Editing Les Brown (bandleader) (section)

==Biography==
Brown was born in [[Reinerton-Orwin-Muir, Pennsylvania|Reinerton, Pennsylvania]].<ref name="Dead"/> He enrolled in the Conway Military Band School (later part of [[Ithaca College]]) in 1926, studying with famous bandleader [[Patrick Conway]] for three years before receiving a music scholarship to the [[New York Military Academy]], where he graduated in 1932.<ref name="LarkinGE">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=344}}</ref> Brown attended college at [[Duke University]] from 1932 to 1936.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> There he led the group [[Duke Ambassadors|Les Brown and His Blue Devils]],<ref name=pc1b/> who performed regularly on Duke's campus and up and down the east coast. Brown took the band on an extensive summer tour in 1936. At the end of the tour, while some of the band members returned to Duke to continue their education, others stayed on with Brown and continued to tour, becoming in 1938 the Les Brown Orchestra. The band's original drummer, Don Kramer, became the acting manager and helped define their future. 

The band appeared regularly on the Spotlight Band radio programme, which broadcast to a military audience and made them permanent favorites of millions of men in uniform. Also on this show, the band was first referred to as "Les Brown & His Band of Renown" in 1942. The moniker stuck<ref name="Yanow"/> and became the official bandname from the 1950s onwards.

In 1941, Brown's band had a #1 hit, "Joltin' Joe DiMagio", with his lead vocalist Betty Bonney.  In 1942, Brown and his band concluded work on an RKO picture, ''Sweet and Hot''; played at the Palladium Ballroom, Hollywood. A few years later, in 1945, this band brought [[Doris Day]] into prominence with their recording of "[[Sentimental Journey (song)|Sentimental Journey]]".<ref name="Dead"/> The song's release coincided with the end of [[World War II]] in Europe and became an unofficial homecoming theme for many veterans.<ref name=pc1b>{{Pop Chronicles 40s|1|B}}</ref> The band had nine other number-one hit songs, including "[[I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm]]" (1949).<ref name="LarkinGE"/>

In 1952–53, Brown was the orchestra leader on Day's radio program, ''[[The Doris Day Show (radio program)|The Doris Day Show]]'', on CBS.<ref name="dunningota">{{cite book|last1=Dunning|first1=John|title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio|date=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-0-19-507678-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/onairencyclop00dunn/page/207 207]|edition=Revised|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/onairencyclop00dunn/page/207}}</ref>

Les Brown and the Band of Renown performed with [[Bob Hope]] on radio, stage and television for almost fifty years.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> They did 18 [[USO]] Tours for American troops around the world, and entertained over three million people. Before the Super Bowls were televised, the Bob Hope Christmas Specials were the highest-rated programs in television history. [[Tony Bennett]] was "discovered" by Bob Hope and did his first public performance with Brown and the Band.

The first film that Brown and the band appeared in was ''[[Seven Days' Leave (1942 film)|Seven Days' Leave]]'' (1942) starring [[Victor Mature]] and [[Lucille Ball]]. ''Rock-A-Billy Baby'', a low-budget 1957 film, was the Band of Renown's second, and in 1963 they appeared in the [[Jerry Lewis]]' comedy ''[[The Nutty Professor (1963 film)|The Nutty Professor]]'' playing their theme song "[[Leap Frog (song)|Leap Frog]]".<ref>Gene Lees, ''Arranging the Score'' pp. 162 and 173</ref>

Brown and the Band were also the house band for [[The Steve Allen Show]] (1959–1961) and the [[Dean Martin]] Show (1965–1972). Brown and the band performed with virtually every major performer of their time, including [[Frank Sinatra]], [[Ella Fitzgerald]] and [[Nat King Cole]]. The annual Les Brown Big Band Festival, started March 2006 in Les' hometown, features area big bands preserving the songs of the big band era. At the 2012 festival celebrating the 100th birthday anniversary, the town of Reinerton renamed the street near Les' birthplace to Les Brown Lane. In 2013 his hometown of Reinerton, PA adopted as the town's official slogan: Reinerton: The Town of Renown in honor of Les and his band.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}}

Les Brown Sr. died of [[lung cancer]] in 2001, and was interred in the [[Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery]] in [[Los Angeles]], [[California]]. He was survived by his wife Evelyn, son Les Jr., and daughter Denise. He was 88 years old at the time of his death.

His grandson, [[Jeff "Swampy" Marsh]], co-created the [[Disney Channel]] animated series ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' and ''[[Milo Murphy's Law]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.resource411.com/411Update/Issue/Articles/Story.cfm?StoryID=1020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090607043445/http://www.resource411.com/411Update/Issue/Articles/Story.cfm?StoryID=1020 |archive-date=7 June 2009|date=June 7, 2009|title=Phineas and Ferb: Music, Mischief, And The Endless Summer Vacation|author=Marjorie Galas}}</ref>

Brown was inducted into the [[North Carolina Music Hall of Fame]] in 2010.<ref>{{cite web|title=2010 Inductees|url=http://northcarolinamusichalloffame.org/category/inductees/2010-inductees/|publisher=North Carolina Music Hall of Fame|access-date=September 10, 2012}}</ref>

===Les Brown Jr.===
In 2001, '''Les Brown Jr.''' (1940–2023), became the full-time leader of the Band of Renown. It performed throughout the world and had a regular big band show in [[Branson, Missouri]]. Brown Jr. also hosted a national radio show on the [[Music of Your Life]] network. Brown Jr. was a television actor in the 1960s (''[[Gunsmoke]]'', ''[[General Hospital]]'', ''[[The Baileys of Balboa]]'', ''[[Gilligan's Island]]''), a rock musician and producer who worked with [[Carlos Santana]], and a concert promoter for many [[country music]] artists including [[Merle Haggard]] and [[Loretta Lynn]]. In 2004, Brown Jr. received the "Ambassador of Patriotism" award from the POW Network. Brown Jr. died from cancer at his home in Branson, Missouri, on January 9, 2023, at the age of 82.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Panaligan |first1=EJ |title=Les Brown Jr., Musician, Actor and Producer, Dies at 82 |url=https://variety.com/2023/music/news/les-brown-jr-dead-band-of-renown-1235484078/ |access-date=18 January 2023 |publisher=Variety |date=10 January 2023}}</ref>