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22 Facts About Lanny Ross

1.

Lanny Ross was an American singer, pianist, songwriter, and collegiate sprinter.

2.

Lanny Ross was born Lancelot Patrick Ross in Seattle, Washington.

3.

Lanny Ross's parents were Douglas and Winifred Ross, both natives of England.

4.

Lanny Ross graduated from Taft School in 1924, where he captained the track team and led the glee club, and Yale University in 1928, where he blossomed as one of the nation's foremost intercollegiate track performers.

5.

Lanny Ross was a soloist with the famous Yale Glee Club, and he was a member of Zeta Psi and Skull and Bones.

6.

Lanny Ross studied classical vocal technique at the Juilliard School of Music with Anna Eugenie Schoen-Rene.

7.

Lanny Ross made his theatrical bow at the age of four, performing with his father in Ben Greet's professional Shakespearean company.

8.

Lanny Ross's career began in radio in 1928 and included a five-year run with Annette Hanshaw on the Maxwell House Show Boat program.

9.

Lanny Ross did so well on the radio that he gave up the legal profession and set forth on a singing career.

10.

Lanny Ross went on to success in vaudeville, nightclubs, and motion pictures.

11.

Lanny Ross recorded the song with Nat Finston and the Paramount Recording Orchestra in Los Angeles on October 21,1934.

12.

Lanny Ross was signed by Paramount Pictures as a threat to the studio's leading singing star, Bing Crosby.

13.

Lanny Ross was later featured in The Lady Objects for Columbia Pictures.

14.

Lanny Ross took to the stage in 1941, drawing critical acclaim for his acting in Petticoat Fever, Pursuit of Happiness, and Green Grow the Lilacs.

15.

Lanny Ross was accompanied by Roy Bargy and his orchestra.

16.

Lanny Ross turned over the money to the American Theater Wing to establish canteens in other cities.

17.

Lanny Ross joined the US Army in 1943, achieving the rank of captain and, in early 1945, major.

18.

Lanny Ross resumed his career on November 1,1945, as a guest on Andre Kostelanetz's program over the CBS network.

19.

The Lanny Ross Show became a fixture on CBS, running through the 1950s as a weekday-afternoon, half-hour program featuring conversation, recordings, and his own vocals.

20.

Lanny Ross had conducted a three-week tour of Japan in late 1960, stopping near Tokyo to interview 20 Army servicemen for his radio program.

21.

Lanny Ross largely retired from performing in the early 1970s, although he continued to do occasional shows, including a 1980 tour with bandleader Harry James.

22.

Lanny Ross suffered a stroke in 1987 and another in early 1988.