Richard Benjamin Haymes (September 13, 1918 – March 28, 1980) was an Argentine singer, songwriter and actor. He was one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, an actor, television host, and songwriter.
Early life
Haymes was born in
Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1918.
[See also Social Security Death Index for Richard Haymes (SS#113-05-9919). His birthdate was frequently incorrectly given as 1916.] According to Haymes's obituary in the
New York Times, "His father was a rancher of English descent and his Irish mother had been a musical comedy singer. His parents traveled widely and he grew up in France, Montreal, California and Switzerland."
Career
At the age of 17 Haymes moved to Los Angeles, where he initially worked as a
stunt man and
Body double. Two years later, in 1937, he moved to New York City, where he worked as a vocalist in a number of
.
By the early 1940s Haymes was singing with the
Harry James orchestra.
On September 3, 1942,
Frank Sinatra introduced Haymes on radio as his replacement in the
Tommy Dorsey band.
In 1945, Haymes co-starred with Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews and Vivian Blaine in the musical State Fair. He teamed with female vocalist Helen Forrest for many hit duets during World War II, including "Together", "I'll Buy That Dream", and "Long Ago and Far Away"; he sang with Judy Garland on two Decca Records recordings of songs from the film The Shocking Miss Pilgrim, in which he appeared with Betty Grable. From 1944 to 1948, he had his own radio program, The Dick Haymes Show, first on NBC and later on CBS.
He paired repeatedly with the Andrews Sisters on a dozen or so Decca collaborations, including the Billboard hit "Teresa", "Great Day", "My Sin", and a 1952 rendering of the dramatic ballad "Here in My Heart", backed by the sisters and Nelson Riddle's lush strings. His duets with Patty Andrews were also well received, both on Decca vinyl and on radio's Club Fifteen with the sisters, which he hosted in 1949 and 1950. He also joined Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters for 1947 session that produced the Billboard hit "There's No Business Like Show Business", as well as "Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)". His popular renditions of tender ballads such as "Little White Lies" and "Maybe It's Because" were recorded with celebrated arranger Gordon Jenkins and his orchestra and chorus.[Sforza, John: "Swing It! The Andrews Sisters Story;" University Press of Kentucky, 2000; 289 pages]
World War II and attempted deportation
Haymes's birth in
Argentina to non-U.S. citizens meant he was not an American citizen. In order to avoid military service during World War II, Haymes asserted his nonbelligerent status as a citizen of Argentina, which remained neutral until almost the end of the war. Hollywood-based columnists
Louella Parsons and
Hedda Hopper questioned Haymes' patriotism, but the story had little effect on his career. About that time, he was classified 4-F by the draft board because of
hypertension. As part of his draft examination, he was confined for a short period to a hospital on
Ellis Island, which confirmed his diagnosis of hypertension.
[Prigozy, The Life of Dick Haymes, op cit, p. 48]
In 1953 Haymes went to Hawaii (then still a territory of the United States) to visit actress Rita Hayworth, whom he later married.
Personal life
Haymes experienced
alcoholism and had serious financial problems later in life, by the early 1960s declaring
bankruptcy with $500,000 in debts.
[Prigorzy, The Life of Dick Haymes, op cit, p. 177. "By the early sixties I was a desperate alcoholic. I had been forced into bankruptcy with a half million dollars in debts and no assets."]
He appeared as unscrupulous doctor Elroy Gantman in a 1974 episode of the TV show Adam-12.
Through his mother's nationality, Haymes spent his last years as an Irish citizen.
Marriages
Haymes was married six times. His first marriage to Edith Harper (1939) occurred when she claimed to be pregnant but was annulled after it was discovered that she was not.
Haymes's other wives comprised film actresses
Joanne Dru (1941–1949),
Nora Eddington (a former wife of
Errol Flynn) (1949–1953),
Rita Hayworth (1953–1955) and
Fran Jeffries (1958–1964), and British model Wendy Smith (1966). Haymes had six children—three with Joanne Dru, one with Fran Jeffries, and two with Wendy Smith.
