Rudy Vallée

Famous Actor and Singer and Band Leader. Rudy Vallee Born July 28, 1901 in Island Pond, Vermont, USA Died July 3, 1986 in North Hollywood, California, USA (cancer) Birth Name Hubert Prior Vallée Height 5' 10" (1.78 m) Rudy Vallee started his career as a saxophone player and singer and later became a band leader. In the 1920s and early 30s he had a hit radio program, The Fleishmann's Yeast Hour (where he was hated by his cast and crew due to his explosive ego-driven personality). In the early 1930's he was ranked with the likes of Bing Crosby and the tragic Russ Columbo in the Hit Parade. A huge hit on radio in 1933 with his program, initially known as 'The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour. He was known to instigate fist fights with virtually anyone who got on his nerves. During the run of his show he slugged photographers, threw sheet music in the faces of pianists' heads and if provoked, would sock hecklers in the nose. Audiences loved him. As a very popular star in night clubs and on records, as well as in movies, he helped other singers like Alice Faye - who was for a while his band singer - and Frances Langford to start their careers. In his early movies he often played the romantic lead, but he switched later to stuffy and comic parts. He also appeared on Broadway. The mid-60's Broadway hit "How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" was filmed in 1967 with him in his original Broadway role. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Jack Backstreet Spouse (4) Eleanor Norris (3 September 1949 - 3 July 1986) ( his death) Jane Greer (2 December 1943 - 27 July 1944) ( divorced) Fay Webb (6 July 1931 - 20 May 1936) ( divorced) Leonie Cauchois (11 May 1928 - 1928) ( annulled) Trade Mark (1) Singing through a megaphone Following his death, he was interred at Saint Hyacinth's Cemetery in Westbrook, Maine. Second row in from Stroud Water Street. The headstones for both him and his brother were stolen; only the family plot marker remains at Saint Hyacinth's. Died while watching the Statue of Liberty Centennial celebrations on television, his reported last words being, "I wish I could be there. You know how I've always loved a party." Graduated from the University of Maine and popularized its fight song "The Maine Stein Song" in the 1920s. Co-wrote his long-time theme song, "Vagabond Lover", which was also the title of his first movie (The Vagabond Lover (1929)). As a singing bandleader in the 1920s and 1930s, he introduced many songs that would ultimately become pop standards, among them "Goodnight, Sweetheart", "The Maine Stein Song", "As Time Goes By", "Would You Like to Take a Walk?", "Betty Co-Ed" and his two theme songs, "Heigh-Ho, Everybody" and "I'm Just a Vagabond Lover". He never did introduce the 1967 hit that parodied his style, "Winchester Cathedral", although he sang it frequently afterwards. Sang "Empty Saddles" at the funeral of film actor Tom Mix. Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 846-849. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999. Profiled in "Old Time Radio Memories" by Mel Simons (BearManor Media). He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Radio at 1632 Vine Street in Hollywood, California. He was posthumously awarded a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars on January 13, 1995. Caricatured in the Porky Pig cartoon Wholly Smoke (1938). A cigarette box called "Crooner Crooner" (a parody of Corona-Corona) spouts likenesses of Vallee and Bing Crosby, both warning Porky about smoking. Posthumously inducted into the Vermont Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2011. Parents are Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallee. In late 1939 Rudy Vallee was signed by Republic Pictures as a producer, to supervise two movies. The movies were ultimately never made. His older sister Kathleen spent her life as a music teacher in their native state of Maine. Personal Quotes (2) People called me the guy with the c*** in his voice. Maybe that's why in 84 years of life I've been with over 145 women and girls. It always seems foolish to me to try to criticize the public for liking a thing. We of the soft-crooning radio type of singer are giving the people what they want. The American public as a whole does not care for full-throated operatic singing. And why should it? Down through the ages it has been the simple song which has lived and continues to touch the heart of humanity. And so it is with singing. Salary (1) On Broadway Tonight (1964) $20,000 per episode