Biography

Rudy Vallee

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Overview

Born
July 28, 1901 · Island Pond, Vermont, USA
Died
July 3, 1986 · North Hollywood, California, USA (cancer)
Birth name
Hubert Prior Vallée
Height
5′ 10″ (1.78 m)

Mini bio

Rudy Vallee started his career as a saxophone player and singer and later became a bandleader. In the 1920s and early '30s he had a hit radio program, The Fleishmann's Yeast Hour (although his explosive, ego-driven personality made his cast and crew hate him). In the early 1930s 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,' Vallee was considered a slavedriver by his staff. He was known to instigate fist fights with virtually anyone who got on his nerves. During his show's run he slugged photographers, threw sheet music at pianists' heads, and socked hecklers in their noses. While audiences loved him, most of his staff hated him. As a very popular star in nightclubs, on records, and in movies, he helped other singers, such as Alice Faye--who was his band singer for a while--and Frances Langford to start their careers. In his early movies he often played the romantic lead, but later he switched to stuffy and comic parts. He also appeared on Broadway. The mid-'60s 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
In his early days with his crooning voice, blue eyes and smiling features he was one of the first teenage idols as he led his band, The Connecticut Yankees and they appeared in several musical short films and the occasional feature then in the late 30's he started a very successful career as a light comedy actor in Hollywood appearing tn the films The Beautiful Blonde From Bashful Bend (1949) but his big hit was Palm Beach Story (1942)..
- IMDb mini biography by: Tonyman 5
Rudy was about the first teenage idol of the jazz era with his band The Connecticut Yankees.In the early days of sound films he and his band appeared in several musical short films and the odd feature then in the late thirties he started a successful career as a light comedy actor in Hollywood appearing in The Beautiful Blonde From Bashful Bend (1949) and had a big hit in The Palm Beach Story in 1942
- IMDb mini biography by: Tonyman 5

Family

Spouses

Trademark

Singing through a megaphone

Trivia

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.".
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.
The headstones for both him and his brother were stolen; only the family plot marker remains at Saint Hyacinth's.
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.

Quotes

People called me the guy with the cock 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.