 1940s.

In The Thin Man (1934), Romero played a villainous supporting role opposite the film's main star William Powell. Many of Romero's films from this early period saw him cast in small character parts, such as Italian gangsters and East Indian princes. He also appeared in a comic turn as a subversive opponent to Frank Sinatra and his crew in Ocean's Eleven.

20th Century Fox, along with mogul Darryl Zanuck, personally selected Romero to co-star with Tyrone Power in the Technicolor historical epic, Captain from Castile (1947), directed by Henry King. While Power played a fictionalized character, Romero played Hernan Cortez, a historical Conquistador in Spain's conquest of the Americas.

Television

Among his many television credits, Romero played the role of Don Diego de la Vega's uncle in a number of Season Two Zorro episodes. In 1958, he guest starred as Ramon Valdez, a South American businessman, who excels at doing the Cha-Cha with Barbara Eden in her syndicated romantic comedy, How to Marry a Millionaire in the episode "The Big Order". He performed the mambo with Gisele MacKenzie on her NBC variety show, The Gisele MacKenzie Show. Also in 1957, he guest-starred on the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour on the first episode of the seventh season.

On January 16, 1958, Romero appeared on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. In 1965, Romero played the head of THRUSH in France in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ("The Never Never Affair").

in Batman.]] From 1966 to 1968, Romero played The Joker in ABC's television series, Batman. He refused to shave his mustache and so it was covered with white makeup when playing the supervillain throughout the series' run, and in the spinoff 1966 film.

In the 1970s, Romero portrayed the absent father of the Freddie Prinze character Chico Rodriguez in Chico and the Man, and later Peter Stavros in the television series Falcon Crest (1985–1987). Among Romero's guest star work in the 1970s was a recurring role on the western comedy Alias Smith and Jones, starring Pete Duel and Ben Murphy. Romero played Señor Armendariz, a Mexican rancher feuding with Patrick McCreedy (Burl Ives), the owner of a ranch on the opposite side of the border. He appeared in three episodes. He also appeared as Count Dracula on Rod Serling's Night Gallery, and guest-starred in an episode of Bewitched.

Apart from these television roles, Romero appeared as A.J. Arno, a small time criminal who continually opposes Dexter Riley (played by Kurt Russell) and his schoolmates of Medfield College in a series of films by Walt Disney Productions in the 1970s. He also appeared in a sixth season episode of The Golden Girls, where he played a suitor named Tony Delvechio for Sophia who disappoints her when she tells him "I love you" after a night of passion and he doesn't return the sentiment.

Personal life

Romero believed in liberation theology. Romero was a dedicated Christian, and believed in a utopian society whose belief is that Christ's kingdom would be very similar to Marx's envisionment of communism, and held to this belief until his death.

Romero always claimed his grandfather on his mother's side was Cuban poet and patriot José Martí.

Romero never married, but made regular appearances on the Hollywood social circuit in the company of attractive actresses. However, he was almost always described in interviews and articles as a "confirmed bachelor," and after his death was reported by many sources to be gay.

Romero died in 1994 from bronchitis and pneumonia. He was cremated and his ashes interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery in South Los Angeles community of Inglewood, California.

Filmography

Judgment Day (1988)

Lust in the Dust (1985)

Flesh and Bullets (1985)

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979)

(1977)

Carioca Tiger (1976)

The Strongest Man in the World (1975)

Timber Tramps (1975)

The Haunted Mouth (1974)

The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe (1974)

The Proud and the Damned (1972)

Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972)

Mooch Goes to Hollywood (1971)

The Last Generation (1971)

Alias Smith and Jones (1970–1971)

The Red, White, and Black (1970)

(1969)

A Talent for Loving (1969)

Crooks and Coronets (1969)

Midas Run (1969)

Latitude Zero (1969)

The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969)

Skidoo (1968)

Once Upon a Wheel (1968)

Madigan's Millions (1968)

Hot Millions (1968)

Broken Sabre (1966)

Batman (1966)

Two on a Guillotine (1965)

Sergeant Dead Head (1965)

Marriage on the Rocks (1965)

A House Is Not a Home (1964)

Saint Mike (1963)

The Castilian (1963)

Donovan's Reef (1963)

We Shall Return (1962)

If a Man Answers (1962)

The Runaway (1961)

The Seven Women from Hell (1961)

Five Fingers in episode "Counterfeit", never aired on NBC (1960)

