Ken Darby
Ken Darby was born in Nebraska, United States on May 13th, 1909 and is the Composer. At the age of 82, Ken Darby biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
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Kenneth Lorin Darby (May 13, 1909 – January 24, 1992) was an American composer, vocal arranger, lyricist, and conductor.
His film scores were recognized by the awarding of three Academy Awards and one Grammy Award.
He provided vocals for the Munchkinland mayor in The Wizard of Oz (1939), who was portrayed in the film by Charlie Becker.
Darby is also notable as the author of The Brownstone House of Nero Wolfe (1983), a biography of the home of Rex Stout's fictional detective.
Personal life
Kenneth Lorin Darby was born in Hebron, Nebraska, on May 13, 1909, to Lorin Edward Darby and Clara Alice Powell. Darby was married to Vera Matson from 1932 to his death in 1992.
Career
On the original 1942 Decca Records studio recording of "White Christmas," Ken Darby's choral group, The Ken Darby Singers, performed backup for Bing Crosby. They appeared on the first album to be made of the songs from The Wizard of Oz, a film on which Darby had performed in 1940. However, the album was a studio cast recording, not a true soundtrack album (although it did feature Judy Garland), and it did not use the film's original arrangements.
Darby appeared on "The King's Men," a vocal quartet that performed many songs with Paul Whiteman's orchestra in the mid 1930s and were among the featured vocalists on the Fibber McGee and Molly radio show from 1940 to 1953. He appeared on the Christmas episodes of Fibber McGee and Molly in the early 1940s, performing with the King's Men a musical interpretation of "A Visit From St. Nicholas" that he wrote about "T'was the Night Before Christmas" that he wrote about. They've also appeared on the soundtracks of several MGM films, including The Wizard of Oz and occasional Tom and Jerry cartoons. In the film Honolulu, the King's Men portrayed the Marx Brothers in a musical parody (Darby played one of two 'Grouchos' in the series). He also provided the theme song and the soundtrack for The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, the 1955-61 television series starring Hugh O'Brian, and Jim Bowie starring Scott Forbes.
He served as a composer and production manager for Walt Disney Studios, as the 1946 Disney film masterpiece Song of the South's choral and vocal director.
He was also Marilyn Monroe's vocal coach for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and There's No Business Like Show Business (1954).
Darby was also the primary composer of the 1956 Elvis Presley film "Love Me Tender," but he reserved the film's name to his wife, Vera Matson, who appears as co-lyricist and co-composer with Presley. The song was based on the Civil War-era song "Aura Lee." Presley's writing credit was ordered by his boss to compel him to perform the song. When asked about his decision to credit the song to his wife and Presley, Darby's response was typically a narcotic.
Darby, a lifetime fan of Nero Wolfe, Rex Stout's nefarious detective genius, wrote a detailed biography of Wolfe's house titled The Brownstone House of Nero Wolfe (1983).
Ken Darby died in the final stages of his last book, "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (1992), published on January 24, 1992.
He was buried at the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.