Rudy Vallée
Encyclopedia
Rudy Vallée was an America
n singer, actor
, bandleader
, and entertainer.
, Vermont
, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée. Both of his parents were born and raised in Vermont, but their parents were immigrants; the Vallées being of French Canadian origin from neighboring Quebec, while the Lynches were from Ireland. Vallée grew up in Westbrook
, Maine
.
in his high school band, Vallée played clarinet
and saxophone
in various bands around New England
in his youth. In 1917, he decided to enlist for World War I
, but was discharge
d when the Navy
authorities found out that he was only 15. He enlisted in Portland, Maine on March 29, 1917, under the false birthdate of July 28, 1899. He was discharged at the Naval Training Station, Newport, Rhode Island, on May 17, 1917 with 41 days of active service. From 1924 through 1925, he played with the Savoy Havana Band
at the Savoy Hotel
in London, where his fellow band-members discouraged his attempts to become a vocalist. He then returned to the United States to obtain a degree in Philosophy from Yale
and to form his own band, "Rudy Vallée and the Connecticut Yankees." With this band, which featured two violin
s, two saxophones, a piano
, a banjo
and drums, he started taking vocals (supposedly reluctantly at first). He had a rather thin, wavering tenor voice
and seemed more at home singing sweet ballad
s than attempting vocals on jazz
numbers. However, his singing, together with his suave manner and handsome boyish looks, attracted great attention, especially from young women. Vallée was given a recording contract
and in 1928, he started performing on the radio.
Vallée became the most prominent and, arguably, the first of a new style of popular singer, the crooner
. Previously, popular singers needed strong projecting voices to fill theaters in the days before the electric microphone
. Crooners had soft voices that were well suited to the intimacy of the new medium of the radio
. Vallée's trombone
-like vocal phrasing on "Deep Night" would inspire later crooners such as Bing Crosby
, Frank Sinatra
, and Perry Como
to model their voices on jazz instruments.
Vallée also became what was perhaps the first complete example of the 20th century mass media
pop star
. Flappers mobbed him wherever he went. His live appearances were usually sold out, and even if his singing could hardly be heard in those venues not yet equipped with the new electronic microphones, his screaming female fans went home happy if they had caught sight of his lips through the opening of the trademark megaphone
he sang through. A brief caricature of him in the Fleischer Brothers' color Betty Boop
theatrical short cartoon from 1934 Poor Cinderella
depicts him singing through a megaphone.
In 1929, Vallée made his first feature film, The Vagabond Lover
for RKO Radio. His first films were made to cash in on his singing popularity. Despite Vallée's rather wooden initial performances, his acting greatly improved in the late 1930s and 1940s. Also in 1929, Vallée began hosting The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour
, a very popular radio show at the time.
Vallée's recording career began in 1928 recording for Columbia Records
' cheap labels (Harmony
, Velvet Tone, and Diva
). He signed to Victor in February 1929 and remained with them through to late 1931, leaving after a heated dispute with company executives over title selections. He then recorded for the short-lived, but extremely popular "Hit of the Week
" label (which sold records laminated onto cardboard). In August 1932, he signed with Columbia and stayed with them through 1933; he returned to Victor in June 1933. His records were issued on Victor's new budget label, Bluebird
, until November 1933 when he was moved up to the full-priced Victor label. He stayed with Victor until signing with ARC
in 1936, who released his records on their Perfect
, Melotone
, Conqueror
and Romeo
labels until 1937 when he returned to Victor.
Vallée continued hosting popular radio variety show
s through the 1930s and 1940s. The Royal Gelatin Hour
featured various film performers of the era
, such as Fay Wray
and Richard Cromwell
in dramatic skits.
Along with his group, The Connecticut Yankees, Vallée's best known popular recordings included: "The Stein Song" (aka University of Maine
fighting song) in 1929 and "Vieni, Vieni" in the latter 1930s. Vallée sang fluently in three Mediterranean languages, and always varied the keys, thus paving the way for later pop crooners such as Dean Martin
, Andy Williams
and Vic Damone
. Another memorable rendition of his is "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries
", in which he imitates Willie Howard
's voice in the final chorus
. One of his record hits was "The Drunkard Song," popularly known as "There Is a Tavern in the Town." Vallée couldn't stop laughing for the last couple of verses- supposedly he struggled to keep a straight face at the corny lyrics, and the band members egged him on. He managed a second take reasonably well. The "laughing" version was so infectious, however, that Victor released both takes.
Vallée's last hit song was the 1943 reissue of the melancholy ballad "As Time Goes By
", popularized in the feature film Casablanca
in 1943 (Due to the mid-1940s recording ban, Victor reissued the version he had recorded 15 years earlier.) During World War II
, Vallée enlisted in the Coast Guard
to help direct the 11th district Coast Guard band as a Chief Petty Officer
. Eventually he was promoted to Lieutenant
and led the 40 piece band to great success. In 1944 he was placed on the inactive list and he returned to radio.
