Harry James
Harry James was born in a rundown hotel next to the city jail in Albany, Georgia. His mother and father were members of a circus - she as a trapeze artist and he a band leader - with the Mighty Haag Circus. At seven, they settled in Beaumont, Texas where Harry learned yo play drums. By twelve, he was playing trumpet in the Christy Brothers circus band. In 1936 James joined Ben Pollack's band, soon leaving to lead the brass section of Benny Goodman's band. He even once applied to Lawrence Welk's band but was turned down because they said he played too loud and it was not Welk's style. After three years with Goodman, he wanted to leave, and with Goodman's backing, he formed the Music Makers. In 1943 he married pinup queen Betty Grable, his second of four wives. He had earlier married and divorced Louise Tobin, a singer. Grable kept appearing in movies and Harry kept playing while they raised horses. He made his debut in Philadelphia at the Ben Franklin Hotel and soon was a nationwide favorite of dance lovers and jazz addicts, rocking the rafters at the Hollywood Paladium, Chicago's famous College Inn at the Hotel Sherman, Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook in Cedar Cove, NJ, and then onto New York City. It was the Lincoln Hotel in NYC that the Music Makers called home, but James also starred at the Paramount Theater in the spring of 1943, with thousands of teenagers flocking to see him. His version of You Made Me Love You was a big hit and a favorite of many through the war years. James was a great discoverer of talent, finding Frank Sinatra working as a waiter in a New Jersey restaurant and giving him a job singing in his band. Dick Haymes, Kitty Kallen, Connie Haines and Helen Forrest can all thank James for giving them their first real break. In 1963 his band was featured at Disneyland, still known as the Music Makers. He played his last gig at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles on June 26, 1983, just a few days before dying of lymphatic cancer.
How to Marry a Millionaire
as Radio Trumpeter (uncredited)Three women set out to find eligible millionaires to marry, but find true love in the process.
Movie page
The Ladies Man
as Harry JamesAfter his girl leaves him for someone else, Herbert gets really depressed and starts searching...
Movie page
That's Entertainment, Part II
as (archive footage)Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time...
Movie page
The Opposite Sex
as Harry JamesFormer radio singer Kay learns from her gossipy friends that her husband, Steve, has had an...
Movie page
The Benny Goodman Story
as uncreditedYoung Benny Goodman is taught clarinet by a music professor. He is advised to play whichever...
Movie page
That's Entertainment! III
as (archive footage)Some of MGM'S musical stars review the studios history of musicals. From The Hollywood Revue of...
Movie page
Springtime in the Rockies
as Harry JamesBroadway partners Vicky Lane and Dan Christy have a tiff over Christy's womanizing. Jealous...
Movie page
This Is Bob Hope...
as Self (archive footage)During his career, Bob Hope was the only performer to achieve top-rated success in every form of...
Movie page
Private Buckaroo
as Harry JamesThe film tells the story of army recruits following basic training, with the Andrew Sisters...
Movie page
Bathing Beauty
as Harry JamesAfter breaking up with her fiancé, a gym teacher returns to work at a women's college, but a...
Movie page
Showbiz Goes to War
as (archive footage)While a few Hollywood celebrities such as James Stewart and Clark Gable saw combat during World...
Movie page
Syncopation
as Harry JamesA young trumpeter rises through the jazz world and finds love.
Movie page
Do You Love Me
as Barry ClaytonKatharine Hilliard, mousy dean of a stuffy music school, meets and is insulted by swing band...
Movie page
Swing Fever
as Harry JamesComedy about a bandleader with hypnotic powers.
Movie page
Swing Fever
as Harry James (uncredited)Comedy about a bandleader with hypnotic powers.
Movie pageThe Sting II
as Band LeaderHooker and Gondorf pull a con on Macalinski, an especially nasty mob boss with the help of...
Movie page
Best Foot Forward
as HimselfBud Hooper, a cadet at Winsocki Military Academy, sends an invitation to movie star Lucille Ball...
Movie page
Hollywood Hotel
as Benny Goodman Trumpeter (uncredited)After losing a coveted role in an upcoming film to another actress, screen queen Mona Marshall...
Movie page
Two Girls and a Sailor
as Harry JamesA sailor helps two sisters start up a service canteen. The sailor soon becomes taken with...
Movie page
Carnegie Hall
as Harry JamesA young Irishwoman comes to the United States to live and work with her mother as a cleaning...
Movie page
On Our Merry Way
as Harry JamesOliver Pease gets a dose of courage from his wife Martha and tricks the editor of the paper...
Movie page
I'll Get By
as Harry JamesI'll Get By is an updated remake of the 1940 20th Century-Fox musical Tin Pan Alley. William...
Movie page
Too Many Girls
as Orchestra LeaderMr. Casey's daughter, Connie, wants to go to Pottawatomie College and without her knowledge, he...
Movie page
The Shining Future
as SelfDocumentary short film intended to drum up support for the Fifth War Loan Campaign. It shows a...
Movie page
Frank Sinatra: The First 40 Years
as SelfGala tribute to the Chairman of the Board.
Movie page
If I'm Lucky
as Earl GordonOut of work swing band maneuvers a gig working for a political campaign, by drawing in and...
Movie page
The All-Star Bond Rally
as SelfInspirational documentary short film featuring Hollywood stars promoting the sales of War Bonds...
Movie page
Outlaw Queen
as Rick MasonChristina, the daughter of a Greek-immigrant family who does not share their belief that a...
Movie page
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
as SelfThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight...
TV Show page
The Mike Douglas Show
as SelfThe Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that...
TV Show page
What's My Line?
as Self - Mystery GuestFour panelists must determine guests' occupations - and, in the case of famous guests, while...
TV Show page
The Ed Sullivan Show
as SelfThe Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June...
TV Show page
The Ed Sullivan Show
as Self (archive footage)The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June...
TV Show page
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
as SelfThe Dinah Shore Chevy Show is an American variety series hosted by Dinah Shore, and broadcast on...
TV Show page
The Hollywood Palace
as SelfThe Hollywood Palace is an hour-long American television variety show that was broadcast weekly...
TV Show page
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour
as Harry JamesThe Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour is a collection of thirteen one-hour specials airing occasionally from...
TV Show page