Musician, Songwriter. Born in France, he made his orchestra a popular and much admired  band during the 1950s. He came to America during World War I and performed as a pianist in New York Ballrooms. He then organized his own orchestra, toured the US in a Vaudeville shows, then became music director and arranger for radio and for television networks. From 1952 to 1957, he was the bandleader for TV series “The Jackie Gleason Show”, the “Toni Twin Time” series and was conductor of Ed Sullivan’s CBS-TV “Toast of the Town”. His many song compositions included “You’re Everything That’s Lovely”, “In the Same Old Way”, “In My Little Red Book”, “The Wide Open Spaces”, “Sam the Vegetable Man”, “Let’s Make Up a Little Party”, and “If You Were Mine”. He died in Miami, Florida, at age 79. (bio by: John “J-Cat” Griffith)