When Vallée took his contractual vacations from his national radio show in 1937, he insisted his sponsor hire Louis Armstrong
as his substitute (this was the first instance of an African-American fronting a national radio program). Vallée also wrote the introduction for Armstrong's 1936 book Swing That Music.
In 1937 Vallée attended Suffolk University Law School
in Boston, Massachusetts.
Vallée acted in a number of Hollywood films starting with "The Vagabond Lover" in 1929. His earliest films showed him rather stiff and unemotional. He improved during the 1930s, and by the time he began working with Preston Sturges
in the 1940s he had become a successful comedic supporting player. He appeared opposite Claudette Colbert
in the 1942 Preston Sturges
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, Vallée was featured in Gentlemen Marry Brunettes
, co-starring Jane Russell
, Alan Young
, and Jeanne Crain
. The production was filmed on location in Paris
. The film was based on the Anita Loos
novel that was a sequel to her acclaimed Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
. Gentlemen Marry Brunettes was popular throughout Europe
at the time and was released in France
as A Paris Pour les Quatre ("Paris for the Four"), and in Belgium
as Tevieren Te Parijs.
In 1971 he made a television appearance as a vindictive surgeon in the Night Gallery
episode "Marmalade Wine."
In middle age, Vallée's voice matured into a robust baritone
. He performed on Broadway
as J.B. Biggley in the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
and reprised the role in the film version of the show. He appeared in the campy
1960s Batman
television show as the character "Lord Marmaduke Ffogg". He toured with a one-man theater show into the 1980s. He occasionally opened for The Village People
.
Rudy Vallee's song compositions included "Oh! Ma-Ma! (The Butcher Boy)" in 1938, recorded by Glenn Miller
and his Orchestra, "Deep Night", which was recorded by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra, "If You Haven't Got a Girl", "Violets", "Where To", "Will You Remember Me?", "We'll Never Get Drunk Any More", "Sweet Summer Breeze", "Actions Speak Louder Than Words", "Ask Not", "Forgive Me", "Charlie Cadet", "Somewhere In Your Heart", "You Took Me Out Of This World", "Old Man Harlem" with Hoagy Carmichael
, which was recorded by the Dorsey Brothers band, "I'm Just a Vagabond Lover", and "Betty Co-Ed".
In 1967 Rudy Vallee recorded a new record album. Called "Hi-Ho Everybody" it was produced by Snuff Garrett
and Ed Silvers for Dot Records
on its Viva label; arranged by Al Capps. The engineers were Dave Hassinger and Henry Leroy. Included on the album were songs: "Winchester Cathedral", "Michelle", "My Blue Heaven", "Sweet Heart of Sigma Chi", "Who Likes Good Pop Music?", "Bluebird", "Who", "Lady Godiva", "Mame", The Wiffenpoof Song", "Strangers in The Night", and "One of Those Songs".
, but that ended in divorce in 1944. His previous marriage to Leonie Cauchois was annulled and the one to Fay Webb ended in divorce. After divorcing Jane Greer, he married Eleanor Norris in 1946, who wrote a memoir, My Vagabond Lover. Their marriage lasted until his death in 1986.
Always loyal to Yale University. He never forgot his Maine roots, and maintained an estate at Kezar Lake in Maine.
at his home on July 3, 1986. He is interred in St. Hyacinth's Cemetery, in Westbrook, Maine
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
n singer, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
, and entertainer.
Early life
Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island PondIsland Pond, Vermont
Island Pond is a census-designated place in the town of Brighton in Essex County, Vermont, United States. The population was 849 at the 2000 census...
, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée. Both of his parents were born and raised in Vermont, but their parents were immigrants; the Vallées being of French Canadian origin from neighboring Quebec, while the Lynches were from Ireland. Vallée grew up in Westbrook
Westbrook, Maine
Westbrook is a city in Cumberland County, Maine, United States and a suburb of Portland. The population was 17,494 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical area.-History:...
, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
.
