This Is Bob Hope...
2017 · Movie
as Self (archive footage)
Harry James
1916-03-15
•
Albany, Georgia, USA
Harry James was born in a rundown hotel next to the city jail in Albany, Georgia. His mother and father were members of a circus - she as a trapeze artist and he a band leader - with the Mighty Haag Circus. At seven, they settled in Beaumont, Texas where Harry learned yo play drums. By twelve, he was playing trumpet in the Christy Brothers circus band. In 1936 James joined Ben Pollack's band, soon leaving to lead the brass section of Benny Goodman's band. He even once applied to Lawrence Welk's band but was turned down because they said he played too loud and it was not Welk's style. After three years with Goodman, he wanted to leave, and with Goodman's backing, he formed the Music Makers. In 1943 he married pinup queen Betty Grable, his second of four wives. He had earlier married and divorced Louise Tobin, a singer. Grable kept appearing in movies and Harry kept playing while they raised horses. He made his debut in Philadelphia at the Ben Franklin Hotel and soon was a nationwide favorite of dance lovers and jazz addicts, rocking the rafters at the Hollywood Paladium, Chicago's famous College Inn at the Hotel Sherman, Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook in Cedar Cove, NJ, and then onto New York City. It was the Lincoln Hotel in NYC that the Music Makers called home, but James also starred at the Paramount Theater in the spring of 1943, with thousands of teenagers flocking to see him. His version of You Made Me Love You was a big hit and a favorite of many through the war years. James was a great discoverer of talent, finding Frank Sinatra working as a waiter in a New Jersey restaurant and giving him a job singing in his band. Dick Haymes, Kitty Kallen, Connie Haines and Helen Forrest can all thank James for giving them their first real break. In 1963 his band was featured at Disneyland, still known as the Music Makers. He played his last gig at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles on June 26, 1983, just a few days before dying of lymphatic cancer.
Filmography
That's Entertainment! III
1994 · Movie
as (archive footage)
The Sting II
1983 · Movie
as Band Leader
Showbiz Goes to War
1982 · Movie
as (archive footage)
Frank Sinatra: The First 40 Years
1979 · Movie
as Self
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976 · Movie
as (archive footage)
The Hollywood Palace
1964 · TV Show
as Self
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962 · TV Show
as Self
The Ladies Man
1961 · Movie
as Harry James
The Mike Douglas Show
1961 · TV Show
as Self
Outlaw Queen
1957 · Movie
as Rick Mason
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour
1957 · TV Show
as Harry James
The Opposite Sex
1956 · Movie
as Harry James
The Benny Goodman Story
1956 · Movie
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
1956 · TV Show
as Self
How to Marry a Millionaire
1953 · Movie
as Radio Trumpeter (uncredited)
I'll Get By
1950 · Movie
as Harry James
No image
Cavalcade of Bands
1950 · TV Show
What's My Line?
1950 · TV Show
as Self
On Our Merry Way
1948 · Movie
as Harry James
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948 · TV Show
as Self
Carnegie Hall
1947 · Movie
as Harry James
Do You Love Me
1946 · Movie
as Barry Clayton
If I'm Lucky
1946 · Movie
as Earl Gordon
The All-Star Bond Rally
1945 · Movie
as Self
The Shining Future
1944 · Movie
as Self
Two Girls and a Sailor
1944 · Movie
as Harry James
Bathing Beauty
1944 · Movie
as Harry James
Swing Fever
1943 · Movie
as Harry James, Harry James (uncredited)
Best Foot Forward
1943 · Movie
as Himself
Springtime in the Rockies
1942 · Movie
as Harry James
Private Buckaroo
1942 · Movie
as Harry James
Syncopation
1942 · Movie
as Harry James
No image
Trumpet Serenade
1942 · Movie
Too Many Girls
1940 · Movie
as Orchestra Leader (uncredited)
Hollywood Hotel
1938 · Movie
as Benny Goodman Trumpeter (uncredited)
L'empreinte rouge
1937 · Movie
as Le maire
