Ray Anthony
Anthony in 1950
Background information
Birth name	Raymond Antonini
Born	(1922-01-20) January 20, 1922 (age 102) Bentleyville, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres	Big band, jazz, swing
Occupation(s)	Musician, bandleader
Instrument(s)	Trumpet
Years active	1936–1998
Labels	Aero Space, Capitol
Spouse(s)	Mamie Van Doren ​ ​ (m. 1955; div. 1961)​

Ray Anthony (born Raymond Antonini; January 20, 1922) is an American bandleader, trumpeter, songwriter, and former actor.^[1] He is the last surviving member of the Glenn Miller Orchestra.

Biography

Anthony was born to an Italian family in Bentleyville, Pennsylvania, but moved with his family to Cleveland, Ohio, where he studied the trumpet. He played in Glenn Miller's band from 1940 to 1941^[2] and appeared in the Glenn Miller movie Sun Valley Serenade before joining the U.S. Navy during World War II as Miller joined the Army, organizing another famous military band before his 1944 disappearence over the English Channel. After the war he formed his own group. The Ray Anthony Orchestra which became popular in the early 1950s with "The Bunny Hop", "Hokey Pokey", and the memorable theme from the radio / television police detective series Dragnet.^[3] He had a No. 2 chart hit with a recording of the tune "At Last" in 1952; it was the highest charting pop version of the song in the U.S. His 1962 recording "Worried Mind" received considerable radio airplay.

In 1953, Anthony and his orchestra were featured when Helen O'Connell and Bob Eberly headlined a summer replacement program for Perry Como's CBS television show.^[4]

From 1953 to 1954, Anthony was musical director of the television series TV's Top Tunes, and he also appeared as himself with his orchestra in the 1955 musicale / dance film Daddy Long Legs starring Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron.^[3] In 1955 he married actress Mamie Van Doren. Their son Perry Ray was born on March 18, 1956. Anthony then began expanding his acting career.^[5] In 1956–1957 he starred in a short-lived television variety show, The Ray Anthony Show. Anthony also appeared in several films during the late 1950s, including The Five Pennies (in which he portrayed Jimmy Dorsey),^[6] and Van Doren's movies High School Confidential (as "Bix") and Girls Town. In the 1959–1960 television season, he guest-starred in the episode "Operation Ramrod" of star David Hedison's espionage series Five Fingers on NBC. Anthony and his band appeared in the movie The Girl Can't Help It (1956).^[6] In 1957, Anthony and his orchestra recorded the music score for the film This Could Be The Night,^[6] with vocals performed by Julie Wilson.

After Van Doren filed for divorce in 1958, citing "cruelty",^[7] they finally divorced in 1961,^[8] and Anthony's brief film career ended at about the same time. However, he continued his musical career and had another hit record with the jazzy drumming theme from the Peter Gunn private detective series featuring Craig Stevens, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart with its popularity enduring for decades. The B-side of this single hit "Peter Gun theme" also contains the Norwegian song "Tango for Two" written by Bjarne Amdahl and Alf Prøysen. Among the Anthony band's pianists was Allen "Puddler" Harris, a native of Franklin Parish, in Louisiana, who had been a member of the original rock singer Ricky Nelson's band, and Kellie Greene, who also played the vibraphone. Anthony's compositions include "Thunderbird", "The Bunny Hop", "Trumpet Boogie", "Big Band Boogie", and "Mr. Anthony's Boogie".

Anthony was considered one of the most modern big band leaders. In the lyrics to "Opus One", which imagine a number of players all performing the song, he is cited along with Les Brown and his Band of Renown:

If Mr. Les Brown can make it renowned
And Ray Anthony could rock it for me

Anthony became the last living member of Glenn Miller's band when trombonist Nat Peck died in 2015.^[9] He turned 100 on January 20, 2022.^[10]

Later career

In the early 1980s, Anthony formed Big Band '80s, with other members of the band including Buddy Rich, Harry James, Les Brown, and Alvino Rey.^[11]

Anthony, who has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, continues^[when?] to be active as a bandleader and musician. His later works tended to break away from the Big Band jazz style of his earlier days, ranging from MOR and lounge music to blues, film and television themes.

Anthony was a close friend of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, and appeared in numerous episodes of The Girls Next Door.

Discography