Career
Having played drumsDrum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
in his high school band, Vallée played clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
and saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
in various bands around New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
in his youth. In 1917, he decided to enlist for World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, but was discharge
Military discharge
A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve.-United States:Discharge or separation should not be confused with retirement; career U.S...
d when the Navy
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
authorities found out that he was only 15. He enlisted in Portland, Maine on March 29, 1917, under the false birthdate of July 28, 1899. He was discharged at the Naval Training Station, Newport, Rhode Island, on May 17, 1917 with 41 days of active service. From 1924 through 1925, he played with the Savoy Havana Band
Savoy Havana Band
The Savoy Havana Band was a British dance band of the 1920s. It was resident at the Savoy Hotel, London, between 1921 and 1927.The band was formed by the American saxophonist Bert Ralton in 1921. Originally there were six players including Ralton. It was later increased to ten players. From 1924 it...
at the Savoy Hotel
Savoy Hotel
The Savoy Hotel is a hotel located on the Strand, in the City of Westminster in central London. Built by impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan operas, the hotel opened on 6 August 1889. It was the first in the Savoy group of hotels and restaurants owned by...
in London, where his fellow band-members discouraged his attempts to become a vocalist. He then returned to the United States to obtain a degree in Philosophy from Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and to form his own band, "Rudy Vallée and the Connecticut Yankees." With this band, which featured two violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
s, two saxophones, a piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, a banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
and drums, he started taking vocals (supposedly reluctantly at first). He had a rather thin, wavering tenor voice
Human voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...
and seemed more at home singing sweet ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
s than attempting vocals on jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
numbers. However, his singing, together with his suave manner and handsome boyish looks, attracted great attention, especially from young women. Vallée was given a recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
and in 1928, he started performing on the radio.
Vallée became the most prominent and, arguably, the first of a new style of popular singer, the crooner
Crooner
Crooner is an American epithet given to male singers of pop standards, mostly from the Great American Songbook, either backed by a full orchestra, a big band or by a piano. Originally it was an ironic term denoting an emphatically sentimental, often emotional singing style made possible by the use...
. Previously, popular singers needed strong projecting voices to fill theaters in the days before the electric microphone
Microphone
A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...
. Crooners had soft voices that were well suited to the intimacy of the new medium of the radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
. Vallée's trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
-like vocal phrasing on "Deep Night" would inspire later crooners such as Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, 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 Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
to model their voices on jazz instruments.
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
pop star
Pop Star
"Pop Star" is a 2005 single from Japanese singer Ken Hirai. The single went on to top the 2005 Oricon Charts and is known for its remarkable music video, featuring Ken in seven different personas, including a raccoon and his own manager. The Video also helped Ken break into the US and Canadian...
. Flappers mobbed him wherever he went. His live appearances were usually sold out, and even if his singing could hardly be heard in those venues not yet equipped with the new electronic microphones, his screaming female fans went home happy if they had caught sight of his lips through the opening of the trademark megaphone
Megaphone
A megaphone, speaking-trumpet, bullhorn, blowhorn, or loud hailer is a portable, usually hand-held, cone-shaped horn used to amplify a person’s voice or other sounds towards a targeted direction. This is accomplished by channelling the sound through the megaphone, which also serves to match the...
he sang through. A brief caricature of him in the Fleischer Brothers' color Betty Boop
Betty Boop
Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick. She originally appeared in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures. She has also been featured in...
theatrical short cartoon from 1934 Poor Cinderella
Poor Cinderella
Poor Cinderella is a 1934 Fleischer Studio animated short film featuring Betty Boop. The first entry in the Color Classics series, Poor Cinderella was Fleischer Studio's first color film, and the only appearance of Betty Boop in color during the Fleischer era.-Synopsis:In this retelling of the...
depicts him singing through a megaphone.
In 1929, Vallée made his first feature film, The Vagabond Lover
The Vagabond Lover
The Vagabond Lover is a 1929 American black-and-white, comedy-drama musical film about a small-town boy who finds fame and romance when he joins a dance band. The film is directed by Marshall Neilan, and is based on the novel of the same name, written by James Ashmore Creelman who also wrote the...
for RKO Radio. His first films were made to cash in on his singing popularity. Despite Vallée's rather wooden initial performances, his acting greatly improved in the late 1930s and 1940s. Also in 1929, Vallée began hosting The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour
The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour
The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour was a pioneering musical variety radio program broadcast on NBC from 1929 to 1936, when it became The Royal Gelatin Hour, continuing until 1939...
, a very popular radio show at the time.
Vallée's recording career began in 1928 recording for Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
' cheap labels (Harmony
Harmony Records
Harmony Records was a label owned by Columbia Records. It was originally used as a label for low-price 78 rpm records in the 1920s and 1930s; subsequently it was revived as a label for budget albums of reissued tracks during the 1950s with nine or ten songs per album...
, Velvet Tone, and Diva
Diva Records
Diva Records was a United States based record label from 1925 to 1931. The label was a subsidiary of Columbia Records marketed by the W.T. Grant department store chain. Diva Records were acoustic through early 1929...
). He signed to Victor in February 1929 and remained with them through to late 1931, leaving after a heated dispute with company executives over title selections. He then recorded for the short-lived, but extremely popular "Hit of the Week
Hit of the Week Records
Hit of the Week Records was a record label based in the United States of America in the early 1930s. Distinctively, "Hit of the Week"s were made not of shellac as was usual for gramophone record of the era, but of a patented blend of paper and resin called Durium...