Pepe (1960)

Ocean's Eleven (1960)

My Private Secretaries (1959)

Villa!! (1958)

The Story of Mankind (1957)

The Heart and the Sword (1956)

The Leather Saint (1956)

Around the World in Eighty Days (1956)

The Americano (1955)

The Racers (1955)

Vera Cruz (1954)

Street of Shadows (1953)

Prisoners of the Casbah (1953)

The Jungle (1952)

Scotland Yard Inspector (1952)

Happy Go Lovely (1951)

Lost Continent (1951)

FBI Girl (1951)

Once a Thief (1950)

Love That Brute (1950)

(1949)

The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949)

Deep Waters (1948)

Julia Misbehaves (1948)

That Lady in Ermine (1948)

Carnival in Costa Rica (1947)

Captain from Castile (1947)

(1946)

Coney Island (1943)

Wintertime (1943)

A Gentleman at Heart (1942)

Tales of Manhattan (1942)

Orchestra Wives (1942)

Springtime in the Rockies (1942)

Dance Hall (1941)

Romance of the Rio Grande (1941)

Tall, Dark and Handsome (1941)

Ride on Vaquero (1941)

The Great American Broadcast (1941)

Week-End in Havana (1941)

He Married His Wife (1940)

Viva Cisco Kid (1940)

Lucky Cisco Kid (1940)

The Gay Caballaro (1940)

Hollywood Hobbies (1939)

Wife, Husband and Friend (1939)

A Little Princess (1939)

Return of the Cisco Kid (1939)

Frontier Marshal (1939)

Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (1939)

The Cisco Kid and the Lady (1939)

Happy Landing (1938)

Always Goodbye (1938)

Five of a Kind (1938)

My Lucky Star (1938)

Ali Baba Goes to Town (1937)

She's Dangerous (1937)

Armored Car (1937)

Wee Willie Winkie (1937)

Dangerously Yours (1937)

Love Before Breakfast (1936)

Nobody's Fool (1936)

Public Enemy's Wife (1936)

Fifteen Maiden Lane (1936)

Clive of India (1935)

A Dream Comes True (1935)

The Good Fairy (1935)

Metropolitan (1935)

The Devil is a Woman (1935)

Cardinal Richelieu (1935)

Hold 'Em Yale (1935)

Diamond Jim (1935)

Rendezvous (1935)

Show Them No Mercy! (1935)

The Thin Man (1934)

British Agent (1934)

Cheating Cheaters (1934)

Strange Wives (1934)

The Shadow Laughs (1933)

References

External links

Category:Actors from New York Category:American Christian socialists Category:American film actors Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:American people of Cuban descent Category:American socialists Category:American television actors Category:Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery Category:California Republicans Category:Gay actors Category:Hispanic and Latino American actors Category:LGBT people from the United States Category:People from New York City Category:The Collegiate School alumni Category:United States Coast Guard personnel Category:1907 births Category:1994 deaths

Name	Betty Grable
Caption	in How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)
Birth name	Elizabeth Ruth Grable
Birth date	December 18, 1916
Birth place	St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Death date	July 02, 1973
Death place	Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Other names	Frances Dean
Occupation	Actress, dancer, singer
Years active	1929–1956
Spouse	(divorced) (divorced) 2 children
Domesticpartner	Bob Remick (until her death)

Betty Grable (December 18, 1916 – July 2, 1973) was an American actress, dancer and singer.

Her iconic bathing suit photo made her the number-one pin-up girl of the World War II era. It was later included in the LIFE magazine project "100 Photos that Changed the World". Grable was particularly noted for having the most beautiful legs in Hollywood and studio publicity widely dispersed photos featuring them. Hosiery specialists of the era often noted the ideal proportions of her legs as: thigh (18.5") calf (12"), and ankle (7.5"). Grable's legs were famously insured by her studio for $1,000,000 with Lloyds of London.

Early life

She was born Elizabeth Ruth Grable in St. Louis, Missouri to John Conn Grable (1883–1954) and Lillian Rose Hofmann (1889–1964). She was the youngest of three children.

Most of Grable's immediate ancestors were American, but her distant heritage was of Dutch, Irish, German and English stock. She was propelled into the acting profession by her mother. For her first role, as a chorus girl in the film Happy Days (1929), Grable was only 12 years old (legally underage for acting), but, because the chorus line performed in blackface, it was difficult to tell how old she was. Her mother soon gave her a make-over which included dyeing her hair platinum blonde.

Career

For her next film, her mother got her a contract using a false identification. When this deception was discovered, however, Grable was fired. Grable finally obtained a role as a 'Goldwyn Girl' in Whoopee! (1930), starring Eddie Cantor. Though Grable received no billing, she led the opening number, "Cowboys." Grable then worked in small roles at different studios for the rest of the decade, including the Academy Award-winning The Gay Divorcee (1934), starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, where she was prominently featured in the number "Let's K-nock K-nees".

In the late 1930s, Grable signed a contract with Paramount Pictures, starring in several B movies, mostly portraying co-eds. Despite playing leads, the typecasting proved to hurt her career more than it was helpful. In 1939, Grable appeared with her then husband, Jackie Coogan (married in 1937), in Million Dollar Legs, from which her nickname is taken. They divorced later that same year (October 1939). After small parts in over 50 Hollywood movies through the 1930s, Grable finally gained national attention for her stage role in the Cole Porter Broadway hit Du Barry Was a Lady (1939). When her contract at Paramount expired, Grable decided to quit acting, being fed up with appearing in college films. In a 1940 interview, she said: :"I was sick and tired of it. I'd made up my mind to leave show business altogether. So I retired - and then came an offer, unsolicited, to go on a personal appearance tour. I went. Next thing I knew, Mr. Zanuck had seen my picture in the paper and offered me a contract at a lot more money. I took it. Then came Buddy DeSylva with a part in his Broadway show Du Barry Was a Lady. Mr. Zanuck said I could take it if I wanted to. I did. The show was successful. Then as if all this weren't enough, Alice Faye fell ill just before Down Argentine Way was to start and I was drafted to fill her shoes. If that's not luck I don't know what you'd call it. But that's how it's been all my life. I've had contracts with four studios in 10 years and each time I left one or was dropped, I stepped into something better."

.]] Grable became 20th Century Fox's top star during the decade. She appeared in Technicolor movies such as Down Argentine Way (1940), Moon Over Miami (1941) (both with Don Ameche), Springtime in The Rockies (1942), Coney Island (1943) with George Montgomery, Sweet Rosie O'Grady (1943) with Robert Young, Pin Up Girl (1944), Diamond Horseshoe (1945) with Dick Haymes, The Dolly Sisters (1945) with John Payne and June Haver. Mother Wore Tights (1947), her most popular film, was with her favorite costar, Dan Dailey.

It was during her reign as box office queen in 1943 that Grable posed for her famous pinup photo, which (along with her movies) soon became escapist fare among GIs fighting in World War II. The image was taken by studio photographer Frank Powolny. It was rumored that the particular pose and angle were chosen to hide the fact that Grable was pregnant at the time of the photo. In the stage play (1951) and motion picture (1953), of Stalag 17, Stanislas "Animal" Kasava, (Robert Strauss) is infatuated with her, spending his day staring at her photographs. "I seen all your pictures six times" he says "I would not even open the popcorn."

Starting in 1942, Grable was named in the top 10 box office draws for 10 consecutive years. For eight of those ten years, she was the top female-box office star. In 1943, she was named the #1 movie box office attraction. By the end of the 1940s Grable was the highest-paid female star in Hollywood, receiving $300,000 a year. During the 1940s and early 1950s, thirty Fox films were among the top ten highest grossing films of the year. Of those, ten were movies featuring Grable; eight of those movies were Fox's highest grossing pictures for their repesctive years.

Grable was even the heroine of a novel, Betty Grable and the House with the Iron Shutters, written by Kathryn Heisenfelt, published by Whitman Publishing Company in 1943. While the heroine is identified as the famous actress, the stories are entirely fictitious. The story was probably written for a young teenage audience and is reminiscent of the adventures of Nancy Drew. It is part of a series known as "Whitman Authorized Editions", 16 books published between 1941-1947 that featured a film actress as heroine.

Her postwar musicals included: That Lady in Ermine (1948) with Douglas Fairbanks Jr., When My Baby Smiles at Me (1948) again with Dailey, Wabash Avenue (1950) (a remake of Grable's own Coney Island) with Victor Mature, My Blue Heaven (1950), and Meet Me After the Show (1951). Studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck lavished his star with expensive Technicolor films, but also kept her busy — Grable made nearly 25 musicals and comedies in 13 years. Her last big hit for Fox was How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) with Lauren Bacall and Marilyn Monroe. Grable next starred in Three for the Show (1955) with Jack Lemmon; this film was one of her last musicals.

Grable's later career was marked by feuds with studio heads. At one point, in the middle of a fight with Zanuck, she tore up her contract and stormed out of his office. By 1953, Zanuck was grooming Marilyn Monroe to replace Grable as the Fox's resident sex symbol. Far from feeling threatened, on the set of How to Marry a Millionaire Grable famously said to Monroe, "go and get yours, honey! I've had mine". It was at this point that Grable lost her father 'Conn' Grable in 1954, at age 71.

Grable returned to the studio for one last film, How to Be Very, Very Popular (1955) with Sheree North. Following this, Grable hoped to secure the role of Miss Adelaide in the film version of the musical Guys and Dolls. However, when producer Samuel Goldwyn learned that Grable skipped a meeting with him because one of her dogs had taken ill, he became incensed and removed her from consideration. Vivian Blaine, who had originated the role on Broadway, was ultimately cast.

Having left movies entirely, she made the transition to television and starred in Las Vegas. It was in these transition years to stage, when Betty lost her mother Lillian in 1964, at age 75. By 1967, she took over the lead in the touring company of Hello, Dolly!. She starred in a 1969 musical called Belle Starr in London, but it was savaged by critics and soon folded.

Grable's last role was Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday, at the Alhambra Dinner Theatre in Jacksonville, Florida in February 1973.

Personal life

In 1937, Grable married another famous former child actor, Jackie Coogan. He was under considerable stress from a lawsuit against his parents over his childhood earnings and the couple divorced in 1939.

In 1943, she married trumpeter Harry James. The couple had two daughters, Victoria and Jessica. They endured a tumultuous 22-year marriage that was plagued by alcoholism and infidelity. The couple divorced in 1965. Grable entered into a relationship with a dancer, Bob Remick, several years her junior. Though they did not marry, their romance lasted until the end of Grable's life.

Death

Grable died July 2, 1973, of lung cancer at age 56 in Santa Monica, California. Her funeral was held July 5, 1973, 30 years to the day after her marriage to Harry James — who, in turn, died on what would have been his and Grable's 40th anniversary, July 5, 1983. She was interred in Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California, in the Mausoleum of the Golden West, Sanctuary of Dawn section, with her mother Lillian, alongside her father 'Conn' Grable. Sister Marjorie Grable-Arnold joined them in their family crypt upon her death at 71, in 1980.

Among the lumunaries attending her funeral were her ex husband Harry James, Dorothy Lamour, Shirley Booth, Mitzi Gaynor, Johnnie Ray, Don Ameche, Cesar Romero, George Raft, Alice Faye and Dan Dailey. "I Had the Craziest Dream," the haunting ballad Betty introduced in "Springtime in the Rockies," was played on the church organ.

Posthumous recognition

Grable has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6525 Hollywood Boulevard. She also has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame, and was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians in 2009.

Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy noted on National Public Radio's Morning Edition on April 23, 2007, in an interview with Terry Gross that Grable was his inspiration for founding the Playboy empire.

