Rudy Vallee sheet music from the movie Sweet Music, Warner Bros., 1935.
My Vagacond Lover, Rudy Vallee's first book movie, 1929
A handsome Rudy Vallee gives a sideview pose, send letters of support to get Rudy Vallee a stamp from the U.S. Post Office to the Citizens Stamp Adviosry Committee in Washington, D.C.
The Rudy Vallee Commemorative Stamp, click on the Image to sign the online petition
The Life and Times of the Original Crooner
and Show Biz Legend, Rudy Vallee
Queen Elizabeth II greeting Rudy Vallee at the Film Festival Command Performance, 1954
Then Gov. of California Ronald Reagan and Rudy Vallee.
Eleanor Vallee, Jack Lemmon and Rudy Vallee in New York City, 1964
Rujdy Vallee in his military uniform performing on NBC during World War II
Join the Rudy Vallee Stamp Campaign by sending a letter to Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee in support of the accepted application.
Support the Rudy Vallee Stamp Campaign by sending a letter of support to the Citizens Stamp Advisory Commjittee oif the U.S. Post Office in Washington, D.C.
Support the Rudy Vallee Stamp Camapaign.  Send a letter of support to the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee to urge them to approve the already accepted formal application.
Ed Bergen and his famous sidekick Charlie McCarthy pay a visit to Rudy Vallee and his Fleischmann Yeast Hour, 1939
Edgar Bergen and his famous sidekick Charlie McCarthy pay
a visit to
Rudy Vallee and his Fleischmann Yeast Hour, 1939.
Jane Russell partying with Eleanor and Rudy Vallee, 1960s
The Rudy Vallee Celebrity Gallery
Click Any Image
to Enlarge
Click Any Image
to Enlarge
An autographed picture of a young Rudy Vallee with his saxophone, send letters of support for the U.S. Post Office to issue a RudyVallee Stamp to honor this entertainment icon.
Born Hubert Prior Vallee in 1901, he changed his name to Rudy after
the famous saxophonist
Rudy Wiedoft.  During his college days, Vallee
played Wiedoft's records over and over, earning the 'Rudy' nickname
from his fellow students at the University of Maine.  Vallee later met his
idol and the two Rudys developed a friendship that lasted until Wiedoft
died.  One of Rudy's saxophones, which once belonged to Wiedoft,
was later sold to a Little Rock Attorney as a gift for then governor of
Arkansas,
Bill Clinton.

When Rudy transferred to Yale, he formed a band called the Yale
Collegians, and made his singing debut at the
Heigh Ho Club in New
York City, after hastily volunteering to handle the vocals himself
because he was fearful of losing the engagement. This launched the
crooning--a natural, soft, untrained style amplified by use of a
megaphone--that he made famous before
Bing Crosby and Frank
Sinatra
.  When WABC Radio in New York broadcast Rudy's shows from
the
Heigh Ho Club, he began using the "new" microphone, engaging
in a sensuous dance and sliding his fingers up an down the column.
Rudy Vallee's first two records were A Dream and Nola, recorded in
1921, and his final recordings were in 1973 narrating
Grimm's Fairy
Fales
.  He was first to record the classic song As Time Goes By, 13
years before
Casablanca was made.  The Fleischmann Hour, nationally
known as the
Rudy Vallee Hour--the first-ever radio talk show and the
idea of radio pioneer Bertha Brainard--debuted in 1928 with millions of
listeners, made Vallee a superstar and was a staple of radio listerners
in the 1930s.  It was a live variety revue and Rudy's guests were a
mixture of the famous and the unknown.  

He was the first to invite black musicians to be on his show, and in
appreciation, artists such as
Louis Armstrong and Josephine Baker
invited Rudy to their clubs in Harlem.  Among his blunders: turning down
The Andrew Sisters and believing that Barbra Streisand had no talent.

During his first nine months in New York, he became a legend.  At 28 he
wrote his autobiography,
Vagabond Dreams Come True.  He saved the
life of the sheet music industry during the Great Depression when sales
of everything but Rudy's music virtually stopped.  Vallee's starred in the
film
The Vagabond Lover in 1929, the first of 33 he would make.

