23 Facts About Henry Burr

Henry Burr was a Canadian singer, radio performer and producer.

Henry Burr was born Harry Haley McClaskey and used Henry Burr as one of his many pseudonyms, in addition to Irving Gillette, Henry Gillette, Alfred Alexander, Robert Rice, Carl Ely, Harry Barr, Frank Knapp, Al King, and Shamus McClaskey.

Henry Burr's mother was the former Ida Connors and he was the youngest of four children.

Henry Burr eventually rose to tenor soloist for the choir.

Henry Burr's teachers included John Dennis Meehan and Kate Stella Burr, from whom he would adopt his stage name in her honor.

Henry Burr arrived at a particularly opportune time, as star tenor, George J Gaskin, was in the final years of his career.

Henry Burr started recording for Edison Records in November 1904 under the name Irving Gillette.

Henry Burr first recorded with Victor on January 4,1905, and the recordings were released that March.

Henry Burr proved to be a successful artist, recording thousands of songs for various labels under various names.

Henry Burr's recordings appear on International Record Company and department store labels such as Vim Records.

In 1906, Burr joined the Columbia Male Quartet, which was recording for the Columbia Record Company, as second tenor under the management of Frank C Stanley.

When Stanley died in 1910, Henry Burr took over management of the group.

Henry Burr tried music publishing, and he shared ownership in a banjo factory with Van Eps for a short while.

Henry Burr performed live on the radio while broadcasting technology was still in its infancy.

Henry Burr made his first appearance in 1920 in Denver, Colorado using a microphone improvised from a wooden bowl with an inverted telephone transmitter.

Henry Burr is credited with making the first transcontinental 'broadcast' by singing into the telephone in New York and being heard by diners wearing headphones at a Rotary dinner in California.

Henry Burr became involved in programming, forming Henry Burr, Inc in 1928 as a producer.

Henry Burr produced numerous programs for commercial radio networks into the 1930s.

Henry Burr originated the Cities Service broadcast, which he produced for two years.

Henry Burr soon became a featured performer on the show, which he stayed with for five years until shortly before his death.

Henry Burr died of throat cancer in Chicago, Illinois on April 6,1941.

Henry Burr's widow died of a heart ailment in 1954 in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

Henry Burr's 1915 recording of "There's a Little Spark of Love Still Burning" was used on Ernie Kovacs' Eugene special in 1960, and possibly on other Kovacs programs as well.