Filmography

1929–1939

{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 90%;" |- bgcolor="#B0C4DE" align="center" ! Year ! width=200px|Title ! Role ! width=160px|Director ! Co-stars ! Notes |- | 1929 | Happy Days | Chorus Girl | Benjamin Stoloff | Charles Evans, Marjorie White, Richard Keene | Uncredited |- | rowspan=3|1930 | Let's Go Places | Chorine | Frank R. Strayer | Joseph Wagstaff, Lola Lane | Uncredited |- | New Movietone Follies of 1930 | Chorine | Benjamin Stoloff | El Brendel, Marjorie White | Uncredited |- | Whoopee! | Goldwyn Girl | Thornton Freeland | Eddie Cantor, Ethel Shutta, Eleanor Hunt | Uncredited |- | rowspan=2|1931 | Kiki | Goldwyn Girl | Sam Taylor | Mary Pickford | Uncredited |- | Palmy Days | Goldwyn Girl | A. Edward Sutherland | Charlotte Greenwood, Barbara Weeks, Spencer Charters | Uncredited |- | rowspan=5|1932 | The Greeks Had a Word for Them | Hat Check Girl | Lowell Sherman | Joan Blondell, Madge Evans, Ina Claire | Uncredited |- | Probation | Ruth Jarrett | Richard Thorpe | John Darrow, Sally Blane | Grable's first credited role |- | The Age of Consent | Student at Dormitory | Gregory La Cava | Dorothy Wilson, Arline Judge | Uncredited |- | Hold 'Em Jail | Barbara Jones | Norman Taurog | Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Edna May Oliver, | |- | The Kid from Spain | Goldwyn Girl | Leo McCarey | Eddie Cantor, Lyda Roberti, Robert Young | Uncredited |- | rowspan=5|1933 | Cavalcade | Girl on couch | Frank Lloyd | Diana Wynyard, Clive Brook, Una O'Connor | Uncredited |- | Child of Manhattan | Lucy McGonegle | Edward Buzzell | Nancy Carroll, John Boles | |- | Melody Cruise | First Stewardess | Mark Sandrich | Charles Ruggles, Phil Harris | Uncredited |- | What Price Innocence? | Beverly Bennett | Willard Mack | Jean Parker, Minna Gombell, Willard Mack | |- | The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi | Band Singer with Ted Fio Rito | Edwin L. Marin | Mary Carlisle, Buster Crabbe | |- | rowspan=3|1934 | The Gay Divorcee | Dance Specialty | Mark Sandrich | Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers | |- | Student Tour | Cayenne | Charles Reisner | Jimmy Durante, Charles Butterworth, Maxine Doyle | |- | By Your Leave | Frances Gretchell | Lloyd Corrigan | Frank Morgan, Genevieve Tobin | |- | rowspan=2|1935 | The Nitwits | Mary Roberts | George Stevens | Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey | |- | Old Man Rhythm | Sylvia | Edward Ludwig | Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, George Barbier | |- | rowspan=4|1936 | Collegiate | Dorothy | Ralph Murphy | Joe Penner, Jack Oakie, Ned Sparks | |- | Follow the Fleet | Trio Singer | Mark Sandrich | Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers | |- | Don't Turn 'em Loose | Mildred Webster | Benjamin Stoloff | Lewis Stone, James Gleason, Bruce Cabot | |- | Pigskin Parade | Laura Watson | David Butler | Stuart Erwin, Patsy Kelly, Judy Garland | The only film in which Grable appeared with Judy Garland. |- | rowspan=2|1937 | This Way Please | Jane Morrow | Robert Florey | Charles 'Buddy' Rogers | |- | Thrill of a Lifetime | Gwen | George Archainbaud | The Yacht Club Boys | |- | rowspan=3|1938 | College Swing | Betty | Raoul Walsh | George Burns, Gracie Allen, Martha Raye, Bob Hope, Edward Everett Horton | |- | Give Me a Sailor | Nancy Larkin | Elliott Nugent | Bob Hope, Jack Whiting, Martha Raye | |- | Campus Confessions | Joyce Gilmore | George Archainbaud | Eleanore Whitney, William Henry | Grable received top billing for the first time |- | rowspan=3|1939 | Man About Town | Susan Hayes | Mark Sandrich | Jack Benny, Dorothy Lamour | |- | Million Dollar Legs | Carol Parker | Nick Grinde | John Hartley, Donald O'Connor, Jackie Coogan, Dorothea Kent | Co-starred Jackie Coogan who Grable was married to at the time |- | The Day the Bookies Wept | Ina Firpo | Leslie Goodwins | Joe Penner | |- |}

