Composer, conductor, pianist, arranger and songwriter, educated at
Culver-Stockton College (BA). He also studied with his father, and with
Louise Robyn. He lived in Hannibal, Missouri (1934-1936) where he
supervised instrumental music.
Then he arranged and did piano work for NBC, CBS, and WGN for five
years. From 1943 to 1945, he arranged for the Navy Symphony in
Washington, DC. Then he arranged for and accompanied
Curt Massey, the
Dinning Sisters,
Dinah Shore,
Mel Blanc,
Johnny Desmond,
Stan Freberg, and
Gale Storm. He
composed, conducted and arranged music for a number of radio and
television commercials.
His chief musical collaborators were Ernie Ford, Kenneth Snyder, Al
Trace, and Burr Tillstrom. Joining ASCAP in 1954, he composed the
popular songs "Silly" and "You're A Character, Dear". His classical
works include "The Palm Springs Suite" and the opera "St. George and
the Dragon".