49 Facts About Paul Whiteman

Paul Samuel Whiteman was an American bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist.

Paul Whiteman led a usually large ensemble and explored many styles of music, such as blending symphonic music and jazz, as in his debut of Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin.

Paul Whiteman's popularity faded in the swing music era of the mid-1930s, and by the 1940s he was semi-retired from music.

Paul Whiteman experienced a revival and had a comeback in the 1950s with his own network television series, Paul Whiteman's Goodyear Revue, which ran for three seasons on ABC.

Paul Whiteman hosted the 1954 ABC talent contest show On the Boardwalk with Paul Whiteman.

Paul Whiteman worked with black musicians as much as was feasible during an era of racial segregation.

Paul Whiteman's bands included many of the era's most esteemed white musicians, and his groups handled jazz admirably as part of a larger repertoire.

Paul Whiteman came from a musical family: his father, Wilburforce James Whiteman was the supervisor of music for the Denver Public Schools, a position he held for fifty years, and his mother Elfrida was a former opera singer.

Paul Whiteman's father insisted that Paul learn an instrument, preferably the violin, but the young man chose the viola.

In 1918, Paul Whiteman conducted a 12-piece US Navy band, the Mare Island Naval Training Camp Symphony Orchestra.

Paul Whiteman became the most popular band director of that decade.

In 1926, Paul Whiteman was on tour in Vienna, Austria when he met and was interviewed by a young ambitious newspaper reporter named Billy Wilder who was a fan of Whiteman's band.

Paul Whiteman liked young Wilder enough, that he took him with the band to Berlin where Wilder was able to make more connections in the entertainment field, leading him to become a screenwriter and director, eventually ending up in Hollywood.

In 1927, the Paul Whiteman orchestra backed Hoagy Carmichael singing and playing on a recording of "Washboard Blues".

Paul Whiteman signed with Columbia Records in May 1928, leaving the label in September 1930 when he refused a pay cut.

Paul Whiteman returned to RCA Victor between September 1931 and March 1937.

Paul Whiteman emphasized the way he approached the well-established style of jazz music, while organizing its composition and style in his own fashion.

Paul Whiteman's recordings were popular critically and commercially, and his style of jazz was often the first jazz of any form that many Americans heard during the era.

For more than 30 years Paul Whiteman, referred to as "Pops", sought and encouraged promising musicians, vocalists, composers, arrangers, and entertainers.

Paul Whiteman hired many of the best jazz musicians for his band, including Bix Beiderbecke, Frankie Trumbauer, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, Steve Brown, Mike Pingitore, Gussie Mueller, Wilbur Hall, Jack Teagarden, and Bunny Berigan.

Paul Whiteman encouraged upcoming African American musical talents and planned to hire black musicians, but his management persuaded him that doing so would destroy his career due to racial tension and America's segregation of that time.

Paul Whiteman provided music for six Broadway shows and produced more than 600 phonograph recordings.

Paul Whiteman's recording of Jose Padilla's "Valencia" topped the charts for 11 weeks, beginning March 30,1926, becoming the No 1 record of 1926.

In 1933, Paul Whiteman had a No 2 hit on the Billboard charts with Ann Ronell's "Willow Weep for Me".

In 1942, Paul Whiteman began recording for Capitol Records, co-founded by songwriters Buddy DeSylva and Johnny Mercer and music store owner Glenn Wallichs.

Paul Whiteman appeared as himself in the 1945 movie Rhapsody in Blue on the life and career of George Gershwin, and appeared in The Fabulous Dorseys in 1947, a bio-pic starring Jimmy Dorsey and Tommy Dorsey.

Paul Whiteman appeared as the baby in Nertz, the bandleader in Thanks a Million, as himself in Strike Up the Band, in the Paramount Pictures short The Lambertville Story, and the revue musical King of Jazz.

Dodge Brothers must have been satisfied with the results of the broadcast because on March 29,1928, Paul Whiteman took part in a second Dodge Brothers radio show over the NBC network, which was entitled Film Star Radio Hour.

Mr Paul Whiteman's orchestra is seldom heard on the radio, and its infrequent broadcasts are the subject of major jubilations, despite the presence of tenors and vocal harmonists in most of the Paul Whiteman renditions.

In 1929, Paul Whiteman agreed to take part in a weekly radio show for Old Gold Cigarettes for which he was paid $5,000 per broadcast.

Old Gold Presents Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra was an hour-long show on Tuesday nights over CBS from station WABC in New York.

The Paul Whiteman Hour had its first broadcast on February 5,1929, and continued until May 6,1930.

Paul Whiteman hosted Paul Whiteman's TV Teen Club from Philadelphia on ABC-TV from 1949 to 1954.

Paul Whiteman has appeared as guest conductor for many concerts.

Paul Whiteman lived at Walking Horse Farm near the village of Rosemont in Delaware Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, from 1938 to 1959.

Paul Whiteman died of a heart attack on December 29,1967, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, aged 77.

Paul Whiteman was a close friend of Nascar and Daytona International Speedway founder Bill France.

Paul Whiteman composed the standard "Wonderful One" in 1922 with Ferde Grofe and Dorothy Terris, based on a theme by film director Marshall Neilan.

Paul Whiteman co-wrote the music for the song "Madeline, Be Mine" in 1924 with Abel Baer with lyrics by Cliff Friend.

Paul Whiteman composed the piano work "Dreaming The Waltz Away" with Fred Rose in 1926.

Paul Whiteman recorded the song on August 11,1927, and released it as Victor 21119.

In 1927, Paul Whiteman co-wrote the song "Wide Open Spaces" with Byron Gay and Richard A Whiting.

Paul Whiteman co-wrote the popular song "My Fantasy" with Leo Edwards and Jack Meskill, which is a musical adaptation of the Polovtsian Dances theme from the opera Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin.

The Paul Whiteman Orchestra recorded "My Fantasy" with Joan Edwards on vocals in 1939 and released it as a 78 single on Decca Records.

In 1998, the 1920 Paul Whiteman recording of "Whispering" was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Paul Whiteman's 1927 recording of "Rhapsody in Blue", of which was an electrically recorded version, was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1974.

Paul Whiteman was inducted in the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1993.

Paul Whiteman was awarded two Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6157 Hollywood Boulevard and for Radio at 1601 Vine Street in Hollywood.

Paul Whiteman had two songs listed in the National Recording Registry, the first was the June 1924 performance of Rhapsody In Blue, with George Gershwin on piano, which was listed in 2003.