Celebrity Deathwatch: Larry Adler, Harmonica Virtuoso, 87

["Deathwatch Central" <cdw@slick.org>]

There's still no official confirmation on the day the (Lorenzo) Music died,
but in an unrelated event...

http://www.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/07/britain.obit.adler.ap/index.html

Harmonica virtuoso Larry Adler dies at 87
August 7, 2001 Posted: 10:09 AM EDT (1409 GMT)

LONDON, England (AP) -- Larry Adler, the virtuoso of the humble harmonica,
has died at age 87.

Adler died Tuesday morning at St. Thomas's Hospital in London, where he was
being treated for pneumonia, said his manager, Claire Evans.

She denied earlier statements by Adler's former manager, Jonathan Shalit,
that Adler died Monday and had been treated for strokes and cancer.

Adler played with the greats -- George Gershwin, Paul Whiteman, Jack Benny,
Django Reinhardt and, late in life, with Sting. Ralph Vaughan Williams,
Malcolm Arnold, Darius Milhaud and Joaquin Rodrigo composed for him. Billie
Holiday told him, "Man, you don't play that thing -- you sing it."

At heart, Adler remained the brash teen-ager who caused gasps in Britain by
striding up to King George V to shake his hand, rather than bowing.

When Adler played at the White House, President Harry Truman accompanied
"The Missouri Waltz." When the music ended, Adler cracked: "You're a hell of
a better president than you are a pianist."

He caught the showbiz bug growing up in Baltimore, reputedly entertaining
players at a local pool hall at age 2, singing "I've Got Those Profiteering
Blues."

At 10 he was the youngest cantor in the city, and got a place at the Peabody
School of Music -- which shortly dismissed him as "incorrigible, untalented,
and entirely lacking in ear."

At 14 he ran away to New York City, and sneaked into Rudy Vallee's dressing
room to plead for a break.

"You're a novelty, kid," he recalled Vallee telling him. "Save your money
because once they hear you, that's it. They'll never want to hear it again."

Vallee nonetheless hired him to play at the Heigh-Ho Club, and helped Adler
get a job playing harmonica for Mickey Mouse cartoons.

Adler became hugely popular in Britain in the 1930s after playing in a
London revue called "Streamline." Fan clubs sprouted all over the country,
and the composer William Walton said: "The only two young musical geniuses
in the world are Yehudi Menuhin and Larry Adler."

Adler teamed with dancer Paul Draper in 1941, a pairing that lasted until
1949, and he toured with Jack Benny to entertain troops during World War II.

In 1947 his earlier activity in anti-fascist groups led to a summons from
the House Committee on Un-American Activities

"My agent called me and said, 'Unless you're willing to come back to the
States, make a complete public, noncommunist affidavit, and then go before
the Un-American Activities Committee and name names, it's not worthwhile
your coming back,"' Adler said in a 1995 interview with National Public
Radio. So he stayed in Britain.

Adler's score for the 1953 film "Genevieve" was nominated for an Oscar,
though in someone else's name. He was not acknowledged as the true composer
until 31 years later.

Adler wrote books including "Jokes and How to Tell Them" and an
autobiography, "It Ain't Necessarily So."

Adler starred on an 80th birthday album, "The Glory of Gershwin," produced
by Sir George Martin, assisted by Cher, Sting, Sir Elton John, Robert
Palmer, John Bon Jovi, Meatloaf, Carly Simon, Elvis Costello, Lisa
Stansfield, Peter Gabriel and Sinead O'Connor.

One of Adler's favorite stories was about a party in Chicago, where a guest
interrogated the young performer about whether he attended synagogue
faithfully, and wrote to his parents.

Adler said he wrote every couple of weeks. As he told the tale to NPR:

'"What kind of kid are you?' he said. 'Look, kid, get your coat, go back to
your hotel, sit down and write your mother and father a letter. And this
Saturday, I don't give a damn how many shows you got to do, you're going to
go to shul like a good Jewish boy.'

"And I went over to the comedian in my show, and I said, 'Who's that
busybody I was talking to?' He said, 'You're kidding.' I said, 'What's his
name?' He said, 'Al Capone."'

Adler's two marriages ended in divorces. He is survived by four children,
two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, Shalit said. A private
funeral was planned, Evans said.

(rb)

Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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