" label (which sold records laminated onto cardboard). In August 1932, he signed with Columbia and stayed with them through 1933; he returned to Victor in June 1933. His records were issued on Victor's new budget label, Bluebird
Bluebird Records
Bluebird Records is a sub-label of RCA Victor Records originally created in 1932 to counter the American Record Company in the "3 records for a dollar" market. Along with ARC's Perfect Records, Melotone Records and Romeo Records, and the independent US Decca label, Bluebird became one of the best...
, until November 1933 when he was moved up to the full-priced Victor label. He stayed with Victor until signing with ARC
American Record Corporation
ARC, the American Record Company, also referred to as American Record Corporation, or as ARC Records, was a United States based record company...
in 1936, who released his records on their Perfect
Perfect Records
Perfect Records was a United States based record label of the 1920s and 1930s. It was a subsidiary of Pathé Records, producing standard lateral cut 78 rpm disc records for the US market....
, Melotone
Melotone Records (US)
Melotone Records was a United States based record label. In late 1930, Warner/Brunswick Records introduced the Melotone label in the U.S. and Canada as a budget subsidiary issuing 78 rpm disc records. It then became part of the American Record Corporation collection of labels in 1932. The label was...
, Conqueror
Conqueror Records
Conqueror Records was a United States-based record label, active from about 1926 through 1942. The label was sold exclusively through Sears, Roebuck and Company.The record sleeves state that the proper playing speed for Conqueror Records is 80 rpm....
and Romeo
Romeo Records
Romeo Records was a record label based in the United States of America in the 1920s and 1930s. It was a subsidiary of Cameo Records, manufactured to be sold exclusively at the S. H. Kress & Co. department store chain...
labels until 1937 when he returned to Victor.
Vallée continued hosting popular radio variety show
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
s through the 1930s and 1940s. The Royal Gelatin Hour
The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour
The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour was a pioneering musical variety radio program broadcast on NBC from 1929 to 1936, when it became The Royal Gelatin Hour, continuing until 1939...
featured various film performers of the era
Era
An era is a commonly used word for long period of time. When used in science, for example geology, eras denote clearly defined periods of time of arbitrary but well defined length, such as for example the Mesozoic era from 252 Ma–66 Ma, delimited by a start event and an end event. When used in...
, such as Fay Wray
Fay Wray
Fay Wray was a Canadian-American actress most noted for playing the female lead in King Kong...
and Richard Cromwell
Richard Cromwell (actor)
Richard Cromwell, born LeRoy Melvin Radabaugh , was an American actor. His family and friends called him Roy, though he was also professionally known and signed autographs as Dick Cromwell. Cromwell's career was at its pinnacle with his work in Jezebel with Bette Davis and Henry Fonda and again...
in dramatic skits.
Along with his group, The Connecticut Yankees, Vallée's best known popular recordings included: "The Stein Song" (aka University of Maine
University of Maine
The University of Maine is a public research university located in Orono, Maine, United States. The university was established in 1865 as a land grant college and is referred to as the flagship university of the University of Maine System...
fighting song) in 1929 and "Vieni, Vieni" in the latter 1930s. Vallée sang fluently in three Mediterranean languages, and always varied the keys, thus paving the way for later pop crooners such as 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?"...
, Andy Williams
Andy Williams
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...
and Vic Damone
Vic Damone
Vic Damone is an American singer and entertainer.- Early life :Damone was born Vito Rocco Farinola in Brooklyn, New York to French-Italian immigrants based in Bari, Italy—Rocco and Mamie Farinola. His father was an electrician; and his mother taught piano. His cousin was the actress and singer...
. Another memorable rendition of his is "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries
Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries
"Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries" is a popular song with music by Ray Henderson and lyrics by Buddy G. DeSylva and Lew Brown, published in 1931. The song was revived in 1953 by singer Jaye P...
", in which he imitates Willie Howard
Willie Howard
Willie L. Howard is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft and played for them for two seasons before a serious injury ended his career...
's voice in the final chorus
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
. One of his record hits was "The Drunkard Song," popularly known as "There Is a Tavern in the Town." Vallée couldn't stop laughing for the last couple of verses- supposedly he struggled to keep a straight face at the corny lyrics, and the band members egged him on. He managed a second take reasonably well. The "laughing" version was so infectious, however, that Victor released both takes.
Vallée's last hit song was the 1943 reissue of the melancholy ballad "As Time Goes By
As Time Goes By (song)
"As Time Goes By" is a song written by Herman Hupfeld in 1931. It became most famous in 1942 when it was sung by the character Sam in the movie Casablanca. The song was voted #2 on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs special, commemorating the best songs in film. It was used as a fanfare for Warner...