Death
Haymes died from
lung cancer on March 28, 1980, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in
Los Angeles. He was 61 years old.
Discography
78-rpm albums
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Selections from Rogers and Hammerstein's "State Fair" (1946, Decca Records)
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Dick Haymes Sings – Carmen Cavallaro at the Piano – Irving Berlin Songs (1948, Decca Records)
Original LPs
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Rain or Shine (1955)
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Moondreams (1957)
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Look at Me Now! (1957)
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Richard the Lion-Hearted – Dick Haymes that is! (1960)
LP compilations
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Dick Haymes (1950s)
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Little White Lies (1958)
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Dick Haymes – Maury Laws Orchestra / Featuring Cy Coleman (1960s)
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Love Letters (1960s)
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Spotlight On – Dick Haymes Sings Romantic Ballads – Featuring Johnny Kay (1960s)
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Easy (1973)
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Imagination (1982) (also available on CD)
Live LP albums
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Dick Haymes Comes Home! (1973)
Selected CD compilations
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(2016) Dick Haymes You'll Never Know His 53 Finest 2 CDset (Retrospective)
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(1990) Richard the Lion-Hearted – Dick Haymes that is! (1990) re-issue of the vinyl album
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Imagination (1992)
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The Very Best of Dick Haymes, Vol. 1 (1997)
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The Very Best of Dick Haymes, Vol. 2 (1997)
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The Complete Columbia Recordings – with Harry James and Benny Goodman (1998)
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Little White Lies: 25 Original Mono Recordings 1942-1050. Living Era. ASV Mono. CD AJA 5387 (2001)
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Christmas Wishes (2002, radio transcriptions)
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Golden Years of Dick Haymes (2003)
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The Complete Capitol Collection (2006)
Filmography
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Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) – Able-Bodied Seaman (uncredited)
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Dramatic School (1938) – Student (uncredited)
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Du Barry Was a Lady (1943) – Singer (uncredited)
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Girl Crazy (1943) – Member, The Pied Pipers (uncredited)
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Four Jills in a Jeep (1944) – Lt. Dick Ryan
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Irish Eyes Are Smiling (1944) – Ernest R. Ball
-
I Am an American (Short film, 1944)
[The 16 minute film, I Am an American, was featured in American theaters as a short feature in connection with "I Am an American Day" (now called Constitution Day). I Am an American was produced by Gordon Hollingshead, written and directed by Crane Wilbur. Besides Haymes, it featured Humphrey Bogart, Gary Gray, Danny Kaye, Joan Leslie, Dennis Morgan, Knute Rockne, and Jay Silverheels. See: and .] – Himself (uncredited)
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Diamond Horseshoe (1945) – Joe Davis Jr.
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State Fair (1945) – Wayne Frake
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Fallen Angel (1945) – Himself – JukeBox Vocalist (voice, uncredited)
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Do You Love Me (1946) – Jimmy Hale
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The Shocking Miss Pilgrim (1947) – John Pritchard
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Carnival in Costa Rica (1947) – Jeff Stephens