In 1961 Rudy stared in the smash Broadway hit,
How To Succeed In
Business Without Even Trying
, making a huge comeback.  The show
ran for four years, and Rudy later starred in the movie version.
Queen Elizabeth II meeting Rudy Vallee at Film Festival Command
Performance
, 1954.  Elizabeth II was crowned only the year before.
Then California Governor Ronald Reagan and Rudy Vallee.
Jane Russell, second from left, with Eleanor and Rudy Vallee, 1960s.
Eleanor Vallee, Jack Lemmon and dapper
Rudy Vallee
sporting a straw hat, 1964.
Rudy Vallee directing orchestra in a scene from Second Fiddle with Sonja Henie and Tyrone Power, 20th Century Fox, 1939
Movie poster of The Palm Beach Story with Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea and Rudy Vallee
Click Any Image
to Enlarge
Click Any Image
to Enlarge
The Palm Beach Story
with
Claudette Colbert,
Joel McCrea and Rudy
Vallee
.  Paramount
Pictures, 1942)
A young Rudy Vallee resting on his saxophone in a very interesting portrait.  He was a star on stage, in movies and on radio and TV for over 50 years.
Movie poster of Unfaithfully Yours with Rex Harrison, Linda Darnell, Rudy Vallee and Barbara Lawrence, 20th Century Fox, 1948
A young Rudy Vallee looking dapper in a three piece suit.
Famed crooner, Broadway star, movie star, singer and musician and arranger Rudy Vallee
The Rudy Vallee Portrait Gallery
A serious Rudy Vallee in a portrait.
Click Any Image
to Enlarge
Click Any Image
to Enlarge
Movie star Rudy Vallee at this Hollywood Hills home, he was a big star for over 50 years.
Rudy Vallee in tuxedo with classy white coat with interesting wallpaper in the background.
Send personal letters of support of the Rudy Vallee
Commemorative Stamp Campaign, which will be submitted with
the formal application in March 2008 address it to the:
Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee
c/o Stamp Development
U.S. Postal Service
1735 North Lynn St., Suite 5013
Arlington, VA 22209-6432.

Then send it to
Promotion in Motion
6464 Sunset Blvd., Suite 755
Hollywood, CA 90028

Or you can send a note through email to
info@rudyvalleestamp.com
Rudy Vallee directing an orchestra in a
scene from
Second Fiddle with Sonja Henie
and
Tyrone Power (20th Century Fox, 1939).
An autographed picture of a young
Rudy Vallee with his saxophone.
John Bush of the All Music Guide wrote this of Rudy
Vallee's career.  "A stint at the exclusive
Heigh-Ho
Club
in New York gave him his first widespread
exposure (and an introductory catchphrase,
Heigh-Ho
Everybody
).  During the following year, he gained a
large audience through radio, vaudeville appearances,
and a feature film,
The Vagabond Lover.

"He'd begun recording that year, and burst out of the
gate with the immensely popular singles
Marie, Honey
and
Weary River.  Also in 1929, he began hosting the
radio show The Fleischmann Hour, a top-rated
program for over a decade that introduced into the
radio world stars including
George Burns, Gracie
Allen
, Edgar Bergen and Frances Langford.

"One year later, he paid tribute to his alma mater and
gained the biggest hit of his career.
Stein Song (The
University of Maine)
spent more than two months as
the most popular song in America, and later became
the official theme song for the school.  He continued to
appear in films during the 1930s, including the major
successes
George White's Scandals and Gold
Diggers in Paris
.  By the time of 1942's The Palm
Beach Story
though, Vallée had moved from romantic
lead to a talented eccentric character actor."

"He led a Coast Guard orchestra during World War II,
and found his last big hit, thanks to the film
Casablanca, with 1946's As Time Goes By, a song
recorded more than fifteen years earlier.

"After the war, Vallée returned to Hollywood for work
in film, radio, performance and later television.  The
biggest acting part of his career came in 1961, when
he portrayed a bombastic company president in the
Broadway hit
How to Succeed in Business Without
Really Trying
.

