Frank Crumit

Frank Crumit (September 26, 1889 – September 7, 1943) was an American singer, composer, vaudeville performer, and radio entertainer born in Jackson, Ohio, to Frank and Mary (née Poore) Crumit. His Broadway career spanned from 1920 to 1928, and his work in radio alongside his wife, Julia Sanderson, earned the couple the nickname "the ideal couple of the air."

Crumit's early education took place in local Jackson schools, and he graduated from high school in 1907. After a brief period at an Indiana military academy, he enrolled at Ohio University with the intention of following his grandfather, Dr. C. K. Crumit, into medicine. He ultimately transferred to Ohio State University, where he earned a degree in electrical engineering. His interest in music, which had roots in his childhood participation in a Methodist Church choir and a first stage appearance at age five in a minstrel show, drew him away from engineering. He studied voice in Cincinnati and subsequently attempted to break into opera in New York City without success.

By 1913, Crumit had established himself on the vaudeville circuit, initially performing as part of a trio before transitioning to a solo act the following year. Playing the ukulele, he became known in New York City nightspots as "the one-man glee club." His Broadway debut came with the musical Betty, Be Good, in which he was credited as the first performer to play the ukulele on Broadway. He went on to appear in the revue The Greenwich Village Follies in 1923, the revue Nifties of 1923, the musical Tangerine, and the musical Oh, Kay!, completing his Broadway appearances in 1928. An earlier production, the Greenwich Village Follies of 1920, featured his song "Sweet Lady," written with David B. Zoob.

Crumit began recording for American Columbia in 1919, working within the acoustic recording method that preceded microphone technology. He also contributed vