Buddy Greco, 90, jazz/pop singer/pianist, sometimes actor

[That Derek]

http://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-deaths/notable-deaths/article/buddy-greco-1926-2017

Buddy Greco (1926 - 2017)

By: Legacy.com Staff
52 mins ago

Buddy Greco, a best-selling jazz and pop singer and pianist, has died at the age of 90, according to KNPR 88.9 Nevada Public Radio. KNPR cited Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Norm Clarke, who tweeted that the singer had passed away today.

Buddy Greco was born Armando Greco in Philadelphia in 1926. He started playing the piano at the age of 4 and he was performing on the radio and in clubs at an early age.

Jazz legend Benny Goodman hired Greco to sing in his band when he was 16 years old. He toured the world for four years with Goodman’s band, singing, arranging and playing the piano. After leaving Goodman, he headlined clubs and began his recording career

Greco recorded hit songs in a variety of genres including jazz, pop and country music. His biggest song was his version of the standard “The Lady Is a Tramp,” which sold over one million copies. His other hit songs included “Up, Up and Away.” He recorded over 60 albums during his career. He played on a bill in the 1960s with the Beatles.

In the 1960s, he branched out and acted in television shows and movies. He appeared many times on the TV show “Away We Go” and was in the movie “The Girl Who Knew Too Much.”

He was a member of the Rat Pack and appeared with them on stage and television. His many celebrity friends included Peggy Lee and Marilyn Monroe. Buddy was a legend in Las Vegas who headlined shows at classic strip hotels including the Desert Inn.

Buddy spent much time in England and was a popular performer there. In 2013, he celebrated his 80th year in show business with a concert in England that featured such artists as Paul Young and Michele Collins.

Greco was married five times and was married to Lezlie Anders at the time of his passing. They often performed on stage together.

[That Derek]

Between BUDDY Bregman and BUDDY Greco, this is proving to be a bad week for music industry guys named "Buddy" who collaborated with Ella Fitzgerald.

Here's something more comprehensive from "The Hollywood Reporter":

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/buddy-greco-dead-pianist-vocalist-las-vegas-headliner-was-90-963312

Buddy Greco, Jazz Pianist, Vocalist and Las Vegas Mainstay, Dies at 90

5:17 PM PST 1/10/2017
by Mike Barnes

The swinging entertainer from Philadelphia had a hit in the 1960s with a version of "The Lady Is a Tramp."

Buddy Greco, a jazz pianist, vocalist and Las Vegas mainstay who recorded more than 60 albums and had a hit with a version of "The Lady Is a Tramp," has died. He was 90.

Greco died Tuesday in Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

Survivors include his wife, singer Lezlie Anders; they performed together for years, most recently on stage in the show Fever! The Music of Miss Peggy Lee.

Greco toured and recorded with famed bandleader Benny Goodman, performed on dozens of TV variety shows and was a popular act at The Desert Inn in Las Vegas. He often sat in with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. of The Rat Pack and collaborated with Ella Fitzgerald, Rosemary Clooney, Lena Horne and many others.

Born in South Philadelphia, Greco, whose father was an opera critic, began singing on the radio at age 4 and playing the piano at age 6. In 1946, he signed with the Musicraft record label and with his Three Sharps had his first hit with "Ooh! Look-a There, Ain’t She Pretty." He then spent a few years with Goodman.

In a 2007 interview, Greco said he was offered jobs for much more money but was urged by his dad to work with Goodman. "My father said, 'You go with Mr. Goodman and learn your craft, and you're going to thank me.'"

At Columbia Records in 1962, Greco recorded a finger-snapping rendition of Rodgers & Hart's "The Lady Is a Tramp," which became his signature tune. A year later, he appeared at The Royal Variety Performance for the Queen on the same bill as The Beatles and Marlene Dietrich.

Greco signed with Sinatra’s Reprise Records and in 1966 recorded the albums Big Band & Ballads and From the Wrists Down, in which he was accompanied by a 60-piece symphony orchestra in London.

Buddy Greco and His Jazz Friends was recorded in 1992 with fellow greats including Grover Washington Jr., Ernie Watts, Buddy DeFranco, Jack Sheldon and Toots Thielemans.

Greco's other notable songs included "Around the World," "Girl Talk," "MacArthur Park" and "The More I See You."

Greco hosted his own TV special in 1965 and two years later starred with comedian George Carlin and drummer Buddy Rich on the CBS variety show Away We Go, a summer replacement series for The Jackie Gleason Show. In 1969, he tried his hand at acting, appearing opposite Adam West in the crime drama The Girl Who Knew Too Much.

Greco met Anders at the Desert Inn, where she was a lounge singer, and they married in 1995. They opened Buddy Greco's Fine Dinner Club in Cathedral City, Calif., in 2006 and ran the place for three years before it closed.

In November, a frail-looking Greco appeared at his induction into the Las Vegas Entertainment Hall of Fame.

[A Friend]

In article <d2bad435-17db-49f6...@googlegroups.com>,
That Derek <that...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> He appeared many times on the TV show łAway We Go˛

That would have been appropriate, since he was the co-host (the other
hosts were George Carlin and drummer Buddy Rich). This 14-week series
was the summer replacement for Jackie Gleason's variety show in 1967.
(That also explains the title.) I remember liking it. Buddy Greco was
pretty funny. The first time I ever watched Mike Douglas's afternoon
variety show, Buddy Greco was the week's co-host, and I thought the
show was always that good. No, it wasn't, as I soon found out.