", popularized in the feature film Casablanca
Casablanca (film)
Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...
in 1943 (Due to the mid-1940s recording ban, Victor reissued the version he had recorded 15 years earlier.) During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Vallée enlisted in the Coast Guard
Coast guard
A coast guard or coastguard is a national organization responsible for various services at sea. However the term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with...
to help direct the 11th district Coast Guard band as a Chief Petty Officer
Chief Petty Officer
A chief petty officer is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards.-Canada:"Chief Petty Officer" refers to two ranks in the Canadian Navy...
. Eventually he was promoted to Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
and led the 40 piece band to great success. In 1944 he was placed on the inactive list and he returned to radio.
When Vallée took his contractual vacations from his national radio show in 1937, he insisted his sponsor hire Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
as his substitute (this was the first instance of an African-American fronting a national radio program). Vallée also wrote the introduction for Armstrong's 1936 book Swing That Music.
In 1937 Vallée attended Suffolk University Law School
Suffolk University Law School
Suffolk University Law School, also known as Suffolk Law School or SULS, is one of the professional graduate schools of Suffolk University. Suffolk University Law School is a private, non-sectarian, law school located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. Suffolk University Law School was founded in...
in Boston, Massachusetts.
Vallée acted in a number of Hollywood films starting with "The Vagabond Lover" in 1929. His earliest films showed him rather stiff and unemotional. He improved during the 1930s, and by the time he began working with Preston Sturges
Preston Sturges
Preston Sturges , originally Edmund Preston Biden, was a celebrated playwright, screenwriter and film director born in Chicago, Illinois...
in the 1940s he had become a successful comedic supporting player. He appeared opposite Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert was a French-born American-based actress of stage and film.Born in Paris, France and raised in New York City, Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the 1920s, progressing to film with the advent of talking pictures...
in the 1942 Preston Sturges
Preston Sturges
Preston Sturges , originally Edmund Preston Biden, was a celebrated playwright, screenwriter and film director born in Chicago, Illinois...
screwball comedy
Screwball Comedy
Screwball Comedy is an album by the Japanese band Soul Flower Union. The album found the band going into a simpler, harder-rocking direction, after several heavily world-music influenced albums.-Track listing:...
The Palm Beach Story
The Palm Beach Story
The Palm Beach Story is a 1942 romantic screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, and starring Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Mary Astor and Rudy Vallée. Victor Young contributed the lively musical score, including a fast-paced variation of William Tell Overture for the...
. Other films in which he appeared include I Remember Mama
I Remember Mama
I Remember Mama is a play by John Van Druten. Based on the fictionalized memoir Mama's Bank Account by Kathryn Forbes, it focuses on the Hanson family, a loving family of Norwegian immigrants living on Steiner Street in San Francisco in the 1910s.Produced by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein...
, Unfaithfully Yours
Unfaithfully Yours
Unfaithfully Yours is a 1948 American screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges and starring Rex Harrison, Linda Darnell, Rudy Vallee and Barbara Lawrence. The film is a black comedy about a man's failed attempt to murder his wife, who he believes has been unfaithful to him...
and The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer is a 1947 American screwball comedy film directed by Irving Reis. The screenplay was written by Sidney Sheldon. The film stars Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, and Shirley Temple in a story about a teenager's crush on an older man. The film was a critical success...
.
In 1955, Vallée was featured in Gentlemen Marry Brunettes
Gentlemen Marry Brunettes
Gentlemen Marry Brunettes is a 1955 musical film produced by Russ-Field productions, starring Jane Russell and Jeanne Crain, and released by United Artists...
, co-starring Jane Russell
Jane Russell
Jane Russell was an American film actress and was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s....
, Alan Young
Alan Young
Alan Young is an English-Canadian actor and voice actor, best known for his role as Wilbur Post in the television series Mister Ed and as the voice of Scrooge McDuck in Disney films, TV series and video games...
, and Jeanne Crain
Jeanne Crain
Jeanne Elizabeth Crain was an American actress.-Early life:Crain was born in Barstow, California, to George A. Crain, a school teacher, and Loretta Carr; she was of Irish heritage on her mother's side, and of English and distant French descent on her father's...
. The production was filmed on location in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The film was based on the Anita Loos
Anita Loos
Anita Loos was an American screenwriter, playwright and author.-Early life:Born Corinne Anita Loos in Sisson, California , where her father, R. Beers Loos, had opened a tabloid newspaper for which her mother, Minerva "Minnie" Smith did most of the work of a newspaper publisher...
novel that was a sequel to her acclaimed Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (novel)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: The Illuminating Diary of a Professional Lady is a comic novel written by Anita Loos first published in 1925. Loos was inspired to write the book after watching a sexy blonde turn intellectual H. L. Mencken into a lovestruck schoolboy. Mencken, a close friend, actually...
