Raymond Antonini (born January 20, 1922), known as Ray Anthony, is an American

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues o ...

, trumpeter, songwriter, and actor. He is the last surviving member of the

Glenn Miller Orchestra Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was an American swing dance band formed by Glenn Miller in 1938. Arranged around a clarinet and tenor saxophone playing melody, and three other saxophones playing harmony, the band became the most popular and com ...

Biography

Anthony was born to an Italian family in

Bentleyville, Pennsylvania Bentleyville is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States and has been part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area since 1950. The population was 2,349 at the 2020 census. History A post office called Bentleyville has been in o ...

, but moved with his family to Cleveland, Ohio, where he studied the trumpet. He played in

Glenn Miller Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the US Army Air Forc ...

's band from 1940 to 1941 and appeared in the Glenn Miller movie '' Sun Valley Serenade'' before joining the

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 ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. After the war he formed his own group. The Ray Anthony Orchestra became popular in the early 1950s with " The Bunny Hop", " Hokey Pokey", and the theme from '' Dragnet''.Wynn, Ron
Ray Anthony Biography
,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

, retrieved 2011-06-17 He had a No. 2 chart hit with a recording of the tune "

At Last "At Last" is a song written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren for the musical film '' Sun Valley Serenade'' (1941). Glenn Miller and his orchestra recorded the tune several times, with a 1942 version reaching number two on the US ''Billboard'' po ...

" in 1952; it was the highest charting pop version of the song in the U.S. His 1962 recording 'Worried Mind' received considerable radio airplay. In 1953, Anthony and his orchestra were featured when

Helen O'Connell Helen O'Connell (May 23, 1920 – September 9, 1993) was an American singer, actress, and hostess, described as "the quintessential big band singer of the 1940s". Early life Born in Lima, Ohio, O'Connell grew up in Toledo, Ohio. By the time ...

and Bob Eberly headlined a summer replacement program for

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 ...

's CBS television show. From 1953 to 1954, Anthony was musical director of the television series ''TV's Top Tunes'', and he also appeared as himself in the 1955 film '' Daddy Long Legs''. In 1955 he married actress

Mamie Van Doren Mamie Van Doren (born Joan Lucille Olander; February 6, 1931) is an American actress, singer, and sex symbol. She is perhaps best known for the rock 'n' roll, juvenile delinquency exploitation film '' Untamed Youth'' (1957). Early life Van ...

. Their son Perry Ray was born on March 18, 1956. Anthony then began expanding his acting career.Mamie van Doren, Ray Anthony Wed
, '' Lewiston Daily Sun'', August 30, 1955, p. 11, retrieved 2011-06-17 In 1956–1957 he starred in a short-lived television variety show, ''The Ray Anthony Show''. Anthony also appeared in several films during the late 1950s, including '' The Five Pennies'' (in which he portrayed

Jimmy Dorsey James Francis Dorsey (February 29, 1904 – June 12, 1957) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards " I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary Peop ...

), and Van Doren's movies '' High School Confidential'' (as "Bix") and '' Girls Town''. In the 1959–1960 television season, he guest-starred in the episode "Operation Ramrod" of David Hedison's

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tang ...

series '' Five Fingers'' on

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 ...

. Anthony and his band appeared in the movie '' The Girl Can't Help It'' (1956). In 1957, Anthony and his orchestra recorded the music score for the film '' This Could Be The Night'', with vocals performed by Julie Wilson. After Van Doren filed for divorce in 1958, citing "cruelty",Divorce Sought
, ''

Spokane Daily Chronicle The ''Spokane Daily Chronicle'' is a daily digital newspaper in Spokane, Washington. It was founded as a weekly paper in 1881 and grew into an afternoon daily, competing with ''The Spokesman-Review'', which was formed from the merger of two comp ...

'', September 9, 1958, p. 8, retrieved 2011-06-17 they finally divorced in 1961,"Mamie Van Doren Granted Divorce", ''

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...

