Victor Arden was the stage name for an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

pianist named Lewis John Fuiks (8 March 1893 — 31 July 1962)DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 14-15. who was best known as the piano duo partner of and co-orchestra leader with

Phil Ohman Phil Ohman (October 7, 1896 – August 8, 1954) was an American film composer and pianist. He is most well known for his collaboration with fellow musician Victor Arden. Biography Ohman was born Fillmore Wellington Ohman in New Britain, Conne ...

from 1922 to 1932. He was the pianist in the

All-Star Trio The All-Star Trio or All Star Trio was a musical ensemble consisting of George Hamilton Green on the xylophone along with Frank Banta or Victor Arden on the piano and F. Wheeler Wadsworth on the saxophone. It was among the most popular musical ...

, who made several hits for

Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidi ...

between 1919 and 1921.

Early years

Arden was born March 8, 1893, in

Wenona, Illinois Wenona is a city in Marshall and LaSalle counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 1,056 at the 2010 census, down from 1,065 in 2000. The Marshall County portion of Wenona is part of the Peoria Metropolitan Statistical Area, wh ...

Radio

In 1935, Arden was described in a newspaper article as "well-known to music lovers and radio listeners." At the time, Arden's orchestra was featured on ''Musical Moments'', which was carried on over 300 stations weekly.

Recording

Before 1920, Arden was making piano rolls to be reproduced on player pianos manufactured by the

American Piano Company American Piano Company (Ampico) was an American piano manufacturer formed in 1908 through the merger of Wm. Knabe & Co., Chickering & Sons, and Foster-Armstrong. They later purchased the Mason & Hamlin piano company as their flagship piano. The ...

Death

Arden died July 31, 1962, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Selected compositions

1909 * ''Safety Pin Catch'' 1918 * ''Just Blue'', also by Frank Wheeler Wadsworth (1889–1929) 1919 * ''In My Dreams'' * ''Lucille'', also by Frank Wheeler Wadsworth (1889–1929) * ''Marilynn'', also by Frank Wheeler Wadsworth (1889–1929) * ''Honeymoon Waltz'', words by Ray Sherwood (born 1895), music by Victor Arden 1920 * ''Hy n' Dry'' * ''Rose of the Orient'', also by Frank Wheeler Wadsworth (1889–1929) &

George Hamilton Green George Hamilton Green Jr. (May 23, 1893 – September 11, 1970) was a xylophonist, composer, and cartoonist born in Omaha, Nebraska. He was born into a musical family, both his grandfather and his father being composers, arrangers, and conductors ...

* ''Dolly, I Love You'', also by Frank Wheeler Wadsworth (1889–1929) & Dick Long * ''Molly'', also by Frank Wheeler Wadsworth (1889–1929) & Dick Long * ''Who Wants a Baby?'', also by

* ''Dottie Dimples'', also by

* ''In Blossom Time'', also by Louis Weslyn (pseudonym for Weslyn Jones) (1884–1937) 1921 * Round the Town'' * ''Hand Painted Doll'', also by

* ''Lonesome Land'', also by

1922 * ''After A While (You're Goin' to Feel Blue)'', also by

& Walter Hirsch (1891–1967) * ''My Sweet Gal'', also by

* ''I'm Happy: Fox Trot'', also by

1930 * ''Dancing the Devil Away'' 1941 * ''Hearts in Harmony'' * ''We'd Rather Die Upon Our Feet Than Live Upon Our Knees'', words by Henry A. Murphy, melody by Joseph Russel Robinson (1892–1963) & Victor Arden * ''Unity'', words by Henry A. Murphy, melody by Joseph Russel Robinson (1892–1963) & Victor Arden * ''Let's Incorporate'', also by Lawrence M. Klee (died 1957)

Education

Arden was a graduate of the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

and studied at the

American Conservatory of Music The American Conservatory of Music (ACM) was a major American school of music founded in Chicago in 1886 by John James Hattstaedt (1851–1931). The conservatory was incorporated as an Illinois non-profit corporation. It developed the Conservator ...

in Chicago.

Family

Arden was married twice. He first married Ilse Alma Spindler (born April 1894) – a 1916 graduate of the

– in Chicago, on May 2, 1917. Lewis and Alma had two sons: Robert Spindler Fuiks (1921–2009)''Obituaries: Robert Spindler Fuiks,''
TCPalm.com, Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group, Stuart, Florida, December 1, 2009 and Lewis John Fuiks Jr. (1919–2004). Victor remarried in the 1950s to Frances Newsom, a classical soprano.

References

External links

William Edwards biography database
Ashburn, Virginia
Robert Perry, piano roll historian

Auckland, New Zealand Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

Victor Arden recordings
at the Discography of American Historical Recordings. {{DEFAULTSORT:Arden, Victor 1893 births 1962 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American pianists American Conservatory of Music alumni American male composers American pop pianists American male pianists 20th-century American male musicians