Skitch Henderson (born Lyle Russell Cedric Henderson, January 27, 1918; died November 1, 2005, New Milford, Connecticut) was a British-born American pianist, conductor, and composer. Jump to: navigation, search January 27 is the 27th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1918 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 60 days remaining. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... New Milford is a town located in Litchfield County, Connecticut. ... A pianist is a person who plays the piano. ... See Conductor for other possible uses of the word. ... Jump to: navigation, search A composer is a person who writes music. ...

Henderson credited Bing Crosby calling him "Skitch" because of his ability to quickly "re-sketch" a song in a different key, although he was using the name "Skitch" as early as 1940 and didn't work with Crosby until 1946. Jump to: navigation, search Bing wooed fans with a sensuous voice, wit, and good looks. ...

Both his parents were of Scandinavian descent. After his mother died in 1920, he was raised by his Aunt Hatty.

He died at his home in New Milford of natural causes.

Education

Henderson said he received classical training under Fritz Reiner, Albert Coates, Arnold Schoenberg, Ernst Toch and Arturo Toscanini, who invited him to conduct the NBC Symphony Orchestra. However, there is nothing in the archives of Schoenberg, whose life was extremely well-documented, reflecting the slightest association with Henderson. In the same vein, there is no readily available documentation of any study with Coates, who moved to South Africa the 1940s and died there in 1953. Fritz Reiner (December 19, 1888 - November 15, 1963) was a symphonic music conductor. ... Albert Coates (April 23, 1882 - December 11, 1953) was a British conductor and composer. ... Jump to: navigation, search Arnold Schoenberg, Los Angeles, 1948 For the American music critic and journalist, see Harold Charles Schonberg. ... Ernst Toch (pronounced similar to talk) (7 December 1887 - 1 October 1964) was a composer of classical music and film scores. ... Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (March 25, 1867 – January 16, 1957) was considered by many of his contemporaries — critics, fellow musicians, and the public alike — as the greatest conductor of his era. ... The NBC Symphony Orchestra was an orchestra established as a commercial venture in 1937 by General David Sarnoff of NBC in order to coax the recently retired conductor Arturo Toscanini to come to America. ...

Early career

He started his professional career in the 1930s playing piano in the roadhouses of the American Midwest, his major break being as an accompanist on a 1937 MGM promotional tour featuring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. Jump to: navigation, search // Events and trends The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the global depression. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1937 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... For alternate meanings of MGM, see MGM (disambiguation). ... Jump to: navigation, search Judy Garland, circa 1943. ... Actor Mickey Rooney speaks at the Pentagon in 2000 during a ceremony honoring the USO. Joseph Yule, Jr. ...

Henderson later said that as a member of MGM’s music department, he worked with Garland to learn "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" during rehearsals for "The Wizard of Oz" and played piano for her first public performance of the song at a local nightclub before the film was finished. However this account is at odds with the memoirs of the tune's composer, Harold Arlen, who first performed the song for the 14-year-old Garland. Harold Arlen, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1960 Harold Arlen (February 15, 1905 - April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music. ...

World War II

Although his official biography states that he joined the Royal Air Force when World War Two began and served as a fighter pilot before becoming a US citizen and joining the U.S. Army Air Corps as a bomber pilot, this cannot be confirmed in the historic record. Newspaper reports from the period show him in Los Angeles in 1940-1942 and in Los Angeles 1946. Additionally, no official biography lists the precise RAF or U.S. unit in which he claimed to have served. The Royal Air Force (often abbreviated to RAF) is the air force branch of the British Armed Forces. ... Jump to: navigation, search World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th-century conflict that... 1. ...

Radio

After the war, he worked for NBC Radio, where he was the musical director for Frank Sinatra's Lucky Strike Show and The Philco Hour with Bing Crosby. Henderson also played on Bob Hope’s Pepsodent Show. Jump to: navigation, search The National Broadcasting Company or NBC is an American television broadcasting company based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... Jump to: navigation, search Old Blue Eyes belts one out. ... Jump to: navigation, search Bing wooed fans with a sensuous voice, wit, and good looks. ... Jump to: navigation, search Bob Hope receiving Oscar Leslie Townes Hope KBE (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003), best known as Bob Hope, was a famous entertainer, having appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, on radio and television, movies and in army concerts. ...

His radio work includes:

• California Melodies debuted 1940, Mutual, KHJ (He was already using the nickname "Skitch" at this point).
• Songs by Sinatra 1946
• I Deal in Crime 1946, ABC
• Philco Radio Time starring Bing Crosby 1946, ABC
• Best of All 1954, NBC
• United States Air Force Presents 1969
• Skitch Henderson With the Music Makers

Jump to: navigation, search Bing wooed fans with a sensuous voice, wit, and good looks. ...

Television

In a career at NBC spanning 1951 to 1966, he succeeded Toscanini as music director for NBC Television and was the original conductor of the orchestras for The Tonight Show and The Today Show. Jump to: navigation, search 1951 was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... 1966 was a common year starting on Saturday (link goes to calendar) // Events January January 1 - In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa ousts president David Dacko and takes over the Central African Republic. ... The Tonight Show is NBCs long-running late-night talk and variety show, currently hosted by Jay Leno in Burbank, CA (near Los Angeles). ... Today (commonly referred to as The Today Show) is a morning news and talk show airing on the NBC television network in the United States. ...

