Uan Rasey was an American musician, best known for his studio work as a trumpet player.
14 Facts About Uan Rasey
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Uan Rasey taught himself to play the trumpet as a child.
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Uan Rasey moved with his family to Los Angeles in 1937, where he began playing professionally with such band leaders as Sonny Dunham, Ozzie Nelson and Alvino Rey.
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Uan Rasey contracted polio as a child and spent his career playing trumpet while using crutches.
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Uan Rasey reportedly turned down MGM's initial offer to join their film studio orchestra because he wanted his contract to stipulate that he would not be required to work Saturdays, when he attended track meets, and that he could go on leave during the 1952 Summer Olympics.
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Uan Rasey was a first-call trumpet player for MGM and other studio orchestras from 1949 until the early 1970s.
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Uan Rasey played trumpet for many film soundtracks, including An American in Paris, Ben-Hur, Bye Bye Birdie, Cleopatra, Gigi, How the West Was Won, My Fair Lady, Singin' in the Rain, Spartacus and West Side Story.
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Uan Rasey is known for his solo in composer Jerry Goldsmith's Oscar-nominated score for Roman Polanski's 1974 film Chinatown.
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Uan Rasey played on many scores for television and radio, and in live orchestras throughout Los Angeles.
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Uan Rasey was an active session musician and performed on many albums in the 1950s and 1960s, including those of Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Mel Torme, Doris Day, Frankie Laine, Judy Garland, and the Monkees.
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Uan Rasey lived in Southern California, where he taught privately into his old age.
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Uan Rasey died in Los Angeles on September 26,2011, at the Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills Medical Center, from a heart disorder.
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Uan Rasey was widely considered one of the finest musicians in Hollywood history.
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Uan Rasey originally used an Olds Recording-model trumpet, made for him in 1949 shortly after he was hired by MGM.