"
Without Really Trying (he reprised his role for the
1967 film as well). Vallée continued to appear in films
until the mid-'70s, and performed around the country
up to his death ten years later."
Rudy Vallee with his publicist Ed Lozzi visiting with Gary Grant on the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Hollywood in 1983
Coast Guard Lt. Rudy Vallee doing radio show
for NBC Radio Show during World War II.
Vintage Rudy Vallee Piano
Sheet Music from movie
Sweet
Music
, (Warner Bros. 1935).
Unfaithfully Yours with
Rex Harrison, Linda
Darnell
and Rudy Vallee ,
(20th Century Fox, 1948).
(RKO My Radio Pictures,
1929).
Rudy Vallee Assists the Post Office in their send holiday gifts early in 1929, here is with Postmaster Albert Firmin and veteral letter carrie William F. Kenny in Brroklyn
December, 1929: Rudy Vallee, in between
performances at the
Paramount Theatre in
Brooklyn, found time to visit with  
Postmaster
Albert Firmin
and veteran letter carrier
William F. Kenny at the Brooklyn Post Office
as part of a holiday send mail early campaign.*
Rudy Vallee Assists the Post Office
Brooklyn, 1929
Click to Enlarge
News Stories &
Letters from the Post
Office
Top Left: 12/29
Brooklyn Newspaper
Accounts of Rudy Vallee
Assisting Post Office;
Top Right: 12/4/29 Post
Office Press Release;
Bot Left: 12/9/29 Letter
from Postmaster Albert
Firmin; Bot Right:
12/28/29 Letter from Nat.
Fed of Post Office Clerks
*Post Office Materials Courtesy of Thousand
Oaks Public Library Special Collections
Press Release from Postmaster of United States about Rudy Vallee for his help in send holiday packages early in 1929
Headlines from Brooklyn newspapers regarding the send holiday packages early campaign getting Rudy Vallee's help, 1929
Letter for thanks from Postmaster Albert Firmin thanking Rudy Vallee for helping with holiday send packages early campaign, 1929
The Rudy Vallee Commemorative Stamp, click on the Image to sign the online petition
Close to Home: Stamp Would
Honor Late Rudy Vallee
The singer's wife lobbies the Postal Service for
a commemorative stamp of her late husband
By Melanie Creamer, Staff Writer October 8, 2008
James Dean has a commemorative stamp from the U.S. Postal Service.
Marilyn Monroe has one, and Frank Sinatra's stamp was just released. Now, it's Rudy Vallee's turn.

Eleanor Vallee, author of "My Vagabond Lover: An Intimate Biography of Rudy Vallee," is on a crusade to get a
commemorative stamp for her late husband, who grew up in Westbrook and became one of America's most loved
entertainers.

Vallee's application has been formally accepted for consideration by the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee. Now,
she needs one last surge of support to move the application process forward. She is encouraging local and state
officials and the public to write letters of support to the committee. She said her husband is more than deserving
of the recognition.

"This campaign is the most important thing to me. Rudy was an icon," his wife said.

Her goal is to secure the stamp by July for the rededication of Vallee Square, the building at 863 Main St. in
Westbrook that once housed the Vallee Drug Store, where Rudy worked as a soda fountain jerk.

"He always got a kick out of coming back to his old town. Rudy loved it there. Everyone was so gracious to us,"
his wife said, noting that she plans to attend the ceremony.

Rudy Vallee, famous for singing through his trademark megaphone, became popular in the late 1920s with the
Savoy Havana Band at London's famous Savoy Hotel. In 1928, he emerged on the national scene with the debut of
a radio talk show called the Rudy Vallee Hour, which drew millions of listeners and made Vallee a superstar. He
appeared in 33 movies, starred on Broadway, and had a number of record-selling hits.

Vallee's career spanned 50 years and involved every aspect of the entertainment business, said Brad Butler, an
account executive for Promotion in Motion, a public relations firm based in Los Angeles that was hired to run the
stamp campaign.

"He was a very interesting guy, small-town guy, who came out of nowhere and set the tone for guys like Bing
Crosby, Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra. He was the first popular singer that caused women to throw their
undergarments on stage. He was a ground-breaking entertainer. He was an icon in the entertainment business,"
Butler said.

The advisory committee receives roughly 50,000 applications each year. If the committee approves the request for
the commemorative stamp, it will be released July 28, 2011, Vallee's 110th birthday.

To learn more about his life or to send a letter of support, go to
www.rudyvalleestamp.com
Feature article from Portland Press Herlad in Maine in support of the Campaign to get a U.S. Postage Stamp for entertainment icon Rudy Vallee; send letter of support to the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee of the U.S. Post Office in Washington, D.C.
Left control panel for
Life is Just a Bowl of
Cherries, Right There's
A Tavern in the Town
Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries and There's A Tavern in the Town is a light hearted yet
serious song that represents an era and the style and grace of Rudy Vallee.
1983 Reunion,
Paramount Pictures:
 
Los Angeles PR Executive
Edward Lozzi, middle,
heard that Cary Grant was
visiting the Paramount
Pictures lot when Rudy
Vallee, his client from 1982
to '85, was filming a
commercial for the movie,
Airplane.  He went and
set, it was the first time
they had seen each since
working on
The Bachelor
and the Bobby Soxer
,
also starting
Myrna Loy
and
Shirley Temple, 35
years earlier.