Editing Rudy Vallée (section)

=== Radio and film ===
[[File:Behind the scenes of the Rudy Vallée Hour - Radioland, November 1933.jpg|thumb|upright|Rudy Vallée on ''[[The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour]]'' in 1933. He always signed on saying, "Heigh-ho, everybody!"]]
In 1929, Vallée began hosting ''[[The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour]]'',<ref>''Walker'' p.169</ref> a popular radio show with guests such as [[Fay Wray]] and [[Richard Cromwell (actor)|Richard Cromwell]] in dramatic skits. Vallée continued hosting radio shows such as the Royal Gelatin Hour, Vallee Varieties, and The Rudy Vallee Show through the 1930s and 1940s.

[[File:Rudy Vallee in Radio Stars.jpg|thumb|left|Vallée as bandleader Skip Houston in ''[[Sweet Music]]'']]

When Vallée took his contractual vacations from his national [[radio show]] in 1937, he insisted his sponsor hire [[Louis Armstrong]] as his substitute.<ref>[http://www.onhifi.com/features/20020301.htm Features Archives]. onhifi.com (March 1, 2002). Retrieved on 2012-01-30.</ref> This was the first instance of an African-American hosting a national radio program. Vallée wrote the introduction for Armstrong's 1936 book ''Swing That Music''.

In 1929, Vallée made his first feature film, ''[[The Vagabond Lover]]'', for [[RKO Radio]]. His first films were made to cash in on his singing popularity. While his initial performances were rather wooden, his acting greatly improved in the late 1930s and 1940s, and by the time he began working with [[Preston Sturges]] in the 1940s, he had become a successful comedic supporting player. He appeared opposite [[Claudette Colbert]] in Sturges's classic 1942 [[screwball comedy]] ''[[The Palm Beach Story]]''. Other films in which he appeared include ''[[I Remember Mama (film)|I Remember Mama]]'', ''[[Unfaithfully Yours (1948 film)|Unfaithfully Yours]]'' and ''[[The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer]]''.

In 1955, Vallée was featured in ''[[Gentlemen Marry Brunettes]]'', co-starring [[Jane Russell]], [[Alan Young]], and [[Jeanne Crain]]. The production was filmed on location in Paris. The film was based on the [[Anita Loos]] novel that was a sequel to her acclaimed ''[[Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (novel)|Gentlemen Prefer Blondes]]''. ''Gentlemen Marry Brunettes'' was popular throughout Europe at the time and was released in France as ''A Paris Pour les Quatre'' ''("Paris for the Four")'', and in Belgium as ''Tevieren Te Parijs''.

Vallée performed on Broadway as J.B. Biggley in the 1961 musical ''[[How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (musical)|How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying]]'' and reprised the role in [[How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (film)|the 1967 film version]].<ref name="Larkin">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=1997|edition=Concise|isbn=1-85227-745-9|page=1208}}</ref> He appeared in the 1960s ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' television series as the villain Lord Marmaduke Ffogg and in 1971 as a vindictive surgeon in the ''[[Night Gallery]]'' episode "Marmalade Wine".<ref name="Gallery">{{cite book |last1=Skelton |first1=Scott |last2=Benson |first2=Jim |title=Rod Serling's Night Gallery: An After-hours Tour |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nf6HV6mbJGIC&pg=PA159 |access-date=21 December 2018 |year=1998 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |isbn=978-0-8156-0535-5 |pages=159– }}</ref>