• Match Game 1962-1963

After leaving NBC, his career took a downward turn. He was reduced to such odd jobs as giving motivational speeches at high schools to criticize Jim Morrison of The Doors for "obscenity." Jump to: navigation, search The Match Game was an American television game show where contestants tried to match a panel of six celebrities in answering fill-in-the-blank questions. ... Jump to: navigation, search Jim Morrison. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Doors, Legacy (Clockwise from top right): Jim Morrison, John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek The Doors (formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California) were a popular and influential American rock band. ...

Films

• Skitch Henderson and His Orchestra 1948
• Skitch Henderson and His Orchestra 1950
• Movietone Melodies: Murder in A-Flat 1952

He wrote Baby Made a Change in Me for the 1948 movie On Our Merry Way.

Legal problems

He was indicted on July 2, 1974, on charges of tax evasion for the years of 1969 and 1970 for claims about the value (allegedly $350,000) of a music library he donated to the University of Wisconsin. He further claimed that he had consulted on the value of his collection with Leonard Bernstein and Henry Mancini, both of whom denied the claims. A signature on an acceptance letter from the library director was also deemed a forgery. Jump to: navigation, search July 2 is the 183rd day of the year (184th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 182 days remaining. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search The University of Wisconsin was founded in 1848 and is the largest university in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. ... Bernstein with conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, at the 1974 Charles Ives Centenary Concert in Danbury, Connecticut. ... Jump to: navigation, search Henry Mancini (April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994), was a noted American composer and arranger. ...

Henderson was sentenced January 17, 1975 to 6 months in prison and fined $10,000. He began serving his sentence at a minimum-security Federal prison on April 9, 1975 and was released on August 4 of that year. Jump to: navigation, search January 17 is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... April 9 is the 99th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (100th in leap years). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search August 4 is the 216th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (217th in leap years), with 149 days remaining. ...

Conducting career

In 1983 he founded the New York Pops Orchestra. He conducted numerous symphonic orchestras throughout the world. Jump to: navigation, search 1983 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Recordings

Among his hundreds of recordings, spanning the era of 78s to DVDs, were two recent releases as pianist for Arbors Records, and also as conductor of The New York Pops with Maureen McGovern on With a Song in My Heart: The Great Songs of Richard Rodgers for Reader's Digest and Centaur Records. A former secretary, Maureen McGovern quickly became the new it singer in 1973 with the Oscar-winning Morning After. ... Jump to: navigation, search An autographed photo of Richard Rodgers Richard Rodgers (June 18, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was one of the great composers of musical theater, best known for his song writing partnerships with Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II. He wrote more than 900 published songs, and forty... The cover of the May 2004 issue of Readers Digest. ...

He conducted a 1963 recording for RCA of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess with Leontyne Price and William Warfield that won a Grammy. Jump to: navigation, search 1963 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... RCA, formerly an initialism for the Radio Corporation of America, is now a trademark used by two companies for products descended from that common ancestor: Thomson SA, which manufactures consumer electronics like RCA-branded televisions, DVD players, video cassette recorders, direct broadcast satellite decoders, camcorders, audio equipment, telephones, and related... Jump to: navigation, search George Gershwin photograph by Edward Steichen in 1927. ... The cast of Porgy and Bess during the Boston try-out prior to the Broadway opening. ... The soprano Mary Violet Leontyne Price (born February 10, 1927) is an African American opera singer. ... Portrait of William Warfield by Carl Van Vechten, Feb. ... Grammy Award statuette The Grammy Awards, presented by the Recording Academy (an association of Americans professionally involved in the recorded music industry) for outstanding achievements in the recording industry, is one of four major music awards shows held annually in the United States (the Billboard Music Awards, the American Music...

Personal life

Henderson married Ruth Einsiedel in 1958 and raised two children, Hans and Heidi. They owned and operated "The Silo," a renowned store, art gallery, and cooking school in New Milford, Connecticut from 1972 until his death. In 2003 Ruth and Skitch Henderson co-founded the Hunt Hill Farm Trust, an effort to preserve their farm’s land and buildings and to celebrate Americana in music, art and literature through the creation of a living museum. New Milford is a town located in Litchfield County, Connecticut. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2003 (MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Awards and honors

An affiliation with the Smithsonian Institution resulted in the Trust’s inaugural exhibit: Skitch Henderson: A Man and His Music. On January 29, 2005, the Smithsonian awarded him the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal in recognition of his contributions to American culture. The Smithsonian Institution Building or Castle on the National Mall serves as the Institutions headquarters. ... Jump to: navigation, search January 29 is the 29th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...

Henderson was honored for the vital role he played in the cultural life of New York, including receiving New York City’s Handel Medallion. He was also the recipient of three honorary degrees – from St. Thomas Aquinas College, the University of South Florida, and Western Connecticut State University. Saint Thomas Aquinas College is a private four-year, liberal arts college in Rockland County, New York. ... Jump to: navigation, search University of South Florida State University System of Florida FAMU FAU FGCU FIU FSU NCF UCF UF UNF USF UWF The University of South Florida, or USF, is a public university located in Tampa, Florida, USA, with branch campuses in St. ... Western Connecticut State University (WestConn) is a public university in Danbury, Connecticut. ...

Miscellaneous

The Retro Swing Band at the University of Wisconsin plays arrangements from "The Tonight Show" and the BBC Dance Band included in the Skitch Henderson Collection at the Mills Music Library.

References

• Ol' Blue Eyes and me. Patrice, John, Evening Mail (Birmingham, England), Feb 2, 2005.
• Skitch Henderson The New York Pops biography
• The Road From Vaudeville to Carnegie Hall
• Associated Press: Skitch Henderson Dies at 87
• Hunt Hill Farm Trust