Hubert Prior Vallée (July 28, 1901
– July 3, 1986), known professionally as Rudy Vallée, was an American singer, musician, actor, and radio host. He was one of the first modern pop stars of the
teen idol
A teen idol is a celebrity with a large teenage fan base. Teen idols are generally young but are not necessarily teenagers. An idol's popularity may be limited to teens, or may extend to all age groups.
By region Asia
East Asia possess ...
type.
Early life
Hubert Prior Vallée was born in
Island Pond, Vermont
Island Pond is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Brighton in Essex County, Vermont, United States. The population was 750 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Berlin, NH–VT Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Geography
Islan ...
, United States, on July 28, 1901,
the son of Catherine Lynch and Charles Alphonse Vallée. His maternal grandparents were English and Irish, while his paternal grandparents were French-Canadians from
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...
. Vallée grew up in
Westbrook, Maine
Westbrook is a city in Cumberland County, Maine, United States and a suburb of Portland. The population was 20,400 at the 2020 census, making it the fastest-growing city in Maine between 2010 and 2020. It is part of the Portland– South Portla ...
. On March 29, 1917, he enlisted to fight in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, but was discharged when
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
authorities discovered he was only 15 years old. He had enlisted in
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...
, under the false birth date of July 28, 1899. He was discharged at the Naval Training Station in
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...
, on May 17, 1917, after 41 days of active service.
Career
Music
After playing drums in his high school band, Vallée played clarinet and saxophone in bands around New England as a teenager. From 1924 to 1925, he played with the
Savoy Havana Band
The Savoy Havana Band was a British dance band of the 1920s. It was resident at the Savoy Hotel, London, between 1921 and 1927.
History
The band was formed by the American saxophonist Bert Ralton (''aka'' Bert Louis Ralton; ''né'' Albert Lewis ...
at the
Savoy Hotel
The Savoy Hotel is a luxury hotel located in the Strand in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Built by the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan opera productions, it opened on 6 August ...
in London, where band members discouraged his attempts to become a vocalist. He returned to the United States, briefly attending the
University of Maine
The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a public land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the flagship university of the University of Maine System. It is classifie ...
. He received a degree in philosophy from
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
, where he played in the Yale Collegians with
Peter Arno, who became a cartoonist for ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' magazine.
After graduation, he formed Rudy Vallée and the Connecticut Yankees, having named himself after saxophonist
Rudy Wiedoeft. With this band (formed in 1928), which included two violins, two saxophones, a piano, a banjo, and drums, he started singing. He had a thin, wavering
tenor voice and seemed more at home singing sweet ballads than
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
songs. But his singing, suave manner, and boyish good looks attracted attention, especially from young women.
Vallée was given a
recording contract
A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...
, and in 1928 he started performing on the radio, first at New York station WABC, leading his Yale Collegians Orchestra, and then on WEAF and the NBC Red Network beginning in February 1929.
He became one of the first
crooner
Crooner is a term used to describe primarily male singers who performed using a smooth style made possible by better microphones which picked up quieter sounds and a wider range of frequencies, allowing the singer to access a more dynamic range ...
s.
Singers needed strong voices to fill theaters in the days before microphones. Crooners had soft voices that were suited to the intimacy of radio; the microphones, in this case, promoted direct access to "a vulnerable and sensuous interior," or in other words, "a conjured intimacy". Vallée's trombone-like vocal phrasing on "Deep Night" would inspire
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 ...
,
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...
, and
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signin ...
to model their voices on jazz instruments.
Vallée was one of the first celebrity pop stars.
Flappers pursued him wherever he went.
His live appearances were usually sold out. Contrary to popular belief, he did not have screaming girls at his appearances. However, his voice still failed to project in venues without microphones and amplification, so he often sang through a megaphone. A caricature of him singing this way was depicted in the Betty Boop cartoon ''
Poor Cinderella
''Poor Cinderella'' (original title as ''Betty Boop in Poor Cinderella'') is a 1934 Fleischer Studios animated short film featuring Betty Boop. ''Poor Cinderella'' was Fleischer Studios' first color film, and the only appearance of Betty Boop in ...
'' (1934). Another caricature is in ''
Crosby, Columbo, and Vallee,'' which parodies him, Bing Crosby, and
Russ Columbo
Ruggiero Eugenio di Rodolfo Colombo (January 14, 1908 – September 2, 1934), known as Russ Columbo, was an American baritone, songwriter, violinist and actor. He is famous for romantic ballads such as his signature tune "You Call It Madness ...
.
In the words of a magazine writer in 1929,
At the microphone he is truly a romantic figure. Faultlessly attired in evening dress, he pours softly into the radio's delicate ear a stream of mellifluous melody. He appears to be coaxing, pleading and at the same time adoring the invisible one to whom his song is attuned.
Vallée had his share of detractors as well as fans when his popularity was at its height. ''Radio Revue,'' a radio
fan magazine
A fan magazine is a commercially written and published magazine intended for the amusement of fans of the popular culture subject matter which it covers. It is distinguished from a scholarly, literary or trade magazine on the one hand, by the ta ...
, held a contest in which people wrote letters explaining his success. The winning letter, written by a man who disliked Vallée's music, said, "Rudy Vallee is reaping the harvest of a seed that is seldom sown this day and age: LOVE. The good-looking little son-of-a-gun really and honestly LOVES his audience and his art. He LOVES to please listeners—LOVES it more than he does his name in the big lights, his mug in the papers. He loved all those unseen women as passionately as a voice can love, long before they began to purr and to caress him with two-cent stamps."
Vallée made his first records in 1928 for
Columbia
Columbia may refer to:
* Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America
Places North America Natural features
* Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...
's low-priced labels
Harmony
In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. Howeve ...
,
Velvet Tone, and
Diva
Diva (; ) is the Latin word for a goddess. It has often been used to refer to a celebrated woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, theatre, cinema, fashion and popular music. If referring to an actress, the meaning of ''diva'' is cl ...
. He signed to
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 A ...
in February 1929 and remained with the company through 1931, leaving after a heated dispute with executives over song selections. He then recorded for the short-lived
Hit of the Week label which sold rather poor quality records laminated onto a cardboard base. In August 1932, he signed with Columbia and remained with the label through 1933. Vallée returned to RCA Victor in June 1933; his records were initially issued on Victor's low-priced
Bluebird
The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas.
...
label until November 1933, when he was back on the standard Victor label. He remained with RCA Victor until signing with
ARC in 1936. ARC issued his records on the
Perfect,
Melotone,
Conqueror and
Romeo
Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a priest ...
labels until 1937, when he again returned to RCA Victor.
With his group the Connecticut Yankees, Vallée's best-known recordings include "
The Stein Song" (a.k.a. University of Maine school song) in 1929 and "Vieni, Vieni" in the latter 1930s.
His last hit record was a reissue of "
As Time Goes By", popularized in the 1942 film ''
Casablanca
Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...
''. Due to the
1942-44 AFM recording ban, RCA Victor reissued the version he had recorded in 1931.
During World War II, he enlisted in the
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, m ...
to help direct the 11th district Coast Guard band as a
Chief Petty Officer
A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards.
Canada
"Chief petty officer" refers to two ranks in the Royal Canadian Navy. A chief petty officer 2nd class (CPO2) (''premier maître de deuxiè ...
. He was promoted to Lieutenant and led the 40 piece band to great success. In 1944, he was placed on the inactive list and returned to radio.
According to
George P. Oslin, Vallée on July 28, 1933, was the recipient of the first
singing telegram. A fan telegraphed birthday greetings, and Oslin had the operator sing "
Happy Birthday to You
"Happy Birthday to You", also known as "Happy Birthday", is a song traditionally sung to celebrate a person's birthday. According to the 1998 ''Guinness World Records'', it is the most recognised song in the English language, followed by " Fo ...
".
Radio and film
In 1929, Vallée began hosting ''
The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour'', a popular radio show with guests such as
Fay Wray
Vina Fay Wray (September 15, 1907 – August 8, 2004) was a Canadian/American actress best known for starring as Ann Darrow in the 1933 film ''King Kong''. Through an acting career that spanned nearly six decades, Wray attained international r ...
and
Richard Cromwell
Richard Cromwell (4 October 162612 July 1712) was an English statesman who was the second and last Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland and son of the first Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell.