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Up in Central Park (1948) – John Matthews
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One Touch of Venus (1948) – Joe Grant
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Words and Music (1948) – Himself
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St. Benny the Dip (1951) – Benny
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Screen Snapshots – Hollywood Fun Festival (1952) – Master of Ceremonies
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All Ashore (1953) – Joe Carter
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Let's Do It Again (1953) – Singer – 'I Could Never Love Anyone But You' (voice, uncredited)
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Cruisin' Down the River (1953) – Beauregard Clemment / Beau Clemment III
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Adam-12 (1974) (TV) – Dr. Elroy Gantman
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Hec Ramsey (1974) (TV – S2E04 – Scar Tissue) – Hamilton Hobbs
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Betrayal (1974) (TV) – Harold Porter
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Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976) – James Crawford
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The Eddie Capra Mysteries (1978) (TV – episode "Murder on the Flip Side") – Jason Lamb
–
Hit records
|
|
|
| 1941 | "A Sinner Kissed an Angel" (with Harry James) | 15 | |
| 1942 | "The Devil Sat Down and Cried" (with Harry James & Helen Forrest) | 15 | |
"Idaho" (with Benny Goodman) | 4 | |
| "Take Me" (with Benny Goodman) | 10 | |
| "Serenade in Blue" (with Benny Goodman) | 17 | |
| 1943 | "It Can't Be Wrong" | 1 | 2 |
"In My Arms" | 3 | |
"You'll Never Know" | 1 | 1 |
| "Wait for Me, Mary" | 6 | |
| "I Never Mention Your Name" | 11 | |
| "I Heard You Cried Last Night" | 13 | 8 |
"Put Your Arms Around Me, Honey" | 5 | |
| "For the First Time" | 13 | |
| 1944 | "I'll Get By (As Long as I Have You)" (with Harry James) | 1 | |
| "Long Ago (and Far Away)" (with Helen Forrest) | 2 | |
| "How Many Times Do I Have to Tell You" | 27 | |
| "How Blue the Night" | 11 | |
| "It Had to Be You" (with Helen Forrest) | 4 | |
| "Together" (with Helen Forrest) | 3 | |
| "Janie" | 26 | |
| 1945 | "Laura" | 9 | |
| "The More I See You" | 7 | |
| "I Wish I Knew" | 6 | |
| "Till the End of Time" | 3 | |
| "Love Letters" | 11 | |
"I'll Buy That Dream" (with Helen Forrest) | 2 | |
| "Some Sunday Morning" (with Helen Forrest) | 9 | |
| "That's for Me" | 6 | |
| "It Might as Well Be Spring" | 5 | |
| 1946 | "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" (with Helen Forrest) | 7 | |
| "It's a Grand Night for Singing" | 21 | |
| "Oh! What It Seemed to Be" (with Helen Forrest) | 4 | |
| "Slowly" | 12 | |
| "Come Rain or Come Shine" (with Helen Forrest) | 23 | |
| "In Love in Vain" (with Helen Forrest) | 12 | |
| "You Make Me Feel So Young" | 21 | |
| "Why Does It Get So Late So Early?" (with Helen Forrest) | 22 | |
| "On the Boardwalk" | 21 | |
| 1947 | "For You, For Me, For Evermore" (with Judy Garland) | 19 | |
| "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" | 9 | |
| "Mam'selle" | 3 | |
| "There's No Business Like Show Business" (with Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters) | 25 | |
| "Ivy" | 19 | |
| "Naughty Angeline" | 21 | |
| "I Wish I Didn't Love You So" | 9 | |
| "And Mimi" | 15 | |
| 1948 | "Teresa" (with The Andrews Sisters) | 21 | |
| "Little White Lies" (gold record) | 2 | |
| "You Can't Be True, Dear" | 9 | |
| "Nature Boy" | 11 | |
| "It's Magic" | 9 | |
| "Ev'ry Day I Love You" | 24 | |
| 1949 | "Bouquet of Roses" | 22 | |
| "Room Full of Roses" | 6 | |
| "Maybe It's Because" | 5 | |
| "The Old Master Painter" | 4 | |
| 1950 | "Roses" | 29 | |
| "Count Every Star" (with Artie Shaw) | 10 | |
| "Can Anyone Explain? (No! No! No!)" | 23 | |
| 1951 | "You're Just in Love" (with Ethel Merman) | 30 | |
| "And So to Sleep Again" | 28 | |
| 1956 | "Two Different Worlds" | 80 | |
|
Musical theatre
The Big Broadcast of 1944, - A Lee Gruber, Shelly Gross off Broadway production, fall of 1979 – Devon, PA, Detroit, MI, and Westbury, NY
Radio appearances
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|
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Irish Eyes Are Smiling[ ] |
Up in Central Park |
Pigeon in the Cage[ ] |
See also
Further reading
External links
