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Rudy Vallee
RUDY VALLEE (1901-1986) was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and radio host. He was one of the first modern pop stars of the teen idol type. Born Hubert Prior Vallee on July 28, 1901 in Islan...view moreRUDY VALLEE (1901-1986) was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and radio host. He was one of the first modern pop stars of the teen idol type. Born Hubert Prior Vallee on July 28, 1901 in Island Pond, Vermont, Vallee played clarinet and saxophone in bands around New England as a teenager. After receiving a degree in philosophy from Yale University, he formed Rudy Vallee and the Connecticut Yankees, having named himself after saxophonist Rudy Wiedoeft. He was given a recording contract and started performing on the radio in 1928, becoming one of the first crooners and celebrity pop stars. His best-known recordings include “The Stein Song” in 1929, “Vieni, Vieni” in the latter 1930s, and “As Time Goes By”, which was popularized in the 1942 film Casablanca. In 1929, Vallee made his first appearance on radio, as well as his first feature film, The Vagabond Lover for RKO Radio. By the 1940s, he had become a successful comedic supporting player, appearing appeared opposite Claudette Colbert in such films as in Sturges’s 1942 screwball comedy The Palm Beach Story. Other films in which he appeared include I Remember Mama, Unfaithfully Yours and The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer. In 1955, Vallee was featured in Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, co-starring Jane Russell, Alan Young, and Jeanne Crain. He performed on Broadway as J.B. Biggley in the 1961 musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and reprised the role in the 1967 film version. He appeared in the 1960s Batman television show as the villain Lord Marmaduke Ffogg and in 1971 as a vindictive surgeon in the Night Gallery episode “Marmalade Wine”. Vallee died at his Los Angeles home on July 3, 1986, aged 84.
GIL MCKEAN (1918-1993) began his career in the 1940s writing articles about jazz for Esquire, Down Beat and The Saturday Review. In the 1950s he entered the record business, working for the Columbia and RCA, and went on to co-found record label Decca Records.view less