Rudy Vallee Biography

Fast Facts

• Joined the U․S․ Coast Guard during World War II and served as the bandmaster of the 11th Naval District Coast Guard band
• Attended the University of Maine and Yale University, from which he graduated in 1927
• Started out as an usher and projection machine operator at a movie theater in 1917 before joining a local orchestra as a saxophonist in 1920
• Began playing the drums, piano, and clarinet during his childhood
• During his college years, he performed as a band singer using a megaphone, which would become his trademark, singing songs like "I'm Just a Vagabond Lover" and the "Whiffenpoof Song," a Yale drinking song
• Quote: "The popular songs that were written in the 1920s and '30s, '40s and early '50s were written by veterans - mostly men who'd had experience in life․ How can you write a lyric if you haven't really lived life?"
• Quote: "(On his long and very public career): "I'll be front page news until the day I die․""
• Best known as a singer and bandleader who was one of the first modern pop stars
• Formed a talent agency and two music publishing companies during the 1930s, producing a number of hit songs like "Good Night Sweetheart" and "Springtime in the Rockies․"
• Started his first band, an eight-piece that later became known as the Connecticut Yankees, in 1928 and began performing at the Heigh-Ho Club in New York