Benjamin Albert Rolfe (October 24, 1879 - April 23, 1956) was an American musician known as "The Boy Trumpet Wonder" who went on to be a bandleader, recording artist, radio personality and film producer. October 24 is the 297th day of the year (298th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 68 days remaining. ... 1879 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... April 23 is the 113th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (114th in leap years). ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A musician is a person who plays or composes music. ... A bandleader is the director of a band of musicians. ... A gramophone record, (also phonograph record or simply record) is an analogue sound recording medium: a flat disc rotating at a constant angular velocity, with inscribed spiral grooves in which a stylus or needle rides. ... a Radio Personality is the modern incarnation of the disk jockey, or DJ. In the 1990s, successful radio stations began to focus less on the musical expertise of their hosts and more on the individual hosts personalities. ...

Born in Brasher Falls, New York, Rolfe was the son of a music director. At a young age he played the piccolo and cornet in his father's band, touring the U.S. East Coast as well as Europe. After high school, he worked as a musical clown in a traveling circus until joining the Majestic Theater Orchestra in Utica, New York. His work led to a position at the Utica Conservatory of Music where he was head of the brass instrument department. However, drawn back to show business, in the early part of the 20th century, he worked in vaudeville, producing a revue and serving as bandleader. State nickname: The Empire State Official languages None. ... A Yamaha piccolo. ... Bb cornet The cornet is a brass instrument that closely resembles the trumpet. ... East Coast can refer to: East Coast of the United States East Coast hip hop East Coast Park East-coast liberal East Coast Railway East Coast Akalat East Coast bias East Coast Music Awards East Coast Bays East Coast Main Line East Coast Greenway East Coast Parkway East Coast Swing... Europe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... A clown participating in a Memorial Day parade A clown today is one of various types of comedic performers, on stage, television, in the circus and rodeo. ... The Big Top of Billy Smarts Circus Cambridge 2004. ... This article is about Utica in New York, USA. For other places with this name, see Utica. ... Vaudeville was a style of multi-act theater which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s. ...

Silent film career

B.A. Rolfe's "Houdini Serial", 1919

In 1915, B.A. Rolfe turned his talents to the fledgling motion picture business, establishing his own production company, Rolfe Photoplays Inc. Although he filmed in California, Rolfe's productions were primarily made in and around Fort Lee, New Jersey and distributed through an agreement with Louis B. Mayer's Metro Pictures Corporation. Rolfe's company produced more than fifty silent films, several of which were collaborations with director/screenwriter Oscar A.C. Lund including the 1916 drama "Dorian's Divorce" starring Lionel Barrymore. For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as part of... State nickname: The Golden State Official languages English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles [[List of Governors of {{{Name}}}|Governor]] Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) [[List of United States Senators from {{{Name}}}|Senators]] Dianne Feinstein (D) Barbara Boxer (D) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 3rd 410,000 km² 4. ... Map highlighting Fort Lees location within Bergen County. ... Louis B. Mayer (July 4, 1885–October 29, 1957) was an American film producer. ... Metro Studios, Culver City, CA. in 1918 Metro Pictures Corporation was an American motion picture production company founded in 1916 by Richard A. Rowland (1880-1947) and Louis B. Mayer (1885-1957). ... A silent film is a film which has no accompanying soundtrack. ... Lionel Barrymore Lionel Barrymore (April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954), original name: Lionel Blythe, was an American actor of stage, radio and film, elder brother of Ethel and John Barrymore. ...

His film company's last production was the 1919 fifteen-part mystery serial titled The Master Mystery and starring Harry Houdini. Mounting financial difficulties resulted in Rolfe Photoplays Inc. going out of business and before 1920 he was making a living producing and directing films for Metro Pictures and other small independent production companies. Rolfe's last film, a directorial effort, was 1921's "Miss 139," notable in that he managed to get a credible performance from star Diana Allen, the less than talented but dazzlingly beautiful former Ziegfeld Follies girl. Serial is a term, originating in literature, for a format by which a story is told in contiguous installments in sequential issues of a single periodical publication. ... Harry Houdini became world-renowned for his stunts and feats of escapology even moreso than his magical illusions. ... The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. ...

Orchestra and radio performances

After leaving the film business, B.A. Rolfe quickly reestablished himself in the music business and by 1926 had assembled his own New York City dance orchestra to perform at a Broadway cabaret called the Palais D'Or. Soon billed as "B.A. Rolfe (Trumpet Virtuoso) and his Palais D'Or Orchestra," by 1928 he was performing on radio and recording as "B.A. Rolfe and his Lucky Strike Orchestra" for Edison Records. His radio broadcasts ran until the late 1930s during which time he and his orchestra played music with the sponsorship of Believe It Or Not! on NBC. Rolfe also acted as narrator for the shows, providing an on-air description of a Robert Ripley tale of wonder. With the onset of World War II, B.A. Rolfe organized an all-female orchestra to perform patriotic songs. New York City, officially named the City of New York, is the most populous city in the United States, and the most densely populated major city in North America. ... This article is about the street in New York City. ... Cabaret is a form of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue - a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting around the tables (often dining or drinking) watching the performance. ... Edison Records was the first record label, pioneering recorded sound and an important player in the early record industry. ... Ripleys Believe It or Not! deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that it is often hard to believe that they actually exist, but they do. ... The National Broadcasting Company or NBC is an American television broadcasting company based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... Robert Leroy Ripley, born December 25, 1890 in Santa Rosa, California, was an entrepreneur, an anthropologist and a cartoonist who created the world famous Ripleys Believe It or Not! series. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrination, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb. ...

B.A. Rolfe died of cancer in 1956 in Walpole, Massachusetts. When normal cells are damaged beyond repair, they are eliminated by apoptosis. ... Walpole is a town located in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. ...

External links

• B.A. Rolfe at the Internet Movie Database
• IMDb list of Rolfe Photoplays Inc. film productions