Celebrity Graveland

July 28, 1901 – July 3, 1986

Hubert Prior “Rudy” Vallée was a singer, radio host, actor and bandleader perhaps most widely regarded as the first “crooner.”  Like many of his successors, his soft, smooth voice was one that would have been completely useless in the days before the invention of the microphone.  But, as it were, when you come along during the height of radio, you don’t need to be that loud.  Of course, not all live venues at the time had microphones, so Rudy would tend to improvise and sing through a megaphone – something that became a bit of a trademark. Vallée played saxophone and clarinet in his youth. Later on, he had a successful band called Rudy Vallée and the Connecticut Yankees. He had hits such as “Life is Like a Bowl of Cherries” and “As Time Goes By.”  He was also in a number of movies including RKO’s The Vagabond Lover. Not without a sense of irony, vagabond lover Rudy, was married four times – briefly, to actress Jane Greer.  Rudy Vallée died of cancer in his home at the age of 84.

Burial

St. Hyacinth Cemetery – Westbrook, ME

Specific Location

There is a dirt road that runs along the front (west) section of the cemetery, Rudy is buried along this road near the intersection with St. Damasus Ave., there are six markers in front of the Vallée family stone, Rudy’s is the one on the far right.

This entry was posted on July 3, 2013 at 8:19 am and is filed under St. Hyacinth Cemetery with tags Bandleaders, Singers, St. Hyacinth Cemetery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.