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{{short description|American songwriter, arranger, vocal coach and lyricist}} |
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Charles Edward Henderson - songwriter, conductor, pianist, arranger, vocal coach, lyricist and author. Born in Massachusetts in 1907, he was considered a musical prodigy. Little Charlie was giving Bach recitals on piano at seven years old and began studying music theory at eight. his formal education included the Roxbury Latin School and Harvard University where he was a student of Walter Piston, Ernst Toch, and Victor Bay. He was a member of, and wrote much material for The Hasty Pudding Club productions and also wrote his first hit song, ''Deep Night'' with lyrics by Rudy Vallee during his college years. |
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{{Other people|Charles Henderson}} |
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'''Charles Edward Henderson''' (19 January 1907 – 7 March 1970) was a [[songwriter]], [[arranger]], [[vocal coach]] and [[lyricist]]. He and [[Alfred Newman]] were nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Academy Award for Best Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture)]] in 1945 for ''[[State Fair (1945 film)|State Fair]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1945 |title=The 17th Academy Awards |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]]}}</ref> |
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After his graduation from Harvard (''cum laude'') in 1928, he became the featured pianist and arranger for The Fred Waring orchestra, joining ASCAP in 1931. While with Fred he began his vocal music career by writing arrangements for Fred's trio, The Three Girlfriends (later known as The Three Waring Girls.) He married one of those girls, Ida Pearson and together they had two children, Sally (1933-) and Peter (1938-.) He left Waring in the early 30's to freelance around New York working with various bands and appearing as accompanist and arranger on frequent radio broadcasts. Maestro Andre Kostelanetz hired him to do his radio programs' vocal arranging and conducting and this eventually established him as the premier vocal master in the country. |
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Henderson was born in Boston, Massachusetts and died in Laguna Beach, California. |
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Inevitably he was noticed by the movie industry and Hollywood beckoned. Moving to California, he began a ten year stint in pictures, mostly at 20th Century Fox where he did the vocal direction on all the big Fox musicals of the forties, ''The Dolly Sisters'', the original ''State Fair'' and many others. His first big picture was with Irving Berlin and the production of ''Alexander's Ragtime Band.'' He also did the vocal arrangements that were heard all through the Disney blockbuster, ''Bambi.'' Another Disney feature he had a hand in was ''Fantasia.'' Charlie was also Betty Grable's personal vocal coach and toured with her during WWII as her conductor and accompanist. Somehow during all this plethora of movie jobs he, along with co-author Charles Palmer, found the time write a book for wannabe singers, ''How to Sing For Money''. |
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== Notable works == |
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But the end of the forties saw a big change in the movie industry as television was making serious inroads on movie revenues. The major studios began tightening their belts and contract personnel was being let go. So, seeing the writing on the wall, Henderson went to work in television, producing the show ''Stop The Music'' out of New York. After a couple of years of this Charlie was called back to Hollywood for more movie chores and did vocal directing on ''The Helen Morgan Story'' |
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*''[[Fantasia (1940 film)|Fantasia]]'' (1940) (choral arrangements for the Ave Maria sequence) |
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(Paramount) and ''The Music Man'' (Warner Brothers.) By this time he had remarried, having divorced Ida after fourteen sometimes stormy years. He had met his new wife while working on a Fox movie ''Four Jills In A Jeep'' in the early forties. She was a young starlet, Mitzi Mayfair and that union lasted another fourteen years. |
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*''[[Dumbo]]'' (1941) (vocal arrangements for "Song of the Roustabouts") |
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*''[[Bambi]]'' (1942) (choral arrangements) |
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*''[[The Bishop's Wife]]'' (1947) (vocal director) |
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*''[[The Enemy Below]]'' (1957) (vocal supervisor) |
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*''[[The Music Man (1962 film)|The Music Man]]'' (1962) (vocal arranger) |
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*"[[Deep Night]]" (composer) |
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*"[[The Right Kind]]" (composer) |
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;Broadway theatre |
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After returning to Hollywood, Charlie turned his music and lyric writing talents to writing special material and Las Vegas nightclub acts for various clients such as Jayne Mansfield, Anne Blythe, Nat Cole's widow, Maria and other notables. |
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*''Blackouts of 1949'' (1949); music also by Royal Foster |
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;Film music |
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Charles Henderson was semi-retired and living in Laguna Beach, California with his third wife, the former Bliss Jones when he passed away in March of 1970. In addition to Bliss, his survivors were his two children and six grandchildren. He also left a wonderful legacy of musical magic. His hit songs included ''Deep Night'', ''Carefree'' (the Kostelanetz radio theme), ''So Beats My Heart For You'' (lyrics), ''This Is The Chance Of A Lifetime'' and others. |
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*''[[The Rage of Paris]]'' (1938) |
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== Books == |
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* Henderson, Charles, with Charles Palmer (1939). ''How to Sing for Money: The Art and Business of Singing Popular Songs Professionally''. Hollywood, Calif.: G Palmer Putnam. {{oclc|896876}}. |
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== Citations == |
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<references/> |
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== External links == |
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* {{IBDB name|name=Charles Henderson}} |
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* {{IMDb name|id=0376367|name=Charles Henderson}} |
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{{Authority control}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Charles E}} |
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[[Category:1907 births]] |
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[[Category:1970 deaths]] |
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[[Category:American male songwriters]] |
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[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]] |
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Latest revision as of 00:36, 7 November 2024
Charles Edward Henderson (19 January 1907 – 7 March 1970) was a songwriter, arranger, vocal coach and lyricist. He and Alfred Newman were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture) in 1945 for State Fair.[1]
Henderson was born in Boston, Massachusetts and died in Laguna Beach, California.
Notable works
[edit]- Fantasia (1940) (choral arrangements for the Ave Maria sequence)
- Dumbo (1941) (vocal arrangements for "Song of the Roustabouts")
- Bambi (1942) (choral arrangements)
- The Bishop's Wife (1947) (vocal director)
- The Enemy Below (1957) (vocal supervisor)
- The Music Man (1962) (vocal arranger)
- "Deep Night" (composer)
- "The Right Kind" (composer)
- Broadway theatre
- Blackouts of 1949 (1949); music also by Royal Foster
- Film music
- The Rage of Paris (1938)
Books
[edit]- Henderson, Charles, with Charles Palmer (1939). How to Sing for Money: The Art and Business of Singing Popular Songs Professionally. Hollywood, Calif.: G Palmer Putnam. OCLC 896876.
