Cast & creator
Rudy Vallee
Best known for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Mike Douglas Show, The Merv Griffin Show
Rudy Vallee started his career as a saxophone player and singer and later became a band leader. In the 1920s and early 30s he had a hit radio program, The Fleishmann's Yeast Hour (where he was hated by his cast and crew due to his explosive ego-driven personality). In the early 1930's he was ranked with the likes of Bing Crosby and the tragic Russ Columbo in the Hit Parade. A huge hit on radio in 1933 with his program, initially known as 'The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour,' Vallee was considered a slave driver by his staff. He was known to instigate fist fights with virtually anyone who got on his nerves. During the run of his show he slugged photographers, threw sheet music in the faces of pianists' heads and if provoked, would sock hecklers in the nose. While audiences loved him, he was hated by most of his staff. As a very popular star in night clubs and on records, as well as in movies, he helped other singers like Alice Faye - who was for a while his band singer - and Frances Langford to start their careers. In his early movies he often played the romantic lead, but he switched later to stuffy and comic parts. He also appeared on Broadway. The mid-60's Broadway hit "How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" was filmed in 1967 with him in his original Broadway role.
Also known as: Hubert Prior Vallée
60
film credits
20
television credits
78
1929–2015 · acting roles
6.5
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (80)
Showing 80 of 80 credits
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
1962
The Mike Douglas Show
Self - Co-Host
1961
The Merv Griffin Show
Self
1962
What's My Line?
Self
1950
Batman
Lord Marmaduke Ffogg
1966
Petticoat Junction
1963
The Name of the Game
Myron Lesser
1968
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self
1948
The Colgate Comedy Hour
Self
1950
Here's Lucy
Rudy Vallee
1968
Night Gallery
Dr. Francis Deeking
1970
Kraft Television Theatre
Bromley
1947
Alias Smith and Jones
1971
December Bride
1954
Your Show of Shows
1950
Ellery Queen
Alvin Winer
1975
CHiPs
Arthur Forbinger
1977
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour
Rudy Vallee
1957The Chicago Teddy Bears
1971
The RKO Story: Tales From Hollywood
Self
1987
Unfaithfully Yours
August Henshler
1948
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
Tommy
1947
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
J. B. Biggley
1967
Live a Little, Love a Little
Louis Penlow
1968
The Palm Beach Story
John D. Hackensacker III
1942
The Helen Morgan Story
Self
1957
Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood
Autograph Hound
1976
My Dear Secretary
Charles Harris
1948
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Self (archive footage)
1975
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock
Lynn Sargent
1947
Hollywood on Parade No. B-9
Self
1934
The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend
Charles Hingleman
1949
Men Who Rate a 10
Self
1980
I Remember Mama
Dr. Johnson
1948
Slashed Dreams
Proprietor
1975
The Night They Raided Minsky's
Opening Narrator (voice)
1968
The Unfaithful
Lyricist
1947
The Phynx
Rudy Vallee
1970
Going Hollywood: The '30s
(archive footage)
1984
So This Is New York
Herbert Daley
1948
Second Fiddle
Roger Maxwell
1939
Chita Rivera: A Lot Of Livin' To Do
Self (archive footage)
2015
It's in the Bag!
Rudy Vallee
1945
Mother Is a Freshman
John Heaslip
1949
Breakdowns of 1938
Rudy (archive footage) (uncredited)
1938
Betty Boop: Queen of the Cartoons
Self (archive footage)
1995
Father Was a Fullback
Mr. Jessup
1949
Glorifying the American Girl
Self
1929
The Admiral Was a Lady
Peter Pedigrew
1950
Gold Diggers in Paris
Terry Moore
1938
Time Out for Rhythm
Daniel 'Danny' Collins
1941
Gentlemen Marry Brunettes
Rudy Vallee
1955
A Trip Thru a Hollywood Studio
Himself (uncredited)
1935
People Are Funny
Ormsby Jamison
1946
International House
Himself
1933
Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood No. 6
1942
Things You Never See on the Screen
Self
1935
George White's Scandals
Jimmy Martin
1934
11th. Naval District "United States Coast Guard Band"
Himself - Bandleader
1944
Happy Go Lucky
Alfred Monroe
1943
Screen Snapshots (Series 23, No. 1): Hollywood in Uniform
Himself
1943
Ricochet Romance
Worthington Higgenmacher
1954
Lydia
Barker
Campus Sweethearts
1930
Kitty from Kansas City
Singer with Handlebar Moustache
1931
Man Alive
Gordon Tolliver
1945
The Fabulous Suzanne
Hendrick Courtney Jr.
1946
The Perfect Woman
Tock
1981Too Many Blondes
Dick Kerrigan
1941
The Vagabond Lover
Rudy Bronson
1929The Vagabond Lover
Songs
1929Hansel and Gretel
Father
1958
The Golden Twenties
Self (archive footage)
1950
Sweet Music
Skip Houston
1935
Rodeo Dough
Rudy Vallee
1940
Jazz Ball
Self (archive footage)
1956
Betty Co-ed
Himself
1931
Rudy Vallee Melodies
Self
1932The Musical Doctor
Dr. Vallee
1932Radio Rhythm
Rudy Vallee
1929