George DeWitt
Encyclopedia
Name That Tune
Name That Tune is a television game show that put two contestants against each other to test their knowledge of songs. Premiering in the United States on NBC Radio in 1952, the show was created and produced by Harry Salter and his wife Roberta....
. The program featured contestants guessing the name of popular tunes from a limited amount of notes. DeWitt utilized his popularity on the TV to become a recording artist for RKO Records. DeWitt was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...
. DeWitt's given name was George Florentine. He was the second of four children (in order; Evelyn, George, Jackie, and Rudy Florentine). DeWitt's father, Joseph, was a police sergeant with the Atlantic City Police Department. As a boy during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, DeWitt would sing on the street corners in Atlantic City for tips. Later, as a young man during high school, he would work as a singing waiter in clubs around Atlantic City. DeWitt always knew that show business was his calling. In fact, he had two great passions; entertainment and learning to be a pilot (he became accomplished at both). DeWitt would later serve his country as a pilot with the US Army Air Corps. Eventually, he entertained in USO tours during WWII. His nightclub and theater stints afterward led to becoming one of the first comedians to open for Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
.
Music career
One evening, during the 1950s,at the legendary 500 Club in Atlantic City (where George’s brother Rudy worked) DeWitt entertained with the Rat PackRat Pack
The Rat Pack was a group of actors originally centered on Humphrey Bogart. In the mid-1960s it was the name used by the press and the general public to refer to a later variation of the group, after Bogart's death, that called itself "the summit" or "the clan," featuring Frank Sinatra, Dean...
(Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
, Sammy Davis Jr.) While Sammy Davis Jr. was on stage doing a great job impersonating Jack Benny
Jack Benny
Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
, DeWitt walked out from the wings, and ad-libbed an outstanding impersonation of Jack Benny’s valet Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. This might have been the first time that an African-American entertainer impersonated a white character, while a white entertainer impersonated an African-American character. Soon DeWitt was playing bigger venues, developing quite an entertainment resume. In September 1953, DeWitt appeared with Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
and Bud and CeCe Robinson at the famous Bill Miller's Riviera. DeWitt was known best as the Emcee of the hit TV show Name That Tune. Originally produced by Harry Salter, Name That Tune ran from 1953 to 1959 on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
and CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
in prime time. The first hosts were Red Benson and Bill Cullen
Bill Cullen
William Lawrence Francis "Bill" Cullen was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades...
, but George DeWitt became most identified with the show. DeWitt recorded two record albums while hosting Name That Tune. The first, Name That Tune with George Dewitt was recorded in 1956.
The second album was titled George DeWitt Sings That Tune, recorded in 1957. DeWitt could sing well, (Bill Cullen
Bill Cullen
William Lawrence Francis "Bill" Cullen was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades...
didn't) which was vital to the show's success. CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
dropped the series in the wake of the quiz scandals, even though Name That Tune
Name That Tune
Name That Tune is a television game show that put two contestants against each other to test their knowledge of songs. Premiering in the United States on NBC Radio in 1952, the show was created and produced by Harry Salter and his wife Roberta....
wasn’t implicated as much as Twenty One
Twenty One (game show)
Twenty One is an American game show which aired in the late 1950s. While it included the most popular contestant of the quiz show era, it became notorious for being a rigged quiz show which nearly caused the demise of the entire genre in the wake of United States Senate investigations...
or the 64,000 Dollar Question. DeWitt made a number of guest appearances on television, including a very unusual appearance on the Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
variety TV show with the Three Stooges
Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe,...
.
Film and television careers
DeWitt appeared in the movie A Hole in the HeadA Hole in the Head
A Hole in the Head is a comedy film released by United Artists. It was directed by Frank Capra and featured Frank Sinatra, Edward G. Robinson, Eleanor Parker, Keenan Wynn, Carolyn Jones, Thelma Ritter, Dub Taylor and Joi Lansing. The film introduced the song "High Hopes", a Sinatra standard used...
with Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
in 1959, as well as hosting another short-lived TV show called Be My Guest
Be My Guest
Be My Guest is an ongoing television programme produced by Television Broadcasts Limited in Hong Kong. It is originally broadcast on TVB Lifestyle Channel of TVB Pay Vision in 2006. It is also aired on certain Cathay Pacific flights. TVB released the VCD, DVD, and books...
during the 1960-1961 TV season and guest appearances on television shows such as The Gisele MacKenzie Show
The Gisele MacKenzie Show
The Gisele MacKenzie Show in an American variety show hosted by Gisele MacKenzie. The series aired live on NBC from September 28, 1957, to March 29, 1958. The Curfew Kids appeared on the program as semi-regulars....
, Hawaiian Eye
Hawaiian Eye
Hawaiian Eye is an American television series that ran from October 1959 to September 1963 on the American Broadcasting Company television network.-Premise:...
and Surfside Six between 1960-1962. He spent the rest of the 1960s playing club dates in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Miami Beach, and the Catskills (the Borscht Belt
Borscht Belt
Borscht Belt, or Jewish Alps, is a colloquial term for the mostly defunct summer resorts of the Catskill Mountains in parts of Sullivan, Orange and Ulster counties in upstate New York that were a popular vacation spot for New York City Jews from the 1920s through the 1960s.-Name:The name comes from...
).
During the 1970s, DeWitt retired from actively performing, choosing to “ghost write” for other comedians. DeWitt came out of retirement in 1974, appearing with Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
in the film Lenny
Lenny (film)
Lenny is a 1974 American biographical film about the comedian Lenny Bruce, starring Dustin Hoffman and directed by Bob Fosse. The screenplay by Julian Barry is based on his play of the same name.-Plot:...
. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
, Best Director
Academy Award for Directing
The Academy Award for Achievement in Directing , usually known as the Best Director Oscar, is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to directors working in the motion picture industry...
, Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
, and Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
. George DeWitt died from a heart attack in 1979, in Miami, FL.
DeWitt is survived by a son, Jay Florentine (a telecommunications executive) from his marriage to actress Claire Kelly b 1934 d 1998) .