Buddy Rogers (actor)
| Charles "Buddy" Rogers | |
|---|---|
Rogers in 1929
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| Born |
Charles Edward Rogers August 13, 1904 Olathe, Kansas, U.S. |
| Died | April 21, 1999 (aged 94) Rancho Mirage, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor, musician |
| Years active | 1926–1968 |
| Spouse(s) |
Mary Pickford (m. 1937; her death 1979) Beverly Ricondo (m. 1981; his death 1999) |
Charles Edward “Buddy” Rogers (August 13, 1904 – April 21, 1999) was an American film actor and musician. During the peak of his popularity in the late 1920s and early 1930s he was publicized as "America's Boy Friend".
Rogers was born to Maude and Bert Henry Rogers in Olathe, Kansas. He studied at the University of Kansas where he became an active member of Phi Kappa Psi. In the mid-1920s he began acting professionally in Hollywood films. A talented trombonist skilled on several other musical instruments, Rogers performed with his own dance band in motion pictures and on radio. During World War II, he served in the United States Navy as a flight training instructor.
According to American Dance Bands On Record and Film (1915–1942), compiled by Richard J. Johnson and Bernard H. Shirley (Rustbooks Publishing, 2010), Rogers was not a bandleader in the usual sense of the term. Instead, he was a film actor who fronted a band for publicity purposes. His later bands were organized by Milt Shaw. In 1930, he recorded two records for Columbia as a solo singer with a small jazz band accompanying. In 1932, he signed with Victor and recorded four sweet dance band records. In 1938, he signed with Vocalion and recorded six swing records (see discography below).
Nicknamed "Buddy", his most remembered performance in film was opposite Clara Bow in the 1927 Academy Award winning Wings, the first film ever honored as Best Picture. In 1968, he appeared as himself in an episode of Petticoat Junction entitled "Wings", a direct reference to the silent movie.
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