Ray Anthony

Ray Anthony
Ray Anthony
	Ray Anthony in 1950
Background information
Birth name	Raymond Antonini
Born	January 20, 1922 (age 102); Bentleyville, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres	Big band, jazz, swing
Occupation(s)	Musician, bandleader
Instrument(s)	Trumpet
Years active	1936–1998
Labels	Aero Space, Capitol
Spouse(s)	Mamie Van Doren (m. 1955; div. 1961)

Ray Anthony (born Raymond Antonini; January 20, 1922) is an American retired bandleader, trumpeter, songwriter and actor.^[1] He is the last living member of the Glenn Miller Orchestra.

Biography

Anthony was born to an Italian family in Bentleyville, Pennsylvania, but moved with his family to Cleveland, Ohio, where he studied the trumpet. He played in Glenn Miller's band from 1940 to 1941^[2] and appeared in the Glenn Miller movie Sun Valley Serenade before joining the U.S. Navy during World War II as Miller joined the Army, organizing another famous military band before his 1944 disappearance over the English Channel. After the war he formed his own group. The Ray Anthony Orchestra which became popular in the early 1950s with "The Bunny Hop", "Hokey Pokey", and the memorable theme from the radio/television police detective series Dragnet.^[3] He had a No. 2 chart hit with a recording of the tune "At Last" in 1952; it was the highest charting pop version of the song in the U.S. His 1962 recording "Worried Mind" received considerable radio airplay.

In 1953, Anthony and his orchestra were featured when Helen O'Connell and Bob Eberly headlined a summer replacement program for Perry Como's CBS television show.^[4]

From 1953 to 1954, Anthony was musical director of the television series TV's Top Tunes, and he also appeared as himself with his orchestra in the 1955 musicale/dance film Daddy Long Legs starring Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron.^[3] In 1955 he married actress Mamie Van Doren. Their son Perry Ray was born on March 18, 1956. Anthony then began expanding his acting career.^[5] In 1956–1957 he starred in a short-lived television variety show, The Ray Anthony Show. Anthony also appeared in several films during the late 1950s, including The Five Pennies (in which he portrayed Jimmy Dorsey),^[6] and Van Doren's movies High School Confidential (as "Bix") and Girls Town. In the 1959–1960 television season, he guest-starred in the episode "Operation Ramrod" of star David Hedison's espionage series Five Fingers on NBC. Anthony and his band appeared in the movie The Girl Can't Help It (1956).^[6] In 1957, Anthony and his orchestra recorded the music score for the film This Could Be The Night,^[6] with vocals performed by Julie Wilson.

After Van Doren filed for divorce in 1958, citing "cruelty",^[7] they finally divorced in 1961,^[8] and Anthony's brief film career ended at about the same time. However, he continued his musical career and had another hit record with the jazzy drumming theme from the Peter Gunn private detective series featuring Craig Stevens, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart with its popularity enduring for decades. The B-side of this single hit "Peter Gun theme" also contains the Norwegian song "Tango for Two" written by Bjarne Amdahl and Alf Prøysen. Among the Anthony band's pianists was Allen "Puddler" Harris, a native of Franklin Parish, in Louisiana, who had been a member of the original rock singer Ricky Nelson's band, and Kellie Greene, who also played the vibraphone. Anthony's compositions include "Thunderbird", "The Bunny Hop", "Trumpet Boogie", "Big Band Boogie", and "Mr. Anthony's Boogie".

Anthony was considered one of the most modern big band leaders. In the lyrics to "Opus One", which imagine a number of players all performing the song, he is cited along with Les Brown and his Band of Renown:

If Mr. Les Brown can make it renowned
And Ray Anthony could rock it for me

Anthony became the last living member of Glenn Miller's band when trombonist Nat Peck died in 2015.^[9] He turned 100 on January 20, 2022.^[10]

Later career

In the early 1980s, Anthony formed Big Band '80s, with other members of the band including Buddy Rich, Harry James, Les Brown, and Alvino Rey.^[11]

Anthony, who has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame,^[12] continues^[when?] to be active as a bandleader and musician. His later works tended to break away from the Big Band jazz style of his earlier days, ranging from MOR and lounge music to blues, film and television themes.

