Art Lund

Born Arthur London on 1 April 1915 in Salt Lake City, Utah, the future performer died on 2 June 1990 in Salt Lake City, Iowa. As both actor and vocalist, he combined a powerful baritone with striking physical presence. Early engagements included a stint alongside Jimmy Joy’s Band; by the closing years of the 1930s Benny Goodman had taken notice. Two separate periods with Goodman’s orchestra in the 1940s were interrupted by four years of naval service in the South Pacific. While with Goodman he shared a microphone with Peggy Lee on “Winter Weather” and contributed vocals to such sides as “Don’t Be A Baby, Baby,” “I Don’t Know Enough About You,” and the widely embraced “Blue Skies.”

Launching a solo career in 1947, Lund scored an immediate U.S. chart-topper with the Mack Gordon–Edmund Goulding ballad “Mam’selle.” Through 1953 he followed it with additional successes that included “Peg O’ My Heart,” “And Mimi,” “But Beautiful,” “Love Is So Terrific,” “Hair Of Gold” (recorded with the Crew Chiefs), “You Call Everybody Darling,” “On A Slow Boat To China,” “I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm,” “Mona Lisa,” “Cincinatti Ding Dong,” and “Crying In The Chapel.”

Throughout the first half of the 1950s he appeared in regional stagings of Wonderful Town, Fiorello!, No Strings, and assorted non-musical works. In 1956 he originated the part of Joey for Frank Loesser’s Broadway success The Most Happy Fella; six years later he repeated the role in London and took part in two New York City Center revivals. Subsequent Broadway ventures proved less fortunate: Donnybrook! (1963), in which he portrayed a principled boxer, and Sophie (1963), a biographical tribute to Sophie Tucker, both closed quickly. Television work from the 1950s onward encompassed episodes of Gunsmoke, Little House On The Prairie, and The Rockford Files, while feature-film roles began arriving in the late 1960s. In his final decades Lund performed regularly at Swing Era retrospectives and was still active on the cabaret circuit at the time of his death.