Biography
Born on 22 June 1901 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, Whiting died on 15 February 1961 in New York City, New York, USA. He had begun performing onstage while still young, and by the 1920s he was appearing regularly on Broadway, most often in musicals. His credits during those years encompassed Aren’t We All? and Stepping Stones, both from 1923, Annie Dear in 1924, When You Smile the following year, Rainbow Rose and The Ramblers in 1926, Yes, Yes, Yvette in 1927, She’s My Baby and Hold Everything! during 1928, and Heads Up in 1929.
Throughout the 1930s Whiting performed in America’s Sweetheart, where in 1931 he joined Ann Sothern to sing Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s ‘I’ve Got Five Dollars’; Take A Chance, which featured him delivering Nacio Herb Brown, Richard Whiting and Buddy De Sylva’s ‘So Do I’, ‘Tickled Pink’ and ‘I Long To Belong To You’ in 1932; Calling All Stars, offering Harry Akst and Lew Brown’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’, ‘If It’s Love’, ‘I Don’t Want To Be President’ and ‘I’d Like To Dunk You In My Coffee’ in 1934; Hooray For What!, starring Ed Wynn, in 1937; and Very Warm For May, performing Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s ‘In Other Words, Seventeen’, ‘Heaven In My Arms’ and ‘All In Fun’ in 1939.
His 1940s stage work included Walk With Music and Hold On To Your Hats, both in 1940, Beat The Band in 1942, and The Overtons in 1945. During the 1950s he appeared in the play Springtime Folly in 1951, Of Thee I Sing in 1952, and Hazel Flagg in 1953, where he delivered a memorable rendition of Jule Styne and Bob Hilliard’s ‘Every Street’s A Boulevard In Old New York’. That same year he was seen in A Girl Can Tell, and in 1954 he took part in The Golden Apple.
Whiting’s film roles during the 1930s were limited to brief parts in Top Speed and The Life Of The Party, both released in 1930, Men Of The Sky in 1931, and the pair Sailing Along and Give Me A Sailor in 1938. On television in the 1950s he took minor parts in drama series such as Studio One in 1955, as well as The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial and The Marge And Gower Champion Show, both in 1957.
Throughout the 1930s Whiting performed in America’s Sweetheart, where in 1931 he joined Ann Sothern to sing Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s ‘I’ve Got Five Dollars’; Take A Chance, which featured him delivering Nacio Herb Brown, Richard Whiting and Buddy De Sylva’s ‘So Do I’, ‘Tickled Pink’ and ‘I Long To Belong To You’ in 1932; Calling All Stars, offering Harry Akst and Lew Brown’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’, ‘If It’s Love’, ‘I Don’t Want To Be President’ and ‘I’d Like To Dunk You In My Coffee’ in 1934; Hooray For What!, starring Ed Wynn, in 1937; and Very Warm For May, performing Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s ‘In Other Words, Seventeen’, ‘Heaven In My Arms’ and ‘All In Fun’ in 1939.
His 1940s stage work included Walk With Music and Hold On To Your Hats, both in 1940, Beat The Band in 1942, and The Overtons in 1945. During the 1950s he appeared in the play Springtime Folly in 1951, Of Thee I Sing in 1952, and Hazel Flagg in 1953, where he delivered a memorable rendition of Jule Styne and Bob Hilliard’s ‘Every Street’s A Boulevard In Old New York’. That same year he was seen in A Girl Can Tell, and in 1954 he took part in The Golden Apple.
Whiting’s film roles during the 1930s were limited to brief parts in Top Speed and The Life Of The Party, both released in 1930, Men Of The Sky in 1931, and the pair Sailing Along and Give Me A Sailor in 1938. On television in the 1950s he took minor parts in drama series such as Studio One in 1955, as well as The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial and The Marge And Gower Champion Show, both in 1957.