Tony Martin (entertainer)
| Tony Martin | |
|---|---|
Martin in 1953
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Alvin Morris |
| Born |
December 25, 1913 Oakland, California, United States |
| Died | July 27, 2012 (aged 98) Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Genres |
Big band Traditional pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, actor |
| Years active | 1933–2009 |
| Labels | Decca, Mercury, RCA Victor, Motown |
Tony Martin (born Alvin Morris; December 25, 1913 – July 27, 2012) was an American actor and singer. His career spanned over seven decades, and he scored dozens of hits between the late-1930s and mid-1950s with songs such as Walk Hand in Hand and Stranger in Paradise. He was married to actress and dancer Cyd Charisse for 60 years until her death in 2008.
Alvin Morris was born on Christmas Day, 1913, in San Francisco, the son of Hattie (née Smith) and Edward Clarence Morris. His family was Jewish, and all of his grandparents had emigrated from Eastern Europe. He received a saxophone as a gift from his grandmother at the age of ten.
In his grammar school glee club, he became an instrumentalist and singer. He formed his first band, named "The Red Peppers," when he was at Oakland Technical High School, eventually joining the band of a local orchestra leader, Tom Gerun, as a reed instrument specialist, sitting alongside the future bandleader Woody Herman. He attended Saint Mary's College of California during the mid-1930s. After college, he left Gerun's band to go to Hollywood to try his luck in films. It was at that time that he adopted the stage name of Tony Martin.
Martin sang and was master of ceremonies on Tune-Up Time, with Andre Kostelanetz, on CBS radio in the early 1940s. His The Tony Martin Show, a 15-minute variety program, aired on NBC from 1954 to 1956 prior to the evening newscast. One of his guests was Dinah Shore, soon cast in her own hour-long NBC variety program.
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