Arthur L. Jarrett Jr. (July 20, 1907 – July 23, 1987) born to stage actor and playwright Arthur L. Jarrett Sr. (1884–1960). Art Jr. was an American

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

, and bandleader in the 1930s and 1940s.

Early career

Near the end of the 1920s into the 1930s, Jarrett was a member of the dance orchestras of

Earl Burtnett Earl Burtnett (February 7, 1896 – January 2, 1936) was an American bandleader, songwriter and pianist who was popular in the 1920s and 1930s. Life and career Burtnett was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He attended Pennsylvania State Col ...

Ted Weems Wilfred Theodore Wemyes, known professionally as Ted Weems (September 26, 1901 – May 6, 1963), was an American bandleader and musician. Weems's work in music was recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Biography Born in Pitcair ...

Jimmie Noone Jimmie Noone (April 23, 1895 – April 19, 1944) was an American jazz clarinetist and bandleader. After beginning his career in New Orleans, he led Jimmie Noone's Apex Club Orchestra, a Chicago band that recorded for Vocalion and Decca. Classical ...

, and

Red Nichols Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols (May 8, 1905 – June 28, 1965) was an American jazz cornetist, composer, and jazz bandleader. Biography Early life and career Nichols was born in Ogden, Utah, United States. His father was a college music profes ...

, playing

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, and

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

as well as singing. He recorded for

Victor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

and Brunswick. He also recorded a handful of vocals for Isham Jones in 1931. His high

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

voice made him popular in feature

films A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

and shorts. He had a record year in 1933, introducing such songs as " Everything I Have is Yours" from ''

Dancing Lady ''Dancing Lady'' is a 1933 American pre-Code musical film starring Joan Crawford and Clark Gable, and featuring Franchot Tone, Fred Astaire, Robert Benchley, and Ted Healy and His Stooges (who later became The Three Stooges with Curly, ...

'', "

Did You Ever See a Dream Walking? "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?" is a popular song, introduced by Art Jarrett in the 1933 film '' Sitting Pretty.'' The music was written by Harry Revel, the lyrics by Mack Gordon. The song was originally published in 1933 and there were charte ...

" from '' Sitting Pretty'', and "

Let's Fall in Love "Let's Fall in Love" is a song written by Harold Arlen (music) and Ted Koehler (lyrics) for the film '' Let's Fall in Love'' and published in 1933. In the film, it is heard during the opening credits and later sung by Art Jarrett and chorus, a ...

" from the movie of the same name. Jarrett also performed in vaudeville.

Bandleader

In 1936, he left Ted Weems to lead his own

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

. In 1941, he took on the leadership of

Hal Kemp James Hal Kemp (March 27, 1904 – December 21, 1940) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader, composer, and arranger. Biography Hal Kemp was born in Marion, Alabama. He formed his first band in high school, and by the a ...

's orchestra following Kemp's death in an auto accident. He also appeared in the B western ''

Trigger Pals ''Trigger Pals'' is a 1939 American Western film directed by Sam Newfield. Plot Cast *Art Jarrett as Lucky Morgan * Lee Powell as Stormy *Al St. John as Fuzzy * Dorothy Fay as Doris Allen * Ted Adams as Harvey Kent * Nina Guilbert as Min ...

'' and on Broadway in ''Three After Three''. In 1932,

Later career

In the 1950s, Jarrett was a regular on a

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

musical show called ''

Rhythm Rodeo ''Rhythm Rodeo'' is an American television series which aired on the DuMont Television Network from August 6, 1950, to January 7, 1951. Each 30-minute episode was broadcast live. Despite its name, it featured many different types of popular music, ...

'', which aired on the

DuMont Television Network The DuMont Television Network (also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, simply DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being ...

. Eventually, he became a

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

and a

salesman Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in r ...

Personal life and death

Jarrett was reportedly engaged to actress

Gilda Gray Gilda Gray (born Marianna Michalska; October 24, 1901 – December 22, 1959) was a Polish-American dancer and actress who popularized a dance called the "shimmy" which became fashionable in 1920s films and theater productions. Early life and 'th ...

but the marriage never took place. From 1933 to 1938, he was married to actress and swimmer

Eleanor Holm Eleanor G. Holm (December 6, 1913 – January 31, 2004) was an American competition swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. An Olympian in 1928 and 1932, she was expelled from the 1936 Summer Olympics team by Avery Brundage under controversial circu ...

. He died July 23, 1987, in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, just three days after his 80th birthday.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Ted Weems and his Orchestra
* * 1907 births 1987 deaths Musicians from Brooklyn 20th-century American singers Articles containing video clips 20th-century American male singers Vaudeville performers Victor Records artists {{US-singer-stub