Rudy Vallée
| Rudy Vallée | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Hubert Prior Vallée |
| Born |
July 28, 1901 Island Pond, Vermont, United States |
| Died | July 3, 1986 (aged 84) Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, actor, bandleader, entertainer |
| Instruments | Saxophone, vocals |
| Years active | 1924–1984 |
| Labels | Harmony, Victor, Hit of the Week, Columbia, Bluebird, Melotone |
| Website | www.rudyvallee.com |
Rudy Vallée (July 28, 1901 – July 3, 1986) was an American singer, actor, bandleader, author and entertainer.
He was one of the first modern pop stars of the teen idol type. In the words of a magazine writer in 1929, "At the microphone he is truly a romantic figure. Faultlessly attired in evening dress, he pours softly into the radio's delicate ear a stream of mellifluous melody. He appears to be coaxing, pleading and at the same time adoring the invisible one to whom his song is attuned."
Rudy Vallée was born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse Vallée and Catherine née Lynch. Both of his parents were born and raised in Vermont; however his grandparents were immigrants. The Vallées were francophone Canadians from neighboring Quebec, while the Lynches were from Ireland. Vallée grew up in Westbrook, Maine.
In 1917, he decided to enlist for World War I, but was discharged when the Navy authorities found out that he was only 15. He enlisted in Portland, Maine on March 29, 1917, under the false birthdate of July 28, 1899. He was discharged at the Naval Training Station, Newport, Rhode Island, on May 17, 1917 with 41 days of active service.
After playing drums in his high school band, Vallée played clarinet and saxophone in various bands around New England as a teenager. From 1924 through 1925, he played with the Savoy Havana Band at the Savoy Hotel in London, where his fellow band-members discouraged his attempts to become a vocalist. He then returned to the United States to obtain a degree in philosophy from Yale, where he played in the Yale Collegians with future New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno.
After graduation, he formed his own band, "Rudy Vallée and the Connecticut Yankees", having named himself after influential saxophonist Rudy Wiedoeft. With this band, which featured two violins, two saxophones, a piano, a banjo and drums, he started singing (supposedly reluctantly at first). He had a rather thin, wavering tenor voice and seemed more at home singing sweet ballads than jazz numbers. However, his singing, together with his suave manner and boyish good looks, attracted great attention, especially from young women. Vallée was given a recording contract and in 1928, he started performing on the radio.
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