Lemeul Eugene Lucas, better known by his stage name Gene Austin, was an American singer and songwriter, one of the first "crooners".
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Lemeul Eugene Lucas, better known by his stage name Gene Austin, was an American singer and songwriter, one of the first "crooners".
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Gene Austin's recording of "My Blue Heaven" sold over five million copies and was for a while the largest selling record of all time.
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Gene Austin took the name "Gene Austin" from his stepfather, Jim Austin, a blacksmith.
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On returning to the United States in 1919, Gene Austin settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he briefly studied dentistry and law.
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Gene Austin started writing songs and formed a vaudeville act with Roy Bergere, with whom he wrote "How Come You Do Me Like You Do".
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Gene Austin worked briefly in a club owned by Lou Clayton, who later was a part of the famous vaudeville team Clayton, Jackson and Durante.
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Gene Austin was an influential early crooner whose records in their day enjoyed record sales and the highest circulation.
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Gene Austin made a substantial number of influential recordings including a string of best-sellers.
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At the peak of his career Gene Austin demanded that the pianist Fats Waller alone could provide accompaniment on his records.
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Gene Austin's first recording was surreptitiously providing the vocals for the Tennessee guitarist George Reneau, whose own voice did not record well.
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In 1925, Gene Austin recorded his popular song "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" for the Victor Talking Machine Company in a duet with Aileen Stanley.
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Gene Austin formed a trio with bassist Johnny Candido and guitarist Otto Heimel.
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Such later crooners as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Russ Columbo all credited Gene Austin with creating the musical genre that began their careers.
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Gene Austin influenced his friend, Jimmie Rodgers, and as such contributed to the birth of Country music.
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Gene Austin married his first wife, Kathryn Arnold, a dancer, in 1924 and divorced her in 1929.
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Gene Austin married his second wife, Agnes Antelline, in 1933, and their daughter Charlotte was born that same year.
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Gene Austin then married actress Doris Sherrell in 1940, and divorced her in 1946.
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Gene Austin married wife number four, LouCeil Hudson, a singer, in 1949, and the marriage lasted until 1966.
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Gene Austin married Gigi Theodorea in 1967 — his fifth and final marriage.
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Gene Austin retired to Palm Springs in the late 1950s and was active in civic boards there until 1970.
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Gene Austin died in Palm Springs of lung cancer and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
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