Content deleted Content added
Citation bot (talk | contribs) Add: date. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by Spinixster | Category:American bandleaders | #UCB_Category 13/335 |
|||
| (2 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{Short description|American bandleader (1897–1984)}}
{{More citations needed|date=July 2015}}
{{Infobox musical artist
Line 18 ⟶ 19:
'''Henry Halstead''' (November 16, 1897 – March 19, 1984) was an American bandleader. His orchestra began in early 1922<ref name="Coffin2012"/> and over the next twenty years had regular engagements at hotels in New York and California.
Halstead had from 15 to 20 band members at any given time. His orchestra appeared in numerous short subjects on the screen and made over 100 records, mainly with [[Victor Records]]. He appeared in short films released by [[RKO Radio]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Henry Halstead and his Orchestra|url=https://syncopatedtimes.com/henry-halstead-and-his-orchestra/ |website=Red Hot Jazz Archive |date=7 April 2020 |accessdate=7 April 2020 }}</ref>
After rising to fame on radio and on the west coast, his orchestra was named the Favorite Band of Movieland. His fans included [[Marion Davies]], [[Sylvia Sidney]], [[Fredric March]], [[Claudette Colbert]], [[Kay Francis]], [[Rudolph Valentino]], [[Roscoe Arbuckle]], [[Maurice Chevalier]], [[Clark Gable]], [[Norma Shearer]], [[Greta Garbo]], [[Clive Brook]], [[Gary Cooper]], [[Marian Nixon]], [[Jack Oakie]], [[Charles Rogers (actor)|Buddy Rogers]], and [[Ruth Chatterton]].
==Career==
Line 46 ⟶ 47:
The orchestra performed at the Blossom Room at Hotel Roosevelt, New York City; the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California; the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco; the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago; and a season at Fatty Arbuckle's "Plantation" in Culver City where such entertainers as [[Al Jolson]], [[Sophie Tucker]], [[Gus Edwards (vaudeville)|Gus Edwards]], and [[Leatrice Joy]] were headliners on his shows.
Hollywood actor [[Lew Ayres]] was discovered in the Henry Halstead band in 1927. Ayres said "I was a member of Henry Halstead's orchestra in 1927 at the Mission Beach Ballroom, San Diego, California...summer. My instruments were tenor banjo, long-neck banjo and guitar. After a hiatus, I rejoined Mr. Halstead with a new group, including Phil Harris, on New Years Eve the same year for the opening night of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel... a memorable occasion." Henry Halstead is given credit for making the first [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] [[Vitaphone]] movie short with Warner Brothers in 1927 called ''Carnival Night in Paris'' where [[Lew Ayres]] was discovered playing banjo.<ref name="Coffin2012"/> The three music selections for the Vitaphone production where listed as follows: 1. Volga Boatman, 2. At Sundown, 3. Rosy Cheeks.
Halstead was on the cover of ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' issue of July 27, 1935 at that time known as Henry "Hank" Halstead and His Cocoanut Grove Orchestra playing at the Hotel-Park Central, New York.
| |||