1940–1955

{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 90%;" |- bgcolor="#B0C4DE" align="center" ! Year ! width=200px|Title ! Role ! width=160px|Director ! Co-stars ! width=150px|Notes |- | rowspan=2|1940 | Down Argentine Way | Glenda Crawford/Glenda Cunningham | Irving Cummings | Don Ameche, Carmen Miranda, Charlotte Greenwood | Grable's first leading role. Alice Faye was originally set to star in the film, but had to withdraw due to illness |- | Tin Pan Alley | Lily Blane | Walter Lang | Alice Faye, John Payne, Jack Oakie | The only time Grable and Faye co-starred together in a feature film |- | rowspan=3|1941 | Moon Over Miami | Kathryn 'Kay' Latimer | Walter Lang | Don Ameche, Robert Cummings, Carole Landis | |- | A Yank in the RAF | Carol Brown | Henry King | Tyrone Power | |- | I Wake Up Screaming | Jill Lynn | H. Bruce Humberstone | Victor Mature, Carole Landis | Grable's only straight dramatic role |- | rowspan=3|1942 | Song of the Islands | Eileen O'Brien | Walter Lang | Victor Mature, Jack Oakie | |- | Footlight Serenade | Pat Lambert | Gregory Ratoff | John Payne, Victor Mature, Jane Wyman | |- | Springtime in the Rockies | Vicky Lane | Irving Cummings | John Payne, Carmen Miranda, Cesar Romero, Harry James | Grable's future husband Harry James appeared in the cast |- | rowspan=2|1943 | Coney Island | Kate Farley | Walter Lang | George Montgomery, Cesar Romero | |- | Sweet Rosie O'Grady | Madeline Marlowe/Rosie O'Grady | Irving Cummings | Robert Young, Adolphe Menjou | |- | rowspan=2|1944 | Four Jills in a Jeep | Herself | William A. Seiter | Kay Francis, Carole Landis, Alice Faye, Martha Raye, Carmen Miranda | |- | Pin Up Girl | Lorry Jones/Laura Lorraine | H. Bruce Humberstone | John Harvey, Martha Raye | |- | rowspan=2|1945 | Diamond Horseshoe | Bonnie Collins | George Seaton | Dick Haymes, Phil Silvers, William Gaxton | |- | The Dolly Sisters | Yansci 'Jenny' Dolly | Irving Cummings | John Payne, June Haver | |- | 1946 | Do You Love Me | Girl in Taxi (cameo) | Gregory Ratoff | Maureen O'Hara, Dick Haymes, Harry James | Grable had a cameo as a fan of Harry James's character |- | rowspan=2|1947 | The Shocking Miss Pilgrim | Cynthia Pilgrim | George Seaton | Dick Haymes, Anne Revere | |- | Mother Wore Tights | Myrtle McKinley Burt | Walter Lang | Dan Dailey, Mona Freeman | Grable's most successful film at the time and her personal favourite |- | rowspan=2|1948 | That Lady in Ermine | Francesca/Angelina | Ernst Lubitsch, Otto Preminger (uncredited) | Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Cesar Romero | Lubitsch died early into production. Preminger finished the film but insisted on Lubitsch receiving full credit |- | When My Baby Smiles at Me | Bonny Kaye | Walter Lang | Dan Dailey, Jack Oakie, June Havoc | Dailey received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor |- | 1949 | The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend | Winifred Jones | Preston Sturges | Cesar Romero, Rudy Vallee | |- | rowspan=2|1950 | Wabash Avenue | Ruby Summers | Henry Koster | Victor Mature, Phil Harris | Remake of Grable's earlier hit 'Coney Island' |- | My Blue Heaven | Kitty Moran | Henry Koster | Dan Dailey, David Wayne, Jane Wyatt, Mitzi Gaynor | |- | rowspan=2|1951 | Call Me Mister | Kay Hudson | Lloyd Bacon | Dan Dailey, Danny Thomas | Remake of Grable's earlier hit 'A Yank in the RAF' |- | Meet Me After the Show | Delilah Lee | Richard Sale | Macdonald Carey, Rory Calhoun, Eddie Albert | |- | rowspan=2|1953 | The Farmer Takes a Wife | Molly Larkins | Henry Levin | Dale Robertson, Thelma Ritter | |- | How to Marry a Millionaire | Loco Dempsey | Jean Negulesco | Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall | Grable and Monroe's only film together. Monroe would become the top star of Hollywood throughout the 1950s just as Grable had done in the previous decade. |- | rowspan=2|1955 | Three for the Show | Julie Lowndes | H.C. Potter | Jack Lemmon, Marge Champion, Gower Champion | |- | How to Be Very, Very Popular | Stormy Tornado | Nunnally Johnson | Sheree North, Robert Cummings, Charles Coburn, Tommy Noonan | Grable's last film |- |}

Short subjects

Crashing Hollywood (1931)

Ex-Sweeties (1931)

Once a Hero (1931)

Lady! Please! (1932)

Hollywood Luck (1932)

The Flirty Sleepwalker (1932)

Hollywood Lights (1932)

Over the Counter (1932)

Air Tonic (1933)

School for Romance (1934)

Love Detectives (1934)

Elmer Steps Out (1934)

Business Is a Pleasure (1934)

Susie's Affairs (1934)

Ferry-Go-Round (1934)

This Band Age (1935)

The Spirit of 1976 (1935)

