Tony Martin (American singer) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tony Martin
|
|
|---|---|
Martin in 1953
|
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Alvin Morris |
| Born | December 25, 1913 San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Died | July 27, 2012 (aged 98) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, actor |
| Years active | 1933–2009 |
| Labels |
|
Alvin Morris (born December 25, 1913 – died July 27, 2012), known by his stage name Tony Martin, was a famous American singer and actor. He had a very long career, lasting over 70 years!
Tony Martin became well-known in the late 1930s and 1940s. He sang many popular songs like "Walk Hand in Hand", "I Love Paris", "Stranger in Paradise", and "I Get Ideas". He was married to the famous actress and dancer Cyd Charisse for 60 years. Their marriage lasted from 1948 until she passed away in 2008.
Contents
Tony Martin's Early Life and Career Beginnings
Alvin Morris was born on December 25, 1913, in San Francisco, California. His family was Jewish, and his grandparents had moved to the U.S. from Eastern Europe. He grew up in Oakland, California. When he was ten, his grandmother gave him a saxophone. He also learned to play the clarinet.
Tony went to Oakland High School and later to St. Mary's College. In his school music club, he played instruments and sang. He even started his first band, called "The Red Peppers." Later, he joined a local orchestra led by Tom Gerun, playing saxophone next to Woody Herman, who would also become a famous bandleader. After college, Tony moved to Hollywood to try acting in movies. This is when he chose the name Tony Martin.
Tony Martin on Radio and TV
Tony Martin was a popular voice on the radio. In the early 1940s, he sang and hosted a show called Tune-Up Time on CBS. He also had his own television show on NBC in the mid-1950s.
He was a regular singer on the George Burns and Gracie Allen radio show. Gracie Allen would often joke with Tony on the show. She would playfully flirt with him and pretend to fire him.
Tony Martin's Film Career
Tony Martin started his film career with small roles. One of his first parts was as a sailor in the movie Follow the Fleet (1936), which starred Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. He later signed contracts with big movie studios like 20th Century-Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He starred in many musical films.
Between 1938 and 1942, he released many hit songs with Decca. In 1941, he appeared with the famous Marx Brothers in their last movie for MGM, The Big Store. In the film, he played a rising singer and performed a song called "Tenement Symphony." Tony Martin was the last living actor to have worked with the Marx Brothers.
Tony Martin's Military Service
Tony Martin joined the United States Navy in 1942. Later that year, he left the Navy. After leaving the Navy, he asked to join the military again right away. He was then drafted into the Army and joined the United States Army Air Forces.
He was assigned to Captain Glenn Miller's band because Miller thought he was the best singer in the armed forces. Tony Martin felt very lucky to be part of that band. He was later promoted and stationed in India. There, he helped form a group of amateur performers from the military to entertain the troops at different bases.
Music Success After the War
After World War II, Tony Martin signed with Mercury Records. This was a smaller record company at the time. In 1946 and 1947, he recorded 25 songs for Mercury. One of these, "To Each His Own" (recorded in 1946), sold over a million copies! This success led to a contract offer from RCA Victor, another big record label, which he signed in 1947.
He continued to appear in musical films during the 1940s and 1950s. His performance of "Lover Come Back to Me" in the 1954 film Deep in My Heart was a highlight. He also starred in the Show Boat part of the 1946 film Till the Clouds Roll By.
In 1958, Tony Martin became the highest-paid performer in Las Vegas. He signed a five-year deal at the Desert Inn, earning $25,000 a week. In the mid-1960s, he even recorded for the Motown Records label, which was unusual for him. He had a small hit with the song "Talkin' To Your Picture." In the 1970s, he was a spokesperson for a brand of pantyhose. Tony Martin continued his singing career well into his nineties.
Tony Martin's Personal Life
Tony Martin was married twice. His first marriage was to actress Alice Faye, but they divorced in 1940.
In 1948, Tony Martin married the famous actress and dancer Cyd Charisse. They had a very long and happy marriage that lasted 60 years, until Cyd's death in 2008. They had one son together, Tony Martin, Jr., who passed away in 2011.
Tony Martin died on July 27, 2012, at the age of 98, from natural causes. He was buried in the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California. Many people remembered him as one of the last big stars from the "golden age" of Hollywood musicals.
Selected Songs by Tony Martin
Tony Martin had many popular songs throughout his career. Some of his well-known hits include:
- "The Moon of Manakoora" (1938)
- "I Hadn't Anyone Till You" (1938)
- "It's a Blue World" (1940)
- "To Each His Own" (1946)
- "There's No Tomorrow" (1949)
- "I Said My Pajamas (and Put on My Pray'rs)" (1950)
- "La Vie en rose" (1950)
- "I Get Ideas" (1951)
- "Kiss of Fire" (1952)
- "Stranger in Paradise" (1954)
- "Here (In This Enchanted Place)" (1954)
- "Walk Hand in Hand" (1956)
Selected Films by Tony Martin
Tony Martin appeared in many movies, especially musicals. Here are a few of them:
- Follow the Fleet (1936)
- Poor Little Rich Girl (1936)
- You Can't Have Everything (1937)
- Ziegfeld Girl (1941)
- The Big Store (1941)
- Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)
- Casbah (1948)
- Two Tickets to Broadway (1951)
- Here Come the Girls (1953)
- Easy to Love (1953)
- Deep in My Heart (1954)
- Hit the Deck (1955)
- Let's Be Happy (1957)
Images for kids
-
Martin in 1953
See also
In Spanish: Tony Martin (cantante estadounidense) para niños
