Roy Landman (March 27, 1914 – July 2, 1990),DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 159. better known as Snooky Lanson, was an American singer known for co-starring on the NBC

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

'' Your Hit Parade''.

Life

Born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, Lanson was a band singer with

Francis Craig Francis Craig (September 10, 1900 – November 19, 1966) was an American songwriter, honky tonk piano player, and leader of a Nashville dance band. His works included " Dynamite" and "Near You", the latter being the first Billboard #1 hit out of ...

's dance band in the late 1930s. He became a singing star when major bandleader

Ray Noble Raymond Stanley Noble (17 December 1903 – 2 April 1978) was an English jazz and big band musician, who was a bandleader, composer and arranger, as well as a radio host, television and film comedian and actor; he also performed in the United ...

hired him as his orchestra's "boy singer"; Noble and Lanson appear together in three Soundies musical films produced in 1941. Lanson made additional Soundies as a solo artist in 1944. On radio, Lanson was featured on ''Appointment with Music'',Terrace, Vincent (1999). ''Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 26. ''The Saturday Showcase'', and ''Sunday Night Serenade''. NBC's popular ''Your Hit Parade'' radio programs featured

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

, who left the series in 1950. Snooky Lanson was chosen to replace him, and Lanson became one of America's first TV stars when ''Your Hit Parade'' came to television in July 1950.Terrace, Vincent (2011). ''Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 1209. Lanson remained with the series through 1957. Floor manager (and future children's television host) Fred Rogers said that Lanson often played craps behind the set with the stagehands until it was his turn to perform. In 1956, Lanson starred in ''The Snooky Lanson Show'', a variety program on NBC-TV. After ''Hit Parade'' ended, he performed in nightclubs and on local television shows in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

and

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population o ...

, Louisiana. He guest-starred in 1958 on ''The Gisele MacKenzie Show'', MacKenzie having been a co-star with Lanson on ''Hit Parade''. In 1961, he was one of five rotating hosts on the NBC-TV program '' Five Star Jubilee''. In January 1960, Crossroads TV Productions videotaped a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

for a proposed pop music-variety series called ''Snooky Lanson Time.'' Guests were Brenda Lee, the

Anita Kerr Anita Jean Kerr (née Grilli, October 13, 1927 – October 10, 2022) was an American singer, arranger, composer, conductor, pianist, and music producer. She recorded and performed with her vocal harmony groups in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Eur ...

Singers,

Betty Ann Grove Betty Ann Grove (September 9, 1929 – November 13, 2015) was an American actress and singer. Early years Grove was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her mother was "an exhibition ballroom dancer" who performed with Ray Bolger and Jack Haley, a ...

and Paul Mitchell's instrumental combo."Plan New TV Series for Lanson" (January 25, 1960), ''

The Billboard The Billboard () is a massive granite monolith in the Sarnoff Mountains of the Ford Ranges of Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica, standing just west of Mount Rea between Arthur Glacier and Boyd Glacier. It was discovered in November 1934 by a Secon ...

'', p. 12 From 1967 on he lived in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, where he sang at tea dances and similar functions, had a syndicated radio show that played big-band music, and sold cars and outdoor advertising. He later reunited with several of his ''Your Hit Parade'' co-stars on '' Family Feud'', as part of a 1983 celebrity week saluting "TV's All-Time Favorites". Lanson died in 1990 at age 76 in New York. He was survived by his widow, Florence, a daughter, two sons, and eight grandchildren.

Notes

References

*"Plan New TV Series for Lanson" (January 25, 1960), ''

'', p. 12

External links

*
''New York Times'' obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lanson, Snooky Big band singers American television personalities American male pop singers Bell Records artists Starday Records artists Tennessee Records artists 1914 births 1990 deaths People from Memphis, Tennessee 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers American male jazz musicians