Harry Babbitt
Updated Feb 06, 2019
A photo of Harry Babbitt
  1. 1. Summary
  2. 2. Biography & Family History
  3. 3. Family Tree & Genealogy
  4. 4. Obituary
  5. 5. Family Photos
  6. 6. Memories
  7. 7. Additional Records
  8. 8. Record Sources

Harry Babbitt (1913 - 2004)

Harry Babbitt was born on November 2, 1913 in St. Louis, Missouri. He was born to Harry E Babbitt and Daisy Babbitt, with siblings Marguerite, Ruth, William, and Eugene. He married Betty Babbitt. Harry died on April 9, 2004 in Aliso Viejo, California at 90 years of age. He was buried in Cremated. Ashes given to family or a friend.

Military service:
1944 to 1946.
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Summary

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Singer. He was the featured soloist with the Kay Kyser big band from 1938 to about 1949 while also serving in the Navy from 1944 to 1946. Dubbed "Handsome Harry," he sang on such hits as "The White Cliffs of Dover," "Three Little Fishes," and "On a Slow Boat to China," to name a few. He also appeared in seven movies and was the laugh of Woody Woodpecker. He retired from show business in 1964 and had a successful career in real estate. When Kay Kyser died in 1985, he obtained the rights to the band's name and catalog from Kyser's widow and started touring the country with a new band. He stopped performing in the mid-1990s.
Bio by: Ron Moody
Babbitt was host of an early morning radio show, The Second Cup of Coffee Club on CBS.[4] It ran 10 years in the 1940s and 1950s. He also co-starred with Mary Small on By Popular Demand, a weekly program on Mutual in 1945-1946.[3]
Babbitt's obituary in Variety called him "a television pioneer," noting that "he hosted two long-running musical shows on KTLA-TV in Los Angeles: Bandstand Review and Hollywood Opportunity. He also hosted an NBC program, Glamour Girl,[5] which ran in 1953-1954 and provided "wardrobe advice, beauty treatments and other tips ... designed to make the average woman a glamour girl."
In later years Babbitt retired from show business in 1964 and made money in real estate in Orange County, California. He also managed the Newport Tennis Club and headed public relations for a retirement community, both in Orange County.[7]
After Kyser died, Babbitt went on tour with a new band, using Kyser's name and music. He retired from that in the mid-1990s.

Harry Babbitt Biography & Family History

This genealogy profile is dedicated to the life and ancestry of Harry Babbitt and his immediate Babbitt family. Add to Harry Babbitt's genealogy page to share your memories & historical research with his family and other genealogy hobbyists.

Birth


St. Louis, Missouri United States

Death


Aliso Viejo, Orange County, California United States

Cause of death

There is no cause of death listed for Harry.

Burial / Funeral

at Cremated. Ashes given to family or a friend,

Obituary

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Last Known Residence

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Average Age

Harry Babbitt lived 17 years longer than the average Babbitt family member when he died at the age of 90.

Life Expectancy

Family

Father: Harry E Babbitt
Mother: Daisy Babbitt
Siblings: Marguerite (Babbitt), Ruth (Babbitt), William Babbitt, and Eugene Babbitt

Wife: Betty Babbitt

Education

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Professions

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Organizations

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Military Service

1944 to 1946

Middle name

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Surnames

Ethnicity

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Nationality

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Religion

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Gender

Male

Timeline

1913 - In the year that Harry Babbitt was born, Henry Ford installed the first moving assembly line for the mass production of an entire automobile. It had previously taken 12 hours to assemble a whole vehicle - now it took only two hours and 30 minutes! Inspired by the production lines at flour mills, breweries, canneries and industrial bakeries, along with the disassembly of animal carcasses in Chicago’s meat-packing plants, Ford created moving belts for parts and the assembly line was born.

1921 - At the age of only 8 years old, Harry was alive when on March 4, Warren G. Harding became President. Previously a U.S. Senator, Lieutenant Governor, and Ohio State Senator, Harding was a popular President. But many scandals plagued his short administration (he died in office after 2 and a half years), including the revelations of one of his mistresses and the Teapot Dome scandal. Historically, Harding is rated as one of the worst Presidents.

1934 - At the age of 21 years old, Harry was alive when on November 11th 1933, an extremely strong dust storm hit South Dakota, stripping topsoil. Other strong dust storms had occurred during 1933. Severe droughts continued to hit the Great Plains and the dust storms devastated agricultural production as well as people's' lives for several years. The Roosevelt administration and scientists eventually determined that farming practices had caused the conditions that led to the dust storms and the changes they implemented in farming stopped the Dust Bowl.

1956 - Harry was 43 years old when on May 20th, the U.S. tested the first hydrogen bomb dropped from a plane over Bikini Atoll. Previously, hydrogen bombs had only been tested on the ground. The Atomic Age moved forward.

1991 - By the time he was 78 years old, on December 25th, the Soviet Union flag was lowered and replaced by the Russian tricolor flag. It was the end of the Soviet Union. Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as President of the Soviet Union and Boris Yeltsin became President of the Russian Republic.

Obituary

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Harry Babbitt passed away on April 9, 2004 in Aliso Viejo, California at 90 years old. No cause of death has been entered. He was buried in Cremated. Ashes given to family or a friend. He was born on November 2, 1913 in St. Louis, Missouri. He was born to Harry E Babbitt and Daisy Babbitt, with siblings Marguerite, Ruth, William, and Eugene. Harry married Betty Babbitt.

Memories

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Other Records of Harry Babbitt

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Sources

Biography created by
Patti Hutterli
Member since 2002
151

Contributors:
Michael Cook
Member since 2018
11

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