Charles "Buddy" Rogers

Charles "Buddy" Rogers
Charles Edward "Buddy" Rogers (August 13, 1904 – April 21, 1999) was an American film actor and musician. During the peak of his popularity in the late 1920s and early 1930s, he was publicized as "America's Boyfriend".
Life and career
Early years
Rogers was born to Maude and Bert Henry Rogers in Olathe, Kansas. He studied at the University of Kansas where he became an active member of Phi Kappa Psi. In the mid-1920s he began acting professionally in Hollywood films. A talented trombonist skilled on several other musical instruments, Rogers performed with his own dance band in motion pictures and on radio. During World War II, he served in the United States Navy as a flight training instructor.
According to American Dance Bands On Record and Film (1915–1942), compiled by Richard J. Johnson and Bernard H. Shirley (Rustbooks Publishing, 2010), Rogers was not a bandleader in the usual sense of the term. Instead, he was a film actor who fronted bands for publicity purposes. In 1933–34, Rogers took over the popular Joe Haymes orchestra, to which he added drummer Gene Krupa. His later bands were organized by Milt Shaw.
In 1930, he recorded two records for Columbia as a solo singer with a small jazz band accompanying. In 1932, he signed with Victor and recorded four dance band records with a group organized by drummer, and later actor, Jess Kirkpatrick. In 1938, he signed with Vocalion and recorded six swing records (see discography below).
Career
Nicknamed "Buddy", his most-remembered performance in film was opposite Clara Bow in the 1927 Academy Award winning Wings, the first film ever honored as Best Picture. In 1968, he appeared as himself in an episode of Petticoat Junction titled "Wings", a direct reference to the silent movie.
Recognition
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Rogers has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6135 Hollywood Blvd, which was dedicated on February 8, 1960.
Respected by his peers for his work in film and for his humanitarianism, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored Rogers in 1986 with The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
A Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to him in 1993.
Personal life
On June 24, 1937, Rogers became the third husband of silent film actress Mary Pickford. Their romance had begun in 1927, when they co-starred in My Best Girl, but the two kept their relationship hidden until Pickford's separation and 1936 divorce from Douglas Fairbanks. The couple adopted two children—Roxanne and Ronald—and remained married for 42 years until Pickford's death in 1979.
In 1981, Rogers married real estate agent Beverly Ricono.
Death
Rogers died at his home in Rancho Mirage, California, on April 21, 1999, at the age of 94 of natural causes, and was interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Cathedral City, near Palm Springs.
Partial filmography
Fascinating Youth (1926) - Teddy Ward
More Pay, Less Work (1926) - Willia Hinchfield
So's Your Old Man (1926) - Kenneth Murchison
Wings (1927) - Jack Powell
My Best Girl (1927) - Joe Grant
Get Your Man (1927) - Robert Albin
Abie's Irish Rose (1928) - Abie Levy
Varsity (1928) - Jimmy Duffy
Someone to Love (1928) - William Shelby
Red Lips (1928) - Hugh Carver / Buddy
Close Harmony (1929) - Al West
River of Romance (1929) - Tom Rumford
Illusion (1929) - Carlee Thorpe
Half Way to Heaven (1929) - Ned Lee
Young Eagles (1930) - Lieutenant Robert Banks
Paramount on Parade (1930) - Buddy Rogers - Episode 'Love Time'
Safety in Numbers (1930) - William Butler Reynolds
Follow Thru (1930) - Jerry Downes
Heads Up (1930) - Jack Mason
Along Came Youth (1930) - Larry Brooks
The Slippery Pearls (1931, Short) - 'Buddy' Rogers
The Lawyer's Secret (1931) - Laurie Roberts
The Road to Reno (1931) - Tom Wood
Working Girls (1931) - Boyd Wheeler
This Reckless Age (1932) - Bradley Ingals
Best of Enemies (1933) - Jimmie Hartman
Take a Chance (1933) - Kenneth Raleigh
Dance Band (1935) - Buddy Morgan
Old Man Rhythm (1935) - Johnny Roberts
One in a Million (1936) - Pierre
Let's Make a Night of It (1937) - Jack Kent
This Way Please (1937) - Brad Morgan
Golden Hoofs (1941) - Dean MacArdle
The Mexican Spitfire's Baby (1941) - Dennis Lindsay
Sing for Your Supper (1941) - Larry Hays
Mexican Spitfire at Sea (1942) - Dennis Lindsay
Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost (1942) - Dennis Lindsay
Twelfth Street Rag (1942) - Himself
An Innocent Affair (1948) - Claude Kimball
The Parson and the Outlaw (1957) - Rev. Jericho Jones
Discography
As Charles "Buddy" Rogers (America's Boy Friend)
February 27, 1930 & March 4, 1930
(I'd like to be) A Bee in Your Boudoir/My Future Just Passed (Columbia 2183-D)
March 4, 1930
Any Time's the Time to Fall in Love/(Up on Top of a Rainbow) Sweepin' the Clouds Away (Columbia 2143-D)
As Buddy Rogers and His California Cavaliers
April 18, 1932
You Fascinate Me/Hello,Gorgeous (Victor 24001)
May 11, 1932
In My Hideaway/Happy-Go-Lucky You (And Broken-Hearted Me) (Victor 24015)
May 18, 1932
I Beg Your Pardon, Mademoiselle/With My Sweetie in the Moonlight (Victor 24031)
Please Handle with Care/Ask Yourself Who Loves You (Victor 24049)
As Buddy Rogers and his Famous Swing Band
(vocals by Buddy Rogers, except Bob Hannon# or Joe Mooney@, or Elizabeth Tilton$)
April 5, 1938
Lovelight in the Starlight#/This Time It's Real# (Vocalion 4058)
Moonshine over Kentucky (v/BR)/Little Lady Make-Believe# (Vocalion 4071)
June 29, 1938
Figaro#/Meet the Beat of My Heart# (Vocalion 4227)
Happy as a Lark (v/BR)/The Sunny Side of Things@ (Vocalion 4240)
September 17, 1938
You Can't Be Mine (And Someone Else's Too)$/While A Cigarette Was Burning$ (Vocalion 4408)
This Is Madness (to Love Like This)#/Rainbow 'Round the Moon (instrumental) (Vocalion 4422)
References
Sources
External links
Photographs and bibliography
Mary Pickford-Buddy Rogers correspondence, 1943–1976, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
1904 births
1999 deaths
American jazz trombonists
Male trombonists
American male film actors
American male silent film actors
United States Navy personnel of World War II
Burials at Forest Lawn Cemetery (Cathedral City)
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award winners
People from Olathe, Kansas
People from Rancho Mirage, California
United States Navy officers
University of Kansas alumni
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American musicians
20th-century trombonists
American male jazz musicians
20th-century American male musicians
Jazz musicians from California
Military personnel from California