Florian ZaBach | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Born |
Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
August 15, 1918
Origin | United States |
Died | February 25, 2006 Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
(aged 87)
Genres | Popular music |
Years active | 1950–1970 |
Labels | Decca, Mercury |
Notable instruments | |
violin |
Florian ZaBach (August 15, 1918 – February 25, 2006) was an American musician and TV personality.
His recording of "The Hot Canary" sold a million copies and reached the top 15 on the Pop charts in 1951. "Believe It or Not" timed his violin performance of "The Flight of the Bumblebee" and wrote, "he plays 12.8 notes per second ... faster than any known violinist in history". He hosted a television show in 1954 that was aired in cities around the world.
In 1960, for his work on television, ZaBach was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6505 Hollywood Blvd.
ZaBach was born in Chicago, the son and only child of Florian ZaBach Sr., who played clarinet with the Vienna Philharmonic, and Anna Morganfort-ZaBach. He studied music and learned to play the violin with his father and at the Chicago Cosmopolitan Conservatory of Music. At the age of 12 he debuted with the Chicago Symphony orchestra playing the Mendelssohn concerto. He went to the Prague Conservatory in Czechoslovakia to further his violin studies.
When he returned to the United States, he joined the music staff of Chicago's NBC and WGN radio stations. After 2 1⁄2 years in the Army Medical Corps as a private and a corporal, he resumed his musical career in Washington, D.C. at the Mayflower Hotel. Television's Arthur Godfrey discovered him there, and ZaBach appeared on Godfrey's show several times. He also appeared on most of the television shows emanating from New York at the time: Ed Sullivan, Milton Berle, Ken Murray, Red Skelton, Steve Allen, Jack Paar and 25 appearances on The Tonight Show. For over a year he performed five one-hour shows daily, seven days a week as master of ceremonies, orchestra conductor and violin soloist on the stage of Strand Theatre on Broadway.