On his father's deat ...
in dramatic skits. Vallée continued hosting radio shows such as the Royal Gelatin Hour, Vallee Varieties, and The Rudy Vallee Show through the 1930s and 1940s.
When Vallée took his contractual vacations from his national
radio show
A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode.
Radio netwo ...
in 1937, he insisted his sponsor hire
Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and Singing, vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and se ...
as his substitute. This was the first instance of an African-American hosting a national radio program. Vallée wrote the introduction for Armstrong's 1936 book ''Swing That Music''.
In 1929, Vallée made his first feature film, ''
The Vagabond Lover'', for
RKO Radio
RKO General, Inc. (previously General Teleradio, RKO Teleradio Pictures, and RKO Teleradio) was, from 1952 through 1991, the main holding company for the noncore businesses of the General Tire and Rubber Company and, after General Tire's reorganiz ...
. His first films were made to cash in on his singing popularity. While his initial performances were rather wooden, his acting greatly improved in the late 1930s and 1940s, and by the time he began working with
Preston Sturges
Preston Sturges (; born Edmund Preston Biden; August 29, 1898 – August 6, 1959) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and film director. In 1941, he won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the film '' The Great McGinty'' (1940), h ...
in the 1940s, he had become a successful comedic supporting player. He appeared opposite
Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert ( ; born Émilie Claudette Chauchoin; September 13, 1903July 30, 1996) was an American actress. Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the late 1920s and progressed to films with the advent of talking pictures ...
in Sturges's 1942
screwball comedy
Screwball comedy is a subgenre of the romantic comedy genre that became popular during the Great Depression, beginning in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1940s, that satirizes the traditional love story. It has secondary characteristi ...
''
The Palm Beach Story''. Other films in which he appeared include ''
I Remember Mama'', ''
Unfaithfully Yours'' and ''
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer''.
In 1955, Vallée was featured in ''
Gentlemen Marry Brunettes'', co-starring
Jane Russell,
Alan Young
Alan Young (born Angus Young; November 19, 1919 – May 19, 2016) was a British, Canadian and American actor, comedian, radio host and television host, whom ''TV Guide'' called "the Charlie Chaplin of television". His notable roles includ ...
, and
Jeanne Crain. The production was filmed on location in Paris. The film was based on the
Anita Loos
Corinne Anita Loos (April 26, 1888 – August 18, 1981) was an American actress, novelist, playwright and screenwriter. In 1912, she became the first female staff screenwriter in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood, when D. W. Griffith put h ...
novel that was a sequel to her acclaimed ''
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes''. ''Gentlemen Marry Brunettes'' was popular throughout Europe at the time and was released in France as ''A Paris Pour les Quatre'' ''("Paris for the Four")'', and in Belgium as ''Tevieren Te Parijs.''
Vallée performed on Broadway as J.B. Biggley in the 1961 musical ''
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'' may refer to:
* ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'' (book), a 1952 book written by Shepherd Mead and the inspiration for the musical of the same name.
* ''How to Succeed in Bu ...
'' and reprised the role in
the 1967 film version.
He appeared in the 1960s ''
Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939. I ...
'' television show as the villain Lord Marmaduke Ffogg and in 1971 as a vindictive surgeon in the ''
Night Gallery
''Night Gallery'' is an American anthology television series that aired on NBC from December 16, 1970, to May 27, 1973, featuring stories of horror and the macabre. Rod Serling, who had gained fame from an earlier series, ''The Twilight Zone ...
'' episode "Marmalade Wine".
Vallee-Video
From 1948 to 1952, Vallée owned Vallee-Video, a television production company formed in the early days of national TV broadcasts. The company was incorporated on April 3, 1948. Vallée made
16mm film
16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, ed ...
shorts for television, including ''These Foolish Things'' and ''Under a Campus Moon'', in which he appeared himself.
Ed Wynn
Isaiah Edwin Leopold (November 9, 1886 – June 19, 1966), better known as Ed Wynn, was an American actor and comedian. He was noted for his ''Perfect Fool'' comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the 1930s, and his later career as a d ...
,
Pinky Lee
Pincus Leff (May 2, 1907 – April 3, 1993), better known as Pinky Lee, was an American burlesque comic and host of the children's television program ''The Pinky Lee Show'' in the early 1950s.
Biography
Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Lee got hi ...
,
Buddy Lester
Buddy Lester (born William Goldberg, January 16, 1915 – October 4, 2002) was an American actor and comedian who portrayed dozens of character roles in films and television. Although known for his appearances in Jerry Lewis’ comedy films, he w ...
and Cyril Smith also appeared in Vallee-Video productions.
In 1949, Vallee-Video produced one of the first cartoon shows on television, ''
Tele-Comics''.
Vallee-Video's breakthrough in 1952 would have been a 15-minute television show based on the ''
Dick Tracy
''Dick Tracy'' is an American comic strip featuring Dick Tracy (character), Dick Tracy (originally Plainclothes Tracy), a tough and intelligent police detective created by Chester Gould. It made its debut on Sunday, October 4, 1931, in the ''De ...
'' comic strip starring Vallée's friend
Ralph Byrd, who played the character in four successful
''Dick Tracy'' theatrical serials from 1937 to 1941. Vallée sold the show as a pilot to
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
. Vallée and Byrd also worked on a proposed radio show based on the comic strip ''
Hawkshaw the Detective
Hawkshaw the Detective was a comic strip character featured in an eponymous cartoon serial by Gus Mager from February 23, 1913, to November 12, 1922, and again from December 13, 1931, to 1952. (The revival was a topper to '' The Captain and the ...
''.
Unfortunately, Byrd died in August 1952, bringing the ''Dick Tracy'' production to a halt, and spelling the end for Vallee-Video.
[
]
Personal life
Vallée was married four times. He married Jane Greer on December 2, 1943, in Hollywood, but they separated after three months and divorced on July 27, 1944. His last wife, Eleanor, wrote a memoir called ''My Vagabond Lover''.
Always loyal to Yale University, Vallée never forgot his Maine roots, and maintained an estate at Kezar Lake.
NBC announcer George Ansbro
George Ansbro (January 14, 1915 – November 5, 2011) was a radio announcer for NBC and ABC for six decades, working with soap operas, big bands, quiz shows and other programs.
Early years
Ansbro was born January 14, 1915, in Brooklyn, New ...
wrote in his memoir that Vallée "had quite a temper and a very foul mouth... almost always the butt of his nastiness was the orchestra... his outbursts were mean-spirited, and he didn't care who overheard". Alton Cook, however, wrote, "Vallée may be fuming at his orchestra, but a Vallée hour rehearsal never quite loses its air of being a gathering of old friends... Rudy is grimly serious about rehearsal. He sometimes has his band spend a quarter-hour going over one short passage that doesn't satisfy him. On those occasions his temper wears thin..."
During his divorce from his second wife, Fay Webb, she alleged that "Vallée is possessed of a violent, vicious, and ungovernable temper, and given to the use of blasphemy and the use of intemperate, vile, and vituperative language, particularly when applied to er. She accused him of committing adultery with three women, including actress Alice Faye
Alice Faye (born Alice Jeanne Leppert; May 5, 1915 – May 9, 1998) was an American actress and singer. A musical star of 20th Century-Fox in the 1930s and 1940s, Faye starred in such films as ''On the Avenue'' (1937) and ''Alexander's Ragtime B ...
. Vallée denied the allegations, and the judge found him "not guilty of any misconduct or maltreatment of Webb which detrimentally affected her health, physical or medical condition".
Vallée got into a fist fight with producer George White on the set of the 1934 film ''George White's Scandals
''George White's Scandals'' were a long-running string of Broadway revues produced by George White that ran from 1919–1939, modeled after the ''Ziegfeld Follies''. The "Scandals" launched the careers of many entertainers, including W. C. F ...
''. Dorothy Brooks wrote in 1936, "Other stars on the air have their troubles, their disagreements, and yet you don't read about their ending in black eyes. Only Rudy Vallee seems to figure in endings of this kind." In an interview with Brooks, Vallée claimed he found fighting "savage and stupid" and "the wrong way to try to solve problems, because it never solves them". When asked why he got into fights, he replied, "I just lost my temper. I'll admit I have a too-quick temper."
Vallée died of cancer at his home on July 3, 1986, while watching the televised centennial ceremonies of the restored Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the United States. The copper statue, ...
. His wife Eleanor said that his last words were, "I wish we could be there; you know how I love a party."
Legacy
In 1995, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by lan ...
, Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.
For his work in radio, Vallée was inducted into the Vermont Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2011.
Discography
Filmography
Gallery
Illustrations
File:Rudy Vallee and Rolf Armstrong.jpg, In the process of being painted by Rolf Armstrong
Rolf Armstrong (April 21, 1889 – February 22, 1960) was an American commercial artist specializing in glamorous depictions of female subjects. He is best known for his magazine covers and calendar art. In 1960 the New York Times dubbed him th ...
on November 21, 1929
File:Rudy Vallee by Rolf Armstrong.jpg, Painted by Rolf Armstrong on November 21, 1929
File:Rudy Vallee Caricature.jpg, 1929 caricature from ''Radio Revue''
File:Rudy Vallée - Photoplay, June 1930.jpg, 1930 caricature from ''Photoplay
''Photoplay'' was one of the first American film (another name for ''photoplay'') fan magazines. It was founded in 1911 in Chicago, the same year that J. Stuart Blackton founded '' Motion Picture Story,'' a magazine also directed at fans. For mo ...
''
File:1930 Old Gold Cigarettes ad - Rudy Vallée.jpg, Advertisement for Old Gold Cigarettes with a fabricated biography
File:Rudy Vallee caricature from Crosby, Columbo, and Vallee.PNG, Caricature in the 1932 Merrie Melodies
''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 1970s to the ...
cartoon '' Crosby, Columbo, and Vallee''; note the megaphone and the curl in his hair
File:Rudy Vallee caricature.png, Caricature in the 1934 Betty Boop
Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick.Pointer (2017) She originally appeared in the ''Talkartoon'' and ''Betty Boop'' film series, which were produced by Fleisc ...
cartoon ''Poor Cinderella
''Poor Cinderella'' (original title as ''Betty Boop in Poor Cinderella'') is a 1934 Fleischer Studios animated short film featuring Betty Boop. ''Poor Cinderella'' was Fleischer Studios' first color film, and the only appearance of Betty Boop in ...
''
Magazine covers
File:Radio Revue, Dec. 1929.jpg, ''Radio Revue,'' December 1929
File:Rudy Vallée on the Cover of Radio Guide, 1933.jpg, ''Radio Guide,'' April 16–22, 1933
File:Radio Stars, May 1933.jpg, ''Radio Stars,'' May 1933
File:Radio Mirror, December 1934.jpg, ''Radio Mirror,'' December 1934
File:Radio Stars, May 1936.jpg, ''Radio Stars,'' May 1936
Videos
File:Kitty From Kansas City (1931).webm, thumbtime=212, start=212, end=333, ''Kitty from Kansas City'' (1931)
See also
* Vallee Family House, a house listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in Westbrook, Maine
References
Bibliography
* Walker, Leo. (1976) ''"The Wonderful Era of the Great Dance Bands"''
Further reading
*
External links
Official site
at the American Radio Archive the Thousand Oaks Library
Virtual History
* A collection of rare aluminum transcription discs of some of Vallée's radio broadcasts is housed in th
Great American Songbook Foundation archives
Grave
*
*
*
Rudy Vallée recordings
at the Discography of American Historical Recordings
The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...
.
Media
''The Royal Desserts Hour'' with Rudy Vallée (May 5, 1938) (one hour in)
Recordings on Standard Labels
at the Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
Recordings on Discount Labels
at the Internet Archive
More recordings
(including unreleased personal recordings) at the Internet Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vallee, Rudy
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Articles containing video clips
Deaths from cancer in California
Big band bandleaders
Singers from Vermont
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