'', March 23, 1960, p. 5 and Anthony's brief film career ended at about the same time. However, he continued his musical career and had another hit record with the theme from ''

Peter Gunn ''Peter Gunn'' is an American private eye television series, starring Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn with Lola Albright as his girlfriend, Edie Hart. The series aired on NBC from September 22, 1958, to 1960 and on ABC in 1960–1961. The seri ...

'', which reached No. 8 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online stream ...

pop chart. The B-side of the single hit "Peter Gun theme" contains the Norwegian song " Tango For two" written by

Bjarne Amdahl Bjarne Fredrik Berg Amdahl (17 August 190314 April 1968) was a Norwegian pianist, composer and orchestra conductor. Personal life Amdahl was born to Seddeltrykkeriet (banknote printers) chairman Hans Amdahl (1875–1945) and Gyda Sawert (1877� ...

and

Alf Prøysen Alf Prøysen () (23 July 1914 – 23 November 1970) was a Norwegian author, poet, playwright, songwriter and musician. Prøysen was one of the most important Norwegian cultural personalities in the second half of the 20th century. He worke ...

. "Tango for two` became one of the most requested songs on

Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...

in 1958. At the end the radio DJ's became so tired of playing the song that they smashed the record. Among his pianists was Allen "Puddler" Harris, a native of

Franklin Parish Franklin Parish (french: Paroisse de Franklin) is a parish located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 20,767. The parish seat is Winnsboro. The parish was founded in 1843 and ...

, Louisiana, who had been a member of the original

Ricky Nelson Eric Hilliard Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) was an American musician, songwriter and actor. From age eight he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet''. In 1957, he bega ...

band, and Kellie Greene, who also played the

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist ...

. Anthony's compositions include "Thunderbird", "The Bunny Hop", "Trumpet Boogie", "Big Band Boogie", and "Mr. Anthony's Boogie". Anthony was considered one of the most modern

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

leaders. In the lyrics to " Opus One", which imagine a number of players performing the song, he is cited along with Les Brown and his Band of Renown: :''If Mr. Les Brown can make it renowned'' :''And Ray Anthony could rock it for me'' He turned 100 on January 20, 2022.

Later career

In the early 1980s, Anthony formed Big Band '80s, with other members of the band including

Buddy Rich Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer, songwriter, conductor, and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, ...

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...

, Les Brown, and

Alvino Rey Alvin McBurney (July 1, 1908 – February 24, 2004), known by his stage name Alvino Rey, was an American jazz guitarist and bandleader. Career Alvin McBurney was born in Oakland, California, United States, but grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. Early i ...

.Arar, Yardena (1981)
Ray Anthony: Bandleader Anthony Foresees Big Bands Supplanting Disco
, ''

Merced Sun-Star The ''Merced Sun-Star'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper printed in Merced, California, in the United States. It has an estimated circulation of 20,000 copies. The newspaper is published every day except for Sundays. History The ''Merced Sun-Star ...

'', February 3, 1981, p. 19, retrieved 2011-06-17 Anthony, who has been honored with a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...

, continues to be active as a bandleader and musician. His later works tended to break away from the Big Band jazz style of his earlier days, ranging from MOR and lounge music to blues, film and television themes. Ray Anthony was a close friend of the late

Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles which provoked charges of obsc ...

, and he has appeared in numerous episodes of ''

The Girls Next Door ''The Girls Next Door'' (also known as ''The Girls of the Playboy Mansion'') is a reality television series which focuses on the lives of Hugh Hefner's girlfriends who live with him at the Playboy Mansion. The series was created by executive pr ...

''.

Selected discography

References

External links

Ray Anthony Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2008) *

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Anthony, Ray 1922 births 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century trumpeters Ace Records (United States) artists American centenarians American jazz bandleaders American jazz trumpeters American male film actors American male jazz musicians American male television actors American male trumpeters American music arrangers Big band bandleaders Capitol Records artists Glenn Miller Orchestra members Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania Living people Men centenarians Military personnel from Pennsylvania Musicians from Pittsburgh People from Bentleyville, Pennsylvania Singers from Pennsylvania United States Navy personnel of World War II