A Night at the Biltmore Bowl (1935)

Drawing Rumors (1935)

A Quiet Fourth (1935)

Screen Snapshots Series 15, No. 11 (1936)

Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs (1936)

Screen Snapshots Series 16, No. 7 (1937)

Screen Snapshots Series 16, No. 10 (1937)

Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 4 (1938)

Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 1 (1941)

The All-Star Bond Rally (1945)

Hollywood Park (1946)

Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Shower of Stars (1955)

Box Office popularity

The following table shows the box office attractions of each year from 1940 to 1951. Betty Grable appeared on this list every year except for 1946 as she had no films released that year. She topped the list 4 times in 1943, 1944, 1947 and 1948.

{|class=wikitable | bgcolor=lightblue align=center colspan=2|- 1940 - | rowspan=38 bgcolor=silver| | bgcolor=lightblue align=center colspan=2|- 1941 - | rowspan=38 bgcolor=silver| | bgcolor=lightblue align=center colspan=2|- 1942 - | rowspan=38 bgcolor=silver| | bgcolor=lightblue align=center colspan=2|- 1943 - | rowspan=38 bgcolor=silver| | bgcolor=lightblue align=center colspan=2|- 1944 - | rowspan=38 bgcolor=silver| | bgcolor=lightblue align=center colspan=2|- 1945 - |- ! # ! Actor ! # ! Actor ! # ! Actor ! # ! Actor ! # ! Actor ! # ! Actor |- | align=right|1 | align=center|Errol Flynn | align=right|1 | align=center|Errol Flynn | align=right|1 | align=center|Errol Flynn | bgcolor=gold align=right|1 | bgcolor=gold align=center| Betty Grable | bgcolor=gold align=right|1 | bgcolor=gold align=center| Betty Grable | align=right|1 | align=center|Ingrid Bergman |- | align=right|2 | align=center|Clark Gable | align=right|2 | align=center|Clark Gable | bgcolor=gold align=right|2 | bgcolor=gold align=center| Betty Grable | align=right|2 | align=center|Gary Cooper | align=right|2 | align=center|Humphrey Bogart | bgcolor=gold align=right|2 | bgcolor=gold align=center| Betty Grable |- | align=right|3 | align=center|Cary Grant | align=right|3 | align=center|Gary Cooper | align=right|3 | align=center|Greer Garson | align=right|3 | align=center|Humphrey Bogart | align=right|3 | align=center|Bing Crosby | align=right|3 | align=center|Bing Crosby |- | align=right|4 | align=center|Joan Crawford | bgcolor=gold align=right|4 | bgcolor=gold align=center| Betty Grable | align=right|4 | align=center|Veronica Lake | align=right|4 | align=center|Ingrid Bergman | align=right|4 | align=center|Ingrid Bergman | align=right|4 | align=center|Gene Kelly |- | align=right|5 | align=center|Gary Cooper | align=right|5 | align=center|Lana Turner | align=right|5 | align=center|Clark Gable | align=right|5 | align=center|Jean Arthur | align=right|5 | align=center|Cary Grant | align=right|5 | align=center|Gene Tierney |- | align=right|6 | align=center|Spencer Tracy | align=right|6 | align=center|Tyrone Power | align=right|6 | align=center|Gary Cooper | align=right|6 | align=center|Cary Grant | align=right|6 | align=center|Judy Garland | align=right|6 | align=center|Joan Crawford |- | align=right|7 | align=center|Ginger Rogers | align=right|7 | align=center|Cary Grant | align=right|7 | align=center|Lana Turner | align=right|7 | align=center|Alice Faye | align=right|7 | align=center|Gene Tierney | align=right|7 | align=center|Gary Cooper |- | align=right|8 | align=center|Alice Faye | align=right|8 | align=center|Barbara Stanwyck | align=right|8 | align=center|Robert Taylor | align=right|8 | align=center|Greer Garson | align=right|8 | align=center|Gary Cooper | align=right|8 | align=center|Alan Ladd |- | bgcolor=gold align=right|9 | bgcolor=gold align=center| Betty Grable | align=right|9 | align=center|Fred Astaire | align=right|9 | align=center|Cary Grant | align=right|9 | align=center|Veronica Lake | align=right|9 | align=center|Rita Hayworth | align=right|9 | align=center|Dana Andrews |- | 10 | align=center|Tyrone Power | 10 | align=center|Veronica Lake | 10 | align=center|James Cagney | 10 | align=center|Henry Fonda | 10 | align=center|John Wayne | 10 | align=center|Rita Hayworth |- | bgcolor=silver colspan=2 height=10px| | bgcolor=silver colspan=2 height=10px| | bgcolor=silver colspan=2 height=10px| | bgcolor=silver colspan=2 height=10px| | bgcolor=silver colspan=2 height=10px| | bgcolor=silver colspan=2 height=10px| |- | bgcolor=lightblue align=center colspan=2|- 1946 - | bgcolor=lightblue align=center colspan=2|- 1947 - | bgcolor=lightblue align=center colspan=2|- 1948 - | bgcolor=lightblue align=center colspan=2|- 1949 - | bgcolor=lightblue align=center colspan=2|- 1950 - | bgcolor=lightblue align=center colspan=2|- 1951 - |- ! # ! Actor ! # ! Actor ! # ! Actor ! # ! Actor ! # ! Actor ! # ! Actor |- | align=right|1 | align=center|Bing Crosby | bgcolor=gold align=right|1 | bgcolor=gold align=center| Betty Grable | bgcolor=gold align=right|1 | bgcolor=gold align=center| Betty Grable | align=right|1 | align=center|Bob Hope | align=right|1 | align=center|John Wayne | align=right|1 | align=center|John Wayne |- | align=right|2 | align=center|Lana Turner | align=right|2 | align=center|Lana Turner | align=right|2 | align=center|Humphrey Bogart | align=right|2 | align=center|Bing Crosby | bgcolor=gold align=right|2 | bgcolor=gold align=center| Betty Grable | align=right|2 | align=center|Gene Kelly |- | align=right|3 | align=center|Bob Hope | align=right|3 | align=center|Cary Grant | align=right|3 | align=center|Lana Turner | bgcolor=gold align=right|3 | bgcolor=gold align=center| Betty Grable | align=right|3 | align=center|Bob Hope | bgcolor=gold align=right|3 | bgcolor=gold align=center| Betty Grable |- | align=right|4 | align=center|John Garfield | align=right|4 | align=center|Bob Hope | align=right|4 | align=center|John Wayne | align=right|4 | align=center|John Wayne | align=right|4 | align=center|Bing Crosby | align=right|4 | align=center|Humphrey Bogart |- | align=right|5 | align=center|Cary Grant | align=right|5 | align=center|Gary Cooper | align=right|5 | align=center|Gene Kelly | align=right|5 | align=center|Hedy Lamarr | align=right|5 | align=center|James Stewart | align=right|5 | align=center|Ava Gardner |- | align=right|6 | align=center|Ingrid Bergman | align=right|6 | align=center|Bing Crosby | align=right|6 | align=center|Cary Grant | align=right|6 | align=center|Humphrey Bogart | align=right|6 | align=center|Spencer Tracy | align=right|6 | align=center|Montgomery Clift |- | align=right|7 | align=center|Joan Crawford | align=right|7 | align=center|Gene Tierney | align=right|7 | align=center|Clark Gable | align=right|7 | align=center|Gene Kelly | align=right|7 | align=center|Gregory Peck | align=right|7 | align=center|Bob Hope |- | align=right|8 | align=center|Gene Tierney | align=right|8 | align=center|John Garfield | align=right|8 | align=center|Judy Garland | align=right|8 | align=center|Cary Grant | align=right|8 | align=center|Betty Hutton | align=right|8 | align=center|Gary Cooper |- | align=right|9 | align=center|Rita Hayworth | align=right|9 | align=center|Loretta Young | align=right|9 | align=center|Ingrid Bergman | align=right|9 | align=center|Gary Cooper | align=right|9 | align=center|Hedy Lamarr | align=right|9 | align=center|Doris Day |- | 10 | align=center|Humphrey Bogart | 10 | align=center|Linda Darnell | 10 | align=center|Bing Crosby | 10 | align=center|Spencer Tracy | 10 | align=center|William Holden | align=right|10 | align=center|Marlon Brando |}

References

External links

BettyGrable.net

Betty Grable Photo Tribute

Betty Grable Portraits

St. Louis Walk of Fame

Photographs and literature

Category:1916 births Category:1973 deaths Category:American film actors Category:American female singers Category:People from St. Louis, Missouri Category:Deaths from lung cancer Category:Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery Category:Cancer deaths in California