Dick Todd (August 4, 1914 – May 1973) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

pop singer, most active from the 1930s to 1950s. He was nicknamed the Canadian Crosby, due to his supposed vocal similarity to

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

, and was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Early years

Todd sang in school programs as early as age 6. When he was 14, he worked as a log driver in a

lumber camp A logging camp (or lumber camp) is a transitory work site used in the logging industry. Before the second half of the 20th century, these camps were the primary place where lumberjacks would live and work to fell trees in a particular area. Many ...

. His public schooling came at

Macdonald Campus The Macdonald Campus of McGill University (commonly referred to as the ‘Mac Campus’ or simply ’Mac’) houses McGill's Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (FAES), which includes the Institute of Parasitology, the School of Huma ...

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

and went on to study engineering at McGill. where he also played football. (Another source says that he was a music major at McGill.)

Radio

Todd sang on a radio program in Canada in 1933. After he came to the United States in 1938 to sing on broadcasts of Larry Clinton's orchestra, Todd became a favourite with radio listeners across the country. During 1944–1945, Todd spent a year on a

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

tour, entertaining troops during World War II. He returned to network radio July 28, 1945, on ''

Your Hit Parade ''Your Hit Parade'' was an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1953 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During its 24-year r ...

'', replacing

Lawrence Tibbett Lawrence Mervil Tibbett (November 16, 1896 – July 15, 1960) was an American opera singer and recording artist who also performed as a film actor and radio personality. A baritone, he sang leading roles with the Metropolitan Opera in New York ...

as the featured male singer, counterpart to Joan Edwards. He was a soloist on programs such as ''Melody and Madness'', ''

Avalon Time ''Avalon Time'' is an American old-time radio comedy/variety program that ran from 1938 to 1940 on NBC's Red Network. The program was named after its sponsor, Avalon cigarettes. Over the course of its run, ''Avalon Time'' was also sponsored by Si ...

'', ''Rinso-Spry Vaudeville Theatre'',DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 264. ''Hometown Incorporated'', and ''Show Boat''.

Recording

In the late 1930s, Todd signed a contract with

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

to record for the company's

Bluebird Records Bluebird Records is a record label best known for its low-cost releases, primarily of kids' music, blues and jazz in the 1930s and 1940s. It was founded in 1932 as a lower-priced RCA Victor subsidiary label of RCA Victor. Bluebird became known ...

label. During his career he recorded such hits as "

You're the Only Star in My Blue Heaven Starting as the B-side of Gene Autry's " Mexicali Rose", penned by Autry, 'You're the Only Star in My Blue Heaven' was also popular in Hillbilly jukeboxes and radios in the mid-late 1930s. After the Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. (CBS) purcha ...

", "It's A Hap-Hap-Happy Day" and "Blue Orchids". In a 1940 magazine article, a writer commented, "He has the heaviest record-making schedule of any singer in the country."

Film

Todd "made a couple of short features for

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

References

External links

Dick Todd on Last.FmDick Todd at AOL MusicDick Todd at The Canadian EncyclopediaDick Todd featured in Radio and Television Mirror, January 1942
{{DEFAULTSORT:Todd, Dick 1914 births 1973 deaths 20th-century Canadian male singers Anglophone Quebec people Bluebird Records artists Canadian pop singers Crooners Singers from Montreal McGill University Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences alumni McGill University Faculty of Engineering alumni Canadian expatriates in the United States