. Gentlemen Marry Brunettes was popular throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
at the time and was released in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
as A Paris Pour les Quatre ("Paris for the Four"), and in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
as Tevieren Te Parijs.
In 1971 he made a television appearance as a vindictive surgeon in the Night Gallery
Night Gallery
Night Gallery is an American anthology series that aired on NBC from 1970 to 1973, featuring stories of horror and the macabre. Rod Serling, who had gained fame from an earlier series, The Twilight Zone, served both as the on-air host of Night Gallery and as a major contributor of scripts, although...
episode "Marmalade Wine."
In middle age, Vallée's voice matured into a robust baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
. He performed on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
as J.B. Biggley in the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, based on Shepherd Mead's 1952 book of the same name....
and reprised the role in the film version of the show. He appeared in the campy
Camp (style)
Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...
1960s Batman
Batman (TV series)
Batman is an American television series, based on the DC comic book character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin — two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City. It aired on the American Broadcasting Company network for three seasons from January 12, 1966 to...
television show as the character "Lord Marmaduke Ffogg". He toured with a one-man theater show into the 1980s. He occasionally opened for The Village People
Village People
Village People is a concept disco group that formed in the United States in 1977, well known for their on-stage costumes depicting American cultural stereotypes, as well as their catchy tunes and suggestive lyrics....
.
Rudy Vallee's song compositions included "Oh! Ma-Ma! (The Butcher Boy)" in 1938, recorded by Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
and his Orchestra, "Deep Night", which was recorded by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra, "If You Haven't Got a Girl", "Violets", "Where To", "Will You Remember Me?", "We'll Never Get Drunk Any More", "Sweet Summer Breeze", "Actions Speak Louder Than Words", "Ask Not", "Forgive Me", "Charlie Cadet", "Somewhere In Your Heart", "You Took Me Out Of This World", "Old Man Harlem" with Hoagy Carmichael
Hoagy Carmichael
Howard Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael was an American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. He is best known for writing "Stardust", "Georgia On My Mind", "The Nearness of You", and "Heart and Soul", four of the most-recorded American songs of all time.Alec Wilder, in his study of the...
, which was recorded by the Dorsey Brothers band, "I'm Just a Vagabond Lover", and "Betty Co-Ed".
In 1967 Rudy Vallee recorded a new record album. Called "Hi-Ho Everybody" it was produced by Snuff Garrett
Snuff Garrett
Snuff Garrett is a retired American record producer whose most famous work was during the 1960s and 1970s. His nickname is a play on Garrett's Snuff, a brand of snuff....
and Ed Silvers for Dot Records
Dot Records
Dot Records was an American record label and company that was active between 1950 and 1977. It was founded by Randy Wood. In Gallatin, Tennessee, Wood had earlier started a mail order record shop, known for its radio ads on WLAC in Nashville and its R&B air personality Bill "Hoss" Allen...
on its Viva label; arranged by Al Capps. The engineers were Dave Hassinger and Henry Leroy. Included on the album were songs: "Winchester Cathedral", "Michelle", "My Blue Heaven", "Sweet Heart of Sigma Chi", "Who Likes Good Pop Music?", "Bluebird", "Who", "Lady Godiva", "Mame", The Wiffenpoof Song", "Strangers in The Night", and "One of Those Songs".
Personal life
Vallée was married briefly to actress Jane GreerJane Greer
Jane Greer was a film and television actress who was perhaps best known for her role as femme fatale Kathie Moffat in the 1947 film noir Out of the Past.-Career:...
, but that ended in divorce in 1944. His previous marriage to Leonie Cauchois was annulled and the one to Fay Webb ended in divorce. After divorcing Jane Greer, he married Eleanor Norris in 1946, who wrote a memoir, My Vagabond Lover. Their marriage lasted until his death in 1986.
Always loyal to Yale University. He never forgot his Maine roots, and maintained an estate at Kezar Lake in Maine.
Death
Vallée died of cancerCancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
at his home on July 3, 1986. He is interred in St. Hyacinth's Cemetery, in Westbrook, Maine
Westbrook, Maine
Westbrook is a city in Cumberland County, Maine, United States and a suburb of Portland. The population was 17,494 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical area.-History:...
.
