A weekly feature in which my four-year-old son is let loose on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Los Angeles, and chooses a star from among the more than 2,500 honorees. His “random” picks sometimes reveal unexplained connections such as the summer day in 2012 when he sat down on the star of actress Celeste Holm and refused to budge. We later learned that the Oscar-winning actress had died only hours earlier.
Okay, after two weeks of the greats — Clark Gable and Elizabeth Taylor — Charlie returned to the more obscure celebrities represented on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. No matter how much I willed him to stop as he trampled over the stars of the recently departed Joan Fontaine and Eleanor Parker, he finally came to rest this week on the star of bandleader, occasional movie star, and radio/TV personality Fred Waring. Who, you ask? Could he be somehow connected to the Waring Blender you probably have at home in your kitchen?
Believe it or not…YES! In the 1930s Fred Waring financed a newfangled electric blender that an inventor named Frederick Osius had patented. In addition to finding its way into millions of kitchens around the world, the Waring Blender became an important tool in scientific research and was even used by Dr. Jonas Salk in the development of the polio vaccine. Who knew?
But the Walk of Fame is not designed to honor achievements in science or kitchen appliances — it’s about showbiz, baby! This was one of the first times that Charlie ever chose a star with an icon other than the one for the movies. While the majority of the more than 2,500 stars feature a classic film camera, there are four other categories represented by a TV set (for broadcast television), a phonograph record (for the music industry), an old-fashioned microphone (for radio) and comedy/tragedy masks (for theater). Believe it or not, Fred Waring has stars for three of these categories.
Born on June 9, 1900 in Tyrone, Pennsylvania, Fred Waring worked in film, radio and television from the 1920s to the 1980s. He starred with Dick Powell in the 1937 Warner Bros. film Varsity Show in which he appeared with his famous glee club, The Pennsylvanians. Dubbed “The Man Who Taught America to Sing,” Waring and his Pennsylvanians sold millions of records of their choral numbers including hits like “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” “Button Up Your Overcoat” and “White Christmas.” In the early 1940s, Waring recorded an obscure Civil War song called “Battle Hymm of the Republic” which became a huge hit and became a well-known part of this country’s patriotic repertoire. He was the first bandleader to have his own TV show, long before Lawrence Welk or Mitch Miller. His prime-time show ran for five years.
Over the years, Waring’s group accompanied stars such as Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. Later in life he led choral workshops for young people at Penn State. Waring’s songs were known for their precise diction. He decried the way young people shouted lyrics. “If a song is sentimental,” he said, “why scream? After all, you don’t get on a P.A. system and yell, ‘I love you.’ You whisper it in her ear!”
During the 1960s, Waring did not have much patience with the anti-war movement. As he continued giving patriotic concerts throughout the country, he had harsh words for draft-resisters. “We don’t get mad enough at these demonstrators at home,” he said at one concert to great applause. “If they want to burn their draft cards, let them, but let’s throw them on the fire, too.” Gulp!
Charlie is definitely not in agreement with that sentiment but he does enjoy a good Fred Waring tune. Here’s an interesting holiday-themed clip in which Waring is introduced by someone whose politics he surely did agree with: Ronald Reagan.
Okay, television has changed a bit during the past 60 years but you have to admire Waring’s expert band and choral direction! Fred Waring died on July 29, 1984.