Quick Facts
- NAME: Mel Torme
- OCCUPATION: Songwriter, Guitarist, Singer, Radio Personality, Journalist
- BIRTH DATE: c. 1925
- DEATH DATE: June 05, 1999
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Chicago, Illinois
- Full Name: Melvin Howard Tormé
Best Known For
Mel Torme was a singer, jazz vocalist, and composer active from the 1940s-1990s. He also wrote biographies of Judy Garland and Buddy Rich.
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Play NowMel Torme. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 02:36, May 23, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/mel-torme-9508917.
Mel Torme. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/mel-torme-9508917 [Accessed 23 May 2013].
"Mel Torme." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 23 2013, 02:36 http://www.biography.com/people/mel-torme-9508917.
"Mel Torme," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/mel-torme-9508917 [accessed May 23, 2013].
"Mel Torme," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/mel-torme-9508917 (accessed May 23, 2013).
Mel Torme [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 23] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/mel-torme-9508917.
Mel Torme, http://www.biography.com/people/mel-torme-9508917 (last visited May 23, 2013).
Mel Torme. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/mel-torme-9508917. Accessed May 23, 2013.
Synopsis
Mel Torme was born in Chicago in 1925. In show business from age four, Torme studied drums and songwriting while acting in radio soaps. His first song, "Lament to Love", was recorded by Harry James in 1941. Torme led his own vocal group, the Mel-Tones, then recorded a string of hits through the 1950s. He wrote biographies of Judy Garland and Buddy Rich,
and an autobiography. He died in 1999.
Profile
Vocalist, composer, and writer, born in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was involved in show business from age four, singing with the Coon-Sanders Orchestra (1929) and Buddy Rogers (early 1930s). He studied drums and songwriting while acting in radio soap operas (1934-40). His first song, "Lament to Love", was recorded by Harry James in 1941, and among his other compositions are "The Christmas Song" and "Born to be Blue". In 1942, he sang and played drums with Chico Marx, and then led his own vocal group, the Mel-Tones, in California until 1947. Thereafter, as the epitome of Cool School jazz singers, he toured as a headlining concert performer and recorded a string of hit records throughout the 1950s. He also appeared as an actor in many television drama series. He wrote biographies of Judy Garland and Buddy Rich, and an autobiography, It Wasn't All Velvet. Torme died of a stroke on June 5, 1999.
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