Selected filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1929 | Glorifying the American Girl Glorifying the American Girl Glorifying the American Girl is a 1929 musical comedy film produced by Florenz Ziegfeld that highlights Ziegfeld Follies performers. The last third of the film is basically a Follies production, with cameo appearances by Rudy Vallee, Helen Morgan and Eddie Cantor.The script for the film was... |
Himself | |
| 1932 | The Musical Doctor | Dr. Vallee | |
| 1934 | George White's Scandals | Jimmy Martin | |
| 1935 | Sweet Music | Skip Houston | |
| 1938 | Gold Diggers in Paris Gold Diggers in Paris Gold Diggers in Paris is a 1938 Warner Bros. movie musical directed by Ray Enright with musical numbers created and directed by Busby Berkeley, starring Rudy Vallee, Rosemary Lane, Hugh Herbert and Allen Jenkins.-Plot:... |
Terry Moore | Alternative title: The Gay Impostors |
| 1939 | Second Fiddle Second Fiddle (1939 film) Second Fiddle is a 1939 American musical romance film directed by Sidney Lanfield and starring Sonja Henie, Tyrone Power, Rudy Vallee and Lyle Talbot. The score was composed by Irving Berlin. A Hollywood publicity agent falls in love with a new actress he helped to discover. The film parodies the... |
Roger Maxwell | |
| 1941 | Time Out for Rhythm Time Out for Rhythm Time Out for Rhythm is a 1941 musical comedy film starring Rudy Vallée, Ann Miller and The Three Stooges. Alan Hale, Jr., best known for his role as Skipper Jonas Grumby on Gilligan's Island, also makes a brief appearance early on, marking one of his first film appearances.To date, there has been... |
Daniel "Danny" Collins | |
| 1942 | The Palm Beach Story The Palm Beach Story The Palm Beach Story is a 1942 romantic screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, and starring Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Mary Astor and Rudy Vallée. Victor Young contributed the lively musical score, including a fast-paced variation of William Tell Overture for the... |
John D. Hackensacker III | |
| 1943 | Happy Go Lucky | Alfred Monroe | |
| 1945 | Man Alive | Gordon Tolliver | |
| 1946 | The Fabulous Suzanne | Hendrick Courtney, Jr. | |
| 1947 | The Sin of Harold Diddlebock The Sin of Harold Diddlebock The Sin of Harold Diddlebock is a 1947 comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring the silent film comic icon Harold Lloyd, and featuring Jimmy Conlin, Raymond Walburn, Rudy Vallee, Arline Judge, Edgar Kennedy, Franklin Pangborn and Lionel Stander... |
Lynn Sargent | Alternative title: Mad Wednesday |
| The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer is a 1947 American screwball comedy film directed by Irving Reis. The screenplay was written by Sidney Sheldon. The film stars Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, and Shirley Temple in a story about a teenager's crush on an older man. The film was a critical success... |
Tommy | Alternative title: Bachelor Knight | |
| 1948 | I Remember Mama I Remember Mama I Remember Mama is a play by John Van Druten. Based on the fictionalized memoir Mama's Bank Account by Kathryn Forbes, it focuses on the Hanson family, a loving family of Norwegian immigrants living on Steiner Street in San Francisco in the 1910s.Produced by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein... |
Dr. Johnson | |
| Unfaithfully Yours Unfaithfully Yours Unfaithfully Yours is a 1948 American screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges and starring Rex Harrison, Linda Darnell, Rudy Vallee and Barbara Lawrence. The film is a black comedy about a man's failed attempt to murder his wife, who he believes has been unfaithful to him... |
August Henshler | ||
| 1949 | Mother Is a Freshman Mother Is a Freshman Mother Is a Freshman is a 1949 comedy motion picture directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Loretta Young and Van Johnson.The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Costume Design.-Principal cast:*Loretta Young - Mrs... |
John Heaslip | Alternative title: Mother Knows Best |
| The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend is a 1949 romantic comedy Western film starring Betty Grable and featuring Cesar Romero and Rudy Vallee... |
Charles Hingleman | ||
| Father was a Fullback Father was a Fullback Father was a Fullback is a 1949 black-and-white Twentieth Century Fox film based on a comedy by Clifford Goldsmith. The film is about a college American football coach and his woes... |
Mr. Roger "Jess" Jessup | ||
| My Dear Secretary My Dear Secretary My Dear Secretary is a 1949 American film directed by Charles Martin, starring Laraine Day and Kirk Douglas.- Plot summary :Writer and playboy Owen Waterbury hires aspiring writer Stephanie 'Steve' Gaylord as his secretary.- Cast :... |
Charles Harris | ||
| 1950 | The Admiral Was a Lady | Peter Pedigrew (Jukebox king) | |
| 1954 | Ricochet Romance | Worthington Higgenmacher | |
| 1955 | Gentlemen Marry Brunettes Gentlemen Marry Brunettes Gentlemen Marry Brunettes is a 1955 musical film produced by Russ-Field productions, starring Jane Russell and Jeanne Crain, and released by United Artists... |
Himself | |
| 1957 | The Helen Morgan Story The Helen Morgan Story The Helen Morgan Story is a 1957 American biographical film directed by Michael Curtiz starring Ann Blyth and Paul Newman.The screenplay by Oscar Saul, Dean Riesner, Stephen Longstreet, and Nelson Gidding is based on the life and career of torch singer/actress Helen Morgan, with fictional touches... |
Himself | Alternative titles: Both Ends of the Candle Why Was I Born? |
