John Walker Hundley (born July 4, 1899, Hightstown, New Jersey – died April 17, 1990,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

) was an American musical comedy actor, singer, and, later, a CBS television executive. Hundley was the namesake of his grandfather, the Reverend John Walker Hundley (1841–1914), a well known Baptist Minister in Virginia. On the Broadway stage, Hundley performed in musical comedies in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1929, he took over as the leading man for the Broadway premiere of ''Polly'', a musical based on the 1917 hit comedy '' Polly With a Past''. He supplanted Archie Leach, later better known as

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...

, who had played the role in the out-of-town try-outs. In ''Spring Is Here'' (1929, score by

Rodgers and Hart Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership between composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and the lyricist Lorenz Hart (1895–1943). They worked together on 28 stage musicals and more than 500 songs from 1919 until Hart' ...

), he introduced the well known number " With a Song in My Heart". Hundley joined CBS Television in 1938. He rose from network announcer to various executive positions in programming and sales, including a stint as editor of "program practices", i.e., program censorship: in the era of live television, he would screen certain performers for sobriety and verify that necklines of women's dresses conformed to CBS standards. He lived at 168

East 74th Street 74th Street is an east–west street carrying pedestrian traffic and eastbound automotive/bicycle traffic in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs through the Upper East Side neighborhood (in ZIP code 10021, where it is known as East ...

, in Manhattan, New York City.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hundley, John 1899 births 1990 deaths American television executives American male musical theatre actors People from Hightstown, New Jersey Male actors from New Jersey 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers Members of The Lambs Club.