Rudy Vallee (July 28, 1901 - July 3, 1986) was a popular American singer, a… Read Full Bio ↴Rudy Vallee (July 28, 1901 - July 3, 1986) was a popular American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer. Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, he grew up in Westbrook, Maine. In high school he took up the saxophone and acquired the nickname "Rudy" after then famous saxophonist Rudy Weidoeft.
Having played drums in his high school band, Vallee played clarinet and saxophone in various bands around New England in his youth. In 1917, he felt that Uncle Sam needed one more brave young man in the Great War, but was discharged when the Navy authorities found out that he was only 15. In 1924-5, he played with the "Savoy Havana Band" in London, England. He then returned to the States to obtain a degree in Philosophy from Yale and to form his own band, "Rudy Vallee and the Connecticut Yankees." With this band, which featured two violins, two saxophones, a piano, a banjo and drums, he started taking vocals (supposedly reluctantly at first). He had a rather thin, wavering tenor voice and seemed more at home singing sweet ballads than attempting vocals on jazz numbers. However his singing, together with his suave manner and handsome boyish looks attracted great attention, especially from young women. Vallee was given a recording contract, and in 1928 started performing on the radio.
Vallee became the most prominent and arguably the first of a new style of popular singer, the "crooner". Previously, popular singers needed strong projecting voices to fill theaters in the days before the electric microphone. Crooners had soft voices that were well suited to the intimacy of the new medium of radio. Vallee's trombone-like vocal phrasing on "Deep Night" would inspire later crooners such as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Perry Como to model their voice on jazz instruments.
Vallee also became what was perhaps the first complete example of the 20th century mass media pop star. Flappers (the predecessors of "bobby-soxers") mobbed him wherever he went. His live appearances were usually sold out, and even if his singing could hardly be heard in those venues not yet equipped with the new electronic microphones, his screaming female fans went home happy if they had caught sight of his lips through the opening of the trademark megaphone he sang through.
In 1929 Vallee did his first film, The Vagabond Love. His first films were made to cash in on his singing popularity, but Hollywood was pleasantly surprised to find that Vallee could act as well. Also in 1929 Vallee started hosting The Fleischmann’s Yeast Musical Variety Hour. Performers first introduced to the American public on that program included Jack Benny and Kate Smith.
Vallee would continue hosting popular radio variety shows through the 1940s, including: "The Royal Gelatin Hour, directed by Rudy Vallee", which featured various film performers of the era, such as Fay Wray and Richard Cromwell, in dramatic skits.
Along with his group, "The Connecticut Yankees," Vallee's best known popular recordings included: "The Stein Song" (aka University of Maine fighting song) in the early part of the decade and "Vieni, Vieni" in the latter '30s. A note of trivia: "Vieni, Vieni" can be heard in the background as Jimmy Stewart enters the restaurant in Frank Capra's holiday classic, It's a Wonderful Life. Remarkably for an American, Vallee sang fluently in three Mediterranean languages, and always varied the keys, thus paving the way for later pop crooners such as Dean Martin, Andy Williams and Vic Damone. Another memorable rendition of his is "Life Is Just A Bowl of Cherries", in which he imitates Willie Howard's voice in the final chorus. Vallee was also entertaining in George Gershwin's witty "Kitty from Kansas City", not to mention the first recording of tipsy laughter in "There is a Tavern in the Town", decades before Elvis Presley was to use that gimmick on stage in "Are You Lonesome Tonight?". His last significant hit song was the reissue of the melancholic ballad "As Time Goes By" from the soundtrack of Casablanca in 1943, which he had recorded fifteen years before it was used in this classic movie. During WWII, Vallee performed with the Coast Guard Band, entertaining US troops with this forty-piece orchestra until 1944.
When Vallee took his contractual vacations from his national radio show in 1936, he insisted his sponsor hire Louis Armstrong as his substitute (this was the first instance of an African-American fronting a national radio program). That same year Vallee also wrote the introduction for Armstrong's book "Swing That Music".
