Rudy Vallee started his career as a saxophone player and singer and later became a band leader In the 1920s and early 30s he had a hit radio program The Fleishmanns Yeast Hour where he was hated by his cast and crew due to his explosive egodriven personality In the early 1930s he was ranked with the likes of Bing Crosby and the tragic Russ Columbo in the Hit Parade A huge hit on radio in 1933 with his program initially known as The Fleischmanns Yeast Hour Vallee was considered a slave driver by his staff He was known to instigate fist fights with virtually anyone who got on his nerves During the run of his show he slugged photographers threw sheet music in the faces of pianists heads and if provoked would sock hecklers in the nose While audiences loved him he was hated by most of his staff As a very popular star in night clubs and on records as well as in movies he helped other singers like Alice Faye who was for a while his band singer and Frances Langford to start their careers In his early movies he often played the romantic lead but he switched later to stuffy and comic parts He also appeared on Broadway The mid60s Broadway hit How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying was filmed in 1967 with him in his original Broadway role
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