| 1967 | How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (film) How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a 1967 American musical comedy film based on the 1961 stage musical of the same name, which in turn was based on the book written by Shepherd Mead... |
J.B. Biggley | |
| 1968 | Live a Little, Love a Little Live a Little, Love a Little Live A Little, Love A Little is a 1968 musical comedy starring Elvis Presley. It was directed by Norman Taurog, who had directed several previous Presley films. This was to be Taurog's final film. Shortly thereafter, he went blind... |
Louis Penlow | |
| The Night They Raided Minsky's The Night They Raided Minsky's The Night They Raided Minsky's is a 1968 musical comedy film directed by William Friedkin and produced by Norman Lear. It is a fictional account of the invention of the striptease at Minsky's Burlesque in 1925... |
Narrator | ||
| 1975 | Sunburst | Proprietor | Alternative title: Slashed Dreams |
| 1976 | Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood | Autograph Hound | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1956–1957 | December Bride December Bride December Bride is an American sitcom that aired on the CBS television network from 1954 to 1959, adapted from the original CBS radio network series that aired from June 1952 through September 1953.-Overview:... |
Himself | 2 episodes |
| 1957 | The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour is a CBS television situation comedy. The show is a collection of occasional specials rather than a regular series and originally served as part of Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse... |
Himself | 1 episode |
| 1967 | Batman Batman (TV series) Batman is an American television series, based on the DC comic book character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin — two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City. It aired on the American Broadcasting Company network for three seasons from January 12, 1966 to... |
Lord Marmaduke Fogg | 3 episodes |
| 1969 | Petticoat Junction Petticoat Junction Petticoat Junction is an American situation comedy produced by Filmways which originally aired on CBS from 1963 to 1970. The series is one of three interrelated shows about rural characters created by Paul Henning; the others are The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres.The setting for the series... |
Herbert A. Smith | 1 episode |
| 1970 | Here's Lucy Here's Lucy Here's Lucy is Lucille Ball's third network television sitcom. It ran on CBS from 1968 to 1974.-Background:Though The Lucy Show was still hugely popular during the previous season, finishing in the top five of the Nielsen Ratings , Ball opted to end that series at the end of that season and create... |
Himself | 1 episode |
| 1971 | Night Gallery Night Gallery Night Gallery is an American anthology series that aired on NBC from 1970 to 1973, featuring stories of horror and the macabre. Rod Serling, who had gained fame from an earlier series, The Twilight Zone, served both as the on-air host of Night Gallery and as a major contributor of scripts, although... |
Dr. Francis Deeking | 1 episode |
| 1971–1972 | Alias Smith and Jones Alias Smith and Jones Alias Smith and Jones is an American Western series that originally aired on ABC from 1971 to 1973. It stars Pete Duel as Hannibal Heyes and Ben Murphy as Jedediah "Kid" Curry, a pair of Western cousin outlaws trying to reform... |
Winford Fletcher | 2 episodes |
| 1976 | Ellery Queen Ellery Queen (TV series) Ellery Queen is an American television detective mystery series that ran for one season from 1975 to 1976 on NBC. It starred Jim Hutton as Ellery Queen, and David Wayne as his father, Inspector Richard Queen... |
Alvin Winer | 1 episode |
| 1979 | CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs is an American television drama series produced by MGM Studios that originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to July 17, 1983. CHiPs followed the lives of two motorcycle police officers of the California Highway Patrol... |
Arthur Forbinger | 1 episode |
| 1984 | Santa Barbara Santa Barbara (TV series) Santa Barbara is an American television soap opera, first broadcast in the United States on NBC on July 30, 1984, and last aired on January 15, 1993. The show revolved around the eventful lives of the wealthy Capwell family of Santa Barbara, California... |
Elderly Con | 1 episode |
See also
- Vallee Family HouseVallee Family HouseThe Vallee Family House is an historic house in Westbrook, Maine. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. It was the home of Rudy Vallée, singer, actor, band leader and entertainer. It was built in 1914....
, a house listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in Westbrook, Maine
External links
- Rudy Vallee Official Website
- Rudy Vallee Collection at the American Radio ArchiveAmerican Radio ArchiveThe American Radio Archive, established in 1984 by the Thousand Oaks Library Foundation, contains manuscripts, sound recordings, scripts, books, photographs and other materials that vividly reflect the history of radio and radio broadcasting...
located at the Thousand Oaks Library
Media
- Rudy Vallee interviewed by Mike WallaceMike Wallace (journalist)Myron Leon "Mike" Wallace is an American journalist, former game show host, actor and media personality. During his 60+ year career, he has interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers....
on The Mike Wallace Interview February 22, 1958 - The Royal Desserts Hour with Rudy Vallée (May 5, 1938) (one hour in)