Vallee acted in a number of Hollywood films in the 1930s and 1940s. One of his best acting roles is as the millionaire playboy on whom Claudette Colbert relies in the 1942 screwball comedy directed by Preston Sturges, "The Palm Beach Story".
In 1955, Vallee displayed his comedic abilities in Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, co-starring Jane Russell, Alan Young, and Jeanne Crain. The production was filmed on location in Paris. The film was based on the Anita Loos novel that was a sequel to her acclaimed Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Gentlemen Marry Brunettes was popular throughout Europe at the time and was released in France as A Paris Pour les Quatre ("Paris For The Four"), and in Belgium as Tevieren Te Parijs.
In middle age Vallee's voice matured into a robust baritone. (In his later years he told a collector of his early records that "Everything I did before 1950 you can shit on.") He performed on Broadway in the show How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and appeared in the film of the same name. He appeared in the campy 1960s Batman television show as the character "Lord Marmaduke Fogg". He toured with a one-man theater show into the 1980s.
His reputation in Hollywood was that of a tightwad, but he wasn't the only one. He also had a reputation for being one of the most difficult people in show business to work for. It was said that the two happiest days in a performer's life were 1) when they signed a contract to work for Rudy Vallee and 2) when their contract finally expired so that they could stop working for him. On several occasions, Vallee was known to have rushed into his audience in order to punch audience members who booed. He was widely suspected of being bisexual, although not much hard evidence exists, and his blatant affair with glamour queen and pioneer inventor Hedy Lamarr (and a self-confessed 144 starlets of lesser ilk) stifled the malicious whispers. He was married briefly to the much-younger and sexy actress Jane Greer, but that ended in divorce in 1944. His previous marriage to Leonie Cuachois was annulled and the one to Fay Webb ended in divorce. After divorcing Jane Greer he married Eleanor Norris in 1946, who wrote a memoir, My Vagabond Lover. Their marriage lasted until his death in 1986.
Rudy Vallee died on July 3, 1986 at the age of 84, and he was interred in St. Hyacinth's Cemetery, Westbrook, Maine, from which his headstone was stolen. Famous last words: "I do love parties", while watching a TV show.
Having played drums in his high school band, Vallee played clarinet and saxophone in various bands around New England in his youth. In 1917, he felt that Uncle Sam needed one more brave young man in the Great War, but was discharged when the Navy authorities found out that he was only 15. In 1924-5, he played with the "Savoy Havana Band" in London, England. He then returned to the States to obtain a degree in Philosophy from Yale and to form his own band, "Rudy Vallee and the Connecticut Yankees." With this band, which featured two violins, two saxophones, a piano, a banjo and drums, he started taking vocals (supposedly reluctantly at first). He had a rather thin, wavering tenor voice and seemed more at home singing sweet ballads than attempting vocals on jazz numbers. However his singing, together with his suave manner and handsome boyish looks attracted great attention, especially from young women. Vallee was given a recording contract, and in 1928 started performing on the radio.
Vallee became the most prominent and arguably the first of a new style of popular singer, the "crooner". Previously, popular singers needed strong projecting voices to fill theaters in the days before the electric microphone. Crooners had soft voices that were well suited to the intimacy of the new medium of radio. Vallee's trombone-like vocal phrasing on "Deep Night" would inspire later crooners such as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Perry Como to model their voice on jazz instruments.
Vallee also became what was perhaps the first complete example of the 20th century mass media pop star. Flappers (the predecessors of "bobby-soxers") mobbed him wherever he went. His live appearances were usually sold out, and even if his singing could hardly be heard in those venues not yet equipped with the new electronic microphones, his screaming female fans went home happy if they had caught sight of his lips through the opening of the trademark megaphone he sang through.
In 1929 Vallee did his first film, The Vagabond Love. His first films were made to cash in on his singing popularity, but Hollywood was pleasantly surprised to find that Vallee could act as well. Also in 1929 Vallee started hosting The Fleischmann’s Yeast Musical Variety Hour. Performers first introduced to the American public on that program included Jack Benny and Kate Smith.