Anthony was a close friend of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, and appeared in numerous episodes of The Girls Next Door.

Discography

Year	Album^[13]	Label	Catalog Number
1950	Dance Time (split album with Jan Garber [one side by each])	Capitol	H-199
1951	Arthur Murray Favorites: Fox Trots	Capitol	H-258
1952	Houseparty Hop	Capitol	H-292
1952	Campus Rumpus!	Capitol	H-362
1953	The Young Man With The Horn	Capitol	H-373
1953	The Anthony Choir	Capitol	H-442
1954	I Remember Glenn Miller	Capitol	H-476
1954	Ray Anthony Plays TV's Top Tunes	Capitol	H-9118
1954	Arthur Murray Swing Fox Trots	Capitol	H-546
1955	Golden Horn	Capitol	T-563
1955	Swingin' On Campus!	Capitol	T-645
1955	Standards By Ray Anthony	Capitol	T-663
1955	Big Band Dixieland	Capitol	T-678
1956	Dream Dancing	Capitol	T-723
1956	Jam Session at the Tower	Capitol	T-749
1957	Dancers in Love	Capitol	T-786
1957	Star Dancing	Capitol	T-831
1957	Young Ideas	Capitol	T-866
1957	This Could Be The Night	MGM	E3530 ST
1958	Moments Together	Capitol	T-917
1958	The Dream Girl	Capitol	T-969
1958	Dancing Over the Waves	Capitol	T-1028
1958	Anthony Plays Steve Allen	Capitol	T-1086
1959	Anthony Italiano	Capitol	ST-1149
1959	Sounds Spectacular	Capitol	ST-1200
1959	More Dream Dancing	Capitol	ST-1252
1960	Like Wild!	Capitol	ST-1304
1960	Dancing Alone Together: Torch Songs For Lovers	Capitol	ST-1420
1960	The New Ray Anthony Show	Capitol	ST-1421
1961	That's Show Biz	Capitol	ST-1496
1959	Swing-Dance-Dream to 'The Unsinkable Molly Brown'	Capitol	ST-1576
1961	Dream Dancing Medley	Capitol	ST-1608
1961	The Twist	Capitol	ST-1668
1962	Worried Mind: The Soul Of Country Western Blues	Capitol	ST-1752
1962	I Almost Lost My Mind: The Soul Of Big City Rhythm & Blues	Capitol	ST-1783
1963	Smash Hits of '63!	Capitol	ST-1917
1964	Charade and Other Top Themes	Capitol	ST-2043
1961	My Love, Forgive Me (Amore Scusami)	Capitol	ST-2150
1964	Swim, Swim, C'mon and Swim	Capitol	ST-2188
1966	Dream Dancing Today	Capitol	ST-2457
1966	Hit Songs to Remember	Capitol	ST-2530
1966	To Each His Own	Sears	SP-429
1967	Today's Trumpet	Capitol	ST-2750
1968	Ray Anthony Now	Ranwood	RLP-8033
1969	Lo Mucho Que Te Quiero (The More I Love You)	Ranwood	RLP-8046
1969	Love Is For The Two Of Us [AKA Great Country Music Hits]	Ranwood	RLP-8059
1970	I Get The Blues When It Rains [reissue of Ray Anthony Now]	Ranwood	RLP-8062
1971	Direction '71: My Sweet Lord	Ranwood	RLP-8078
1971	Dream Dancing in Hawaii	Aero Space	RA-1004
1972	Dream Dancing Around The World	Aero Space	SR 1007
1975	A Little Bit Country	Capitol	SM-11411
1976	Great Golden Hits	Ranwood	R-8153
1978	Touch Dancing	Aero Space	RA-1008
1978	Swing Goes On Vol. 10	Capitol	1 C 054-52 719
1978	Dance Along	Sunnyvale	SVL-1018
1980	Big Band Series/Original Recording	Picc-a-dilly	PIC-3422
1981	Volume II-Big Band Series	Picc-a-dilly	PIC-3545
1987	Best 20	Capitol	CP32-5391
1988	A Música De Glenn Miller	Capitol	054 791016
1988	1988 & All That Jazz	Aero Space	RACD-1030
1989	Ray Anthony	Capitol	CP28-5908
1993	In The Miller Mood Vol. II	Aero Space	RACD-1037