13 Facts About Bert Firman

Bert Firman's mother was of Polish stock and his father was a professional musician who had settled in Britain from Austria-Hungary in the late 1880s.

Bert Firman took up the violin at an early age and won a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music.

Shortly after beginning this job, the current bandleader was indisposed, and Bert Firman was offered the job.

Bert Firman was then only sixteen, and he would thereafter claim to have been the youngest bandleader in the world.

In 1924, Bert Firman became musical director for Zonophone Records and in the following five years recorded over 750 sides for them.

Bert Firman then spent some time in Hollywood adding music to a large number of silent films.

Bert Firman then formed a band in London, which he took to Les Ambassadeurs restaurant in Paris.

Bert Firman spent several years in France before returning to London in 1937 to form another band.

At the outbreak of war Bert Firman moved to the Cafe de Paris with a band that included Ivor Mairants and George Melachrino.

Bert Firman then joined up with the South Staffordshire Regiment.

Bert Firman therefore went to lead a band in Paris again, where he formed a band at the Bagatelle Club.

Bert Firman finally retired from band leading, partly because the age of the big bands was coming to an end.

Bert Firman withdrew entirely from the music business, working on the London Metal Exchange until he opted for full retirement in 1976.