Vallee would continue hosting popular radio variety shows through the 1940s, including: "The Royal Gelatin Hour, directed by Rudy Vallee", which featured various film performers of the era, such as Fay Wray and Richard Cromwell, in dramatic skits.
Along with his group, "The Connecticut Yankees," Vallee's best known popular recordings included: "The Stein Song" (aka University of Maine fighting song) in the early part of the decade and "Vieni, Vieni" in the latter '30s. A note of trivia: "Vieni, Vieni" can be heard in the background as Jimmy Stewart enters the restaurant in Frank Capra's holiday classic, It's a Wonderful Life. Remarkably for an American, Vallee sang fluently in three Mediterranean languages, and always varied the keys, thus paving the way for later pop crooners such as Dean Martin, Andy Williams and Vic Damone. Another memorable rendition of his is "Life Is Just A Bowl of Cherries", in which he imitates Willie Howard's voice in the final chorus. Vallee was also entertaining in George Gershwin's witty "Kitty from Kansas City", not to mention the first recording of tipsy laughter in "There is a Tavern in the Town", decades before Elvis Presley was to use that gimmick on stage in "Are You Lonesome Tonight?". His last significant hit song was the reissue of the melancholic ballad "As Time Goes By" from the soundtrack of Casablanca in 1943, which he had recorded fifteen years before it was used in this classic movie. During WWII, Vallee performed with the Coast Guard Band, entertaining US troops with this forty-piece orchestra until 1944.
When Vallee took his contractual vacations from his national radio show in 1936, he insisted his sponsor hire Louis Armstrong as his substitute (this was the first instance of an African-American fronting a national radio program). That same year Vallee also wrote the introduction for Armstrong's book "Swing That Music".
Vallee acted in a number of Hollywood films in the 1930s and 1940s. One of his best acting roles is as the millionaire playboy on whom Claudette Colbert relies in the 1942 screwball comedy directed by Preston Sturges, "The Palm Beach Story".
In 1955, Vallee displayed his comedic abilities in Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, co-starring Jane Russell, Alan Young, and Jeanne Crain. The production was filmed on location in Paris. The film was based on the Anita Loos novel that was a sequel to her acclaimed Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Gentlemen Marry Brunettes was popular throughout Europe at the time and was released in France as A Paris Pour les Quatre ("Paris For The Four"), and in Belgium as Tevieren Te Parijs.
In middle age Vallee's voice matured into a robust baritone. (In his later years he told a collector of his early records that "Everything I did before 1950 you can shit on.") He performed on Broadway in the show How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and appeared in the film of the same name. He appeared in the campy 1960s Batman television show as the character "Lord Marmaduke Fogg". He toured with a one-man theater show into the 1980s.
His reputation in Hollywood was that of a tightwad, but he wasn't the only one. He also had a reputation for being one of the most difficult people in show business to work for. It was said that the two happiest days in a performer's life were 1) when they signed a contract to work for Rudy Vallee and 2) when their contract finally expired so that they could stop working for him. On several occasions, Vallee was known to have rushed into his audience in order to punch audience members who booed. He was widely suspected of being bisexual, although not much hard evidence exists, and his blatant affair with glamour queen and pioneer inventor Hedy Lamarr (and a self-confessed 144 starlets of lesser ilk) stifled the malicious whispers. He was married briefly to the much-younger and sexy actress Jane Greer, but that ended in divorce in 1944. His previous marriage to Leonie Cuachois was annulled and the one to Fay Webb ended in divorce. After divorcing Jane Greer he married Eleanor Norris in 1946, who wrote a memoir, My Vagabond Lover. Their marriage lasted until his death in 1986.
Rudy Vallee died on July 3, 1986 at the age of 84, and he was interred in St. Hyacinth's Cemetery, Westbrook, Maine, from which his headstone was stolen. Famous last words: "I do love parties", while watching a TV show.
