19 Facts About Larry Adler

Lawrence Cecil Adler was an American harmonica player.

Larry Adler was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Sadie Hack and Louis Larry Adler.

Larry Adler taught himself harmonica, which he called a mouth organ.

Larry Adler broke the typecasting and appeared in a dinner jacket in the 1934 Paramount film Many Happy Returns, and was hired by theatrical producer C B Cochran to perform in London.

Larry Adler recorded all except the Scott Serenade, some more than once.

Larry Adler's name was originally removed from the credits in the United States due to blacklisting.

Larry Adler scored a hit with the theme song of the French Jacques Becker movie Touchez pas au grisbi with Jean Gabin, written by Jean Wiener.

Larry Adler opened each performance with Gershwin's "Summertime", playing piano and harmonica simultaneously.

The album included Peter Gabriel, Oleta Adams, Elton John, Sting, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, Meat Loaf, Sinead O'Connor, Robert Palmer, Cher, Kate Bush, Elvis Costello, Courtney Pine, Issy Van Randwyck, Lisa Stansfield and Carly Simon, all of whom sang Gershwin tunes with an orchestra and Larry Adler adding harmonica solos.

Larry Adler appeared in five movies, including Sidewalks of London, in which he played a harmonica virtuoso named Constantine.

Larry Adler was a prolific letter writer, his correspondence with Private Eye becoming popular in the United Kingdom.

Larry Adler appeared on the Jack Benny radio program several times, entertaining disabled soldiers in the US during World War II.

Larry Adler married Eileen Walser in 1938; they had two daughters and one son.

Larry Adler married Sally Cline in 1969; they had one daughter.

Larry Adler's brother, Jerry Adler, was a harmonica player.

Larry Adler was a close friend of Peter Stringfellow, who hosted his birthday parties at his central London club for at least the last ten years of his life.

Larry Adler was an outspoken critic of Ronald Reagan, primarily because of Reagan's McCarthyist activities when president of the Screen Actors Guild in the 1940s and '50s.

Larry Adler died of cancer in St Thomas' Hospital, London, aged 87, on 6 August 2001.

Larry Adler was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium, London, where his ashes remain.