Rudy Vallée

One of the most popular entertainers of the '30s, Rudy Vallée was one of the few vocalists to begin crooning before the advent of Bing Crosby. Famed for singing through a megaphone and introducing his performances with a salutary "Heigh-Ho, Everybody," Vallée recorded into the mid-'40s and enjoyed a renaissance during the '60s after high-profile appearances on Broadway. Born in Vermont, though he grew up in Maine, Rudy Vallée learned to play the alto saxophone and clarinet. He joined the Navy at the age of 16, but was dismissed after it was discovered he had lied about his age. He studied at Yale and the University of Maine, then took a year off during the mid-'20s to play with the Savoy Havana Band at London's famous Savoy Hotel. Vallée was leading his first band (the Connecticut Yankees) by 1928, though he avoided taking vocals. A stint at the exclusive Heigh-Ho Club in New York gave him his first widespread exposure (and his introductory catch phrase, "Heigh-Ho Everybody"). During the following year, he gained a large audience through radio, vaudeville appearances, and a feature film, The Vagabond Lover. He'd begun recording that year, and burst out of the gate with the immensely popular singles "Marie," "Honey," and "Weary River." Also in 1929, he began hosting the radio show The Fleischmann Hour, a top-rated program for over a decade that introduced into the radio world stars including Burns & Allen, Edgar Bergen, and Frances Langford. One year later, he paid tribute to his alma mater and gained the biggest hit of his career. "Stein Song (The University of Maine)" spent more than two months as the most popular song in America, and later became the official theme song for the school. He continued to appear in films during the '30s, including the major successes...