[Deathwatch] Skitch Henderson, first 'Tonight Show' bandleader, 87

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

'Tonight Show' bandleader Skitch Henderson dies
New York Pops founder was 87

Wednesday, November 2, 2005; Posted: 3:07 a.m. EST (08:07 GMT)

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Music/11/02/henderson.obit.ap/index.htm
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NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (AP) -- Skitch Henderson, the Grammy-winning
conductor who lent his musical expertise to Frank Sinatra and Bing
Crosby before founding the New York Pops and becoming the first
"Tonight Show" bandleader, died Tuesday. He was 87.

Henderson died at his home in New Milford of natural causes, said
Barbara Burnside, spokeswoman for New Milford Hospital.

Born in England, Lyle Russell Cedric Henderson moved to the United
States in the 1930s, eking out a living as a pianist, playing
vaudeville and movie music in Minnesota and Montana roadhouses.

He got his big break in 1937, when he filled in for a sick pianist
touring with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. When the tour wrapped up
in Chicago, he used the original pianist's ticket and went to
Hollywood.

There he joined the music department at MGM and played piano for Bob
Hope's "The Pepsodent Show." His friendship with Hope put him in touch
with other stars of the day, including Crosby, who became a mentor to
Henderson.

He studied with the noted composer Arnold Schoenberg, and Henderson's
talented ear brought him renown from some of the era's most successful
musicians.

"I could sketch out a score in different keys, a new way each time,"
Henderson said earlier this year.

That quicksilver ability earned him the nickname "the sketch kid,"
which Crosby urged him to adapt to "Skitch." It stuck.

During World War II, Henderson flew for both the Royal Air Force and
the United States Army Air Corps. At his estate in New Milford, which
he shared with his wife, Ruth, Henderson kept a collection of aviation
memorabilia. Even at 87, he had said he hoped to fly the Atlantic once
more.

After the war, Henderson toured as Sinatra's musical director and lived
what he called a "gypsy lifestyle," touring the country with various
bands. It was Sinatra's phone call that lured Henderson to New York.

"Frank said, 'I'm moving the "Lucky Strike Show" to New York. Get rid
of those gypsies and get back here where you belong,"' Henderson
recalled in 1985.

He served as musical director for the "Lucky Strike" radio show and
"The Philco Hour" with Crosby. And when NBC moved to television, the
studio brought Henderson along as musical director.

In 1954, NBC pegged him as the bandleader for Steve Allen's "Tonight
Show," which brought Henderson into the nation's living rooms every
night. Even as the hosts changed from Allen to Jack Paar to Johnny
Carson, Henderson was a constant.

He founded the New York Pops in 1983, using popular tunes to make
orchestral music exciting.

"People come to hear music that's accessible to them -- old songs that
are powerful and don't go away," he said.

Even in his late 80s, Henderson maintained a tireless work schedule as
music director for the Pops, where he regularly served as conductor. He
also was a frequent guest conductor at a number of orchestras around
the world.

"I watch the public like a hawk. If I see boredom, I worry," Henderson
said. "You can tell by the applause: There's perfunctory applause,
there's light applause, and then there's real applause. When it's
right, applause sounds like vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce."


Many thanks to TheLenGuy for posting this obituary