You Oughta Be In Pictures
Rudy Vallee Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'You Oughta Be In Pictures' by these artists:
Al Bowlly You oughta be in pictures, You're wonderful to see, You…
Al Bowlly and Monia Liter You oughta be in pictures, You're wonderful to see, You…
Al Bowlly and Ray Noble Orchestra You oughta be in pictures, You're wonderful to see, You…
Ambrose & His Orchestra You oughta be in pictures, You're wonderful to see, You…
Bert Ambrose & His Orchestra You oughta be in pictures, You're wonderful to see, You…
Boswell Sisters You oughta be in pictures, You're wonderful to see, You…
Doris Day You oughta be in pictures, You're wonderful to see, You…
Jackie Gleason and His Orchestra You oughta be in pictures, You're wonderful to see, You…
Little Jack Little You oughta be in pictures, You're wonderful to see, You ough…
Ray Noble You oughta be in pictures, You're wonderful to see, You…
Ray Noble & His Orchestra You oughta be in pictures, You're wonderful to see, You…
Richard Himber and his Orchestra You oughta be in pictures, You're wonderful to see, You…
Roy Fox and His Orchestra You oughta be in pictures, You're wonderful to see, You…
The Boswell Sisters You oughta be in pictures, You're wonderful to see, You…
The Boswell Sisters & The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra You oughta be in pictures, You're wonderful to see, You…
Van Alexander and His Orchestra & Doris Day You oughta be in pictures, You're wonderful to see, You…
We have lyrics for these tracks by Rudy Vallee:
A Little Kiss Each Morning We'll be so happy, we'll always sing If we remember one…
Album of My Dreams I love you, I love you, I love you, Sweetheart of…
As Time Goes By You must remember this A kiss is still a kiss A sigh…
Betty Co Ed Flirtation is an art with Betty Co-ed, Her station quite…
Betty-Co-Ed Flirtation is an art with Betty Co-ed, Her station quite…
Brother They used to tell me I was building a dream And…
Dancing in the Moonlight When orchids bloom in the moonlight and lovers vow to be…
Deep Night Deep night, stars in the sky above Moonlight, lighting our p…
Dream Sweetheart I love you, I love you, I love you, Sweetheart of…
Flying Down to Rio My Rio, Rio by the sea o, Flying down to…
Goodnight My Love Goodnight my love, the tired old moon is descending Goodnigh…
Harbor Lights I saw the harbor lights They only told me we were…
Honey Scene is a June night, flooded with moonlight Fragrant roses…
Hou Come You Do Me Like You Do How come you do me like you do do do? How…
I Guess I ll Have To Change My Plans [Chorus] I guess I'll have to change my plan, I should…
I Love the Moon I love you, I love you, I love you, Sweetheart of…
I Love You Sweetheart of All My Dreams I love you, I love you, I love you, Sweetheart of…
I m Just a Vagabond Lover For some girls are quickly forgotten cnd gone with the dawn…
i m playing with fire I've heard about you Each word about you That ev'ryone has s…
I'm Just a Vagabond Lover Just a vagabond lover with a sweet serenade Just a vagabond…
I'm Playing With Fire I've heard about you Each word about you That ev'ryone has s…
If I Had A Girl Like You If I wasn't me, but a different sort of chap What…
If I Had You I could show the world how to smile I could be…
If You Were the Only Girl in the World If you were the only girl in the world And I…
Kitty From Kansas City I have traveled everywhere in most every state; I've met…
Let's Do It Chinks do it, Japs do it Up in Lapland little Lapps…
let's put out the lights No more company to feed; No more papers left to…
Life Is a Song Life is just a bowl of cherries; Don't make it serious; Life…
Little Kiss Each Morning We'll be so happy, we'll always sing If we remember one…
Lover Come Back To Me You went away I let you We broke the ties that bind I…
Mad Dogs and Englishmen In Tropical climes there are certain times of day When all…
Maine Stein Song Oh, fill the steins to dear old Maine Shout till the…
Makin Whoopee Another bride, another June Another sunny honeymoon Another …
Mary I Love You I love you, I love you, I love you, Sweetheart of…
Me Minus You You, you're driving me crazy What did I do? What did…
Meine Stein Song Oh, fill the steins to dear old Maine Shout till the…
My Blue Heaven [Chorus] I guess I'll have to change my plan, I should…
My Song Verse: All my pretty speeches are a bust And so I…
On the Good Ship Lollipop On the good ship Lollipop It's a sweet trip To a candy…
One of Those Songs [Chorus] I guess I'll have to change my plan, I should…
Orchid In the Moonlight When orchids bloom in the moonlight and lovers vow to be…
PS I LOVE YOU I love you, I love you, I love you, Sweetheart of…
Rain April showers, overhead offer me a chance To protect her fro…
Reminiscing Reminiscing, I feel you near Once more you're my love of…
Sing For Your Supper Hawks and crows do lots of things, but the canary only…
ST LOUIS BLUES I hate to see that evening sun go down I hate…
Stein Song Oh, fill the steins to dear old Maine Shout till the…
Sweetheart of All My Dreams I love you, I love you, I love you, Sweetheart of…
The Drunkard Song There is a Tavern in the Town There is a tavern…
The Glory Of Love You've got to give a little, take a little And let…
The Old Sow Song Tussi chhaddo na ji dil Tuhanu chhad ke ni jaande Raho be-kh…
The One In The World If you were the only girl in the world And I…
The One That I Love I love you, I love you, I love you, Sweetheart of…
The Stein Song Oh, fill the steins to dear old Maine Shout till the…
The Thrill Is Gone The thrill is gone! The thrill is gone! I can see it…
The Whiffenpoof Song To the tables down at Mory's To the place where Louie…
These Foolish Things Oh! Will you never let me be? Oh! Will you never…
Vieni Vieni Rudy Vallee Miscellaneous Vieni Vieni VIENI, VIENI Rudy Vall…
When Yuba Plays the Rhumba on the Tuba His name was Yuba, He was homely, he was dumb. And so…
Whiffenpoof Song To the tables down at Mory's To the place where Louie…
Would You Like to Take a Walk I saw you strolling by your solitary Am I nosy? Very,…
You re Driving Me Crazy You, you're driving me crazy What did I do? What did…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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FutureLaugh
You oughta be in pictures,
You're wonderful to see,
You oughta be in pictures,
Oh what a hit you would be!
Your voice would thrill a nation,
Your face would be adored,
You'd make a great sensation
with wealth and fame your reward;
And if you should kiss the way you kiss,
When we're alone,
You'd make ev'ry girl and man
A fan worshiping at your throne.
You oughta shine as brightly
As Jupiter and Mars;
You oughta be in pictures,
My star of stars.
Johnnyradionic
This song is lyrical genius. The wording of the tune is organic/alive. The skilled writers used a masking, “Indian Trail” technique wherein the listener cannot guess what word will be rhymed with the lead-in word. Not only are the lyrics genius, the overall sound of tune is superb; it must have been very popular in its day.
Bobby Wimsy
I think Cole Porter used this technique, to effortless match first rhythm, then music, and finally, his superb lyrics.
Bruce R
Thank you for the education!
I am continually astonished by how much I don't know.
K Kwok
I don't care what anyone says, Rudy Vallee rocked!
Stuart McKinney
According to MusicVF (a great site for checking out music that hit the charts), You Oughta was simultaneously charting for 20 weeks between May and September 1934 for both Little Jack Little reaching number 2, and Rudy Vallee reaching number 5. Music like this makes me wonder what would happen to an adult 'contemporary' radio station's ratings if they would spice up their playlist with a 'non-contemporary' tune like this. It's not how OLD it is, It's how GOOD it is that oughta count.
kenneth bromley
Rudy vallee! there will never be another equal for crooning the romantic lyric and what a personality,what a guy!
Bobby Wimsy
Boola, Boola!!
Anthony White
This song is long before my time but I think it’s brilliant
Craig Caddell
I LOVE THIS SONG.
o mundo do Andrew.S.Games™
Brasil?