![]() What is certain is that he served as an instructor pilot with the Army Air Corps' Aviation Cadet program, and that he continued to be an avid private pilot for several decades thereafter however, his RAF service has not been confirmed. Arranger Axel Stordahl brought him in (to replace the band's pianist, Joe Bushkin) to play on some of Frank Sinatra's most successful recordings with Tommy Dorsey.Īccording to some biographies, when World War Two started, he joined the Royal Air Force, trained and flew as a pilot, then switched to the Army Air Corps when the U.S. He settled in Los Angeles and joined the staff of RCA Victor, working as an orchestrator and pianist. But he was smart enough to see where real money was being made, and he switched to popular music, working in radio and theater orchestras before accompanying the young Judy Garland on one of her first tours. Henderson started out as a hard-score classical musician, studying piano, then conducting with Fritz Reiner, and composition with Arnold Schoenberg, and attending both Juilliard and the school of music at UCLA. Some viewers probably remember him more for his distinctive taste in clothes (he was never seen without a vest) than his music. He signed on as performer and musical director when NBC started "Tonight" with Steve Allen in 1954, then returned in the 1960s when Johnny Carson took over. Skitch Henderson is best remembered for his stints as the bandleader on "The Tonight Show" in the 1950s and 1960s. Died 1 November 2005, New Milford, Connecticut.Born Lyle Russell Henderson, 27 January 1918, Halstad, Minnesota.
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