Breakfast in Hollywood - Harry Babbitt

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.