1. James Kern Kyser, known as Kay Kyser, was an American bandleader and radio personality of the 1930s and 1940s.
26 Facts About Kay Kyser
1. 2.
Kay Kyser was one of six children, and his mother was the first registered female pharmacist in the state.
3.
Kay Kyser graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1928, where he was senior class president and was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity.
4.
Kay Kyser began taking clarinet lessons but was better as an entertaining announcer than a musician.
5.
Kay Kyser adopted the initial of his middle name as part of his stage name, for its alliterative effect.
6.
Long before his national success, Kay Kyser recorded two sessions for Victor in the late 1920s.
7.
Unlike most other big bands of the era, which centered on only the bandleader, individual members of Kay Kyser's band became stars in their own right and would often receive the spotlight.
8.
Kay Kyser's group had a major hit with the novelty tune, "Three Little Fishes".
9.
In Carolina Blues, Kay Kyser has to replace his lead singer who has run off to get married.
10.
Kay Kyser appeared as a light comedian; he acted with John Barrymore in Barrymore's final film Playmates.
11.
Kay Kyser is the dupe in a scam where Barrymore pretends to teach him how to act in Shakespearean drama.
12.
Kay Kyser appeared in a Porky Pig cartoon, Africa Squeaks.
13.
Kay Kyser had intended to retire following the end of the war, but performance and recording contracts kept him in show business for another half decade.
14.
Always the businessman, Kay Kyser reunited his band especially for this series and just as quickly disbanded it when the show ended.
15.
In 1932, Kay Kyser recalled her recovery and turned to a practitioner himself while feeling the need for spiritual guidance; the practitioner encouraged him to continue with music, so he could use his talents to help people relieve tension in their lives.
16.
Kay Kyser supported various philanthropic causes after his retirement from music including health care, educational television, and highway safety.
17.
Kay Kyser supported the construction of a wing in St John's hospital in Santa Monica, and there is a portrait of him at the entrance of its medical library.
18.
Kay Kyser helped raise $62 million to build more hospitals and train nurses in his home state of North Carolina, lobbied the state legislature, and had his entertainment friends including Frank Sinatra and Dinah Shore do a commercial in support of expanding healthcare in the state.
19.
Kay Kyser supported his old school, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, especially the arts, through the Kay Kyser Foundation which gave scholarships to UNC music and drama students; and supported the university's theatre, pharmacy school, and its Center for Public Television.
20.
Kay Kyser gave to the North Carolina Symphony Society, the first state symphony orchestra in the country.
21.
In 1962, several members of the Kay Kyser team reunited at Capitol Records to record an album of new versions of Kyser's greatest hits.
22.
Kay Kyser died of a heart attack in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on July 23,1985.
23.
Kay Kyser is buried at Old Chapel Hill Cemetery in Chapel Hill.
24.
Kay Kyser was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1990.
25.
Kay Kyser was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 1999.
26.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is custodian of a large archive of documents and material about Kay Kyser which was donated by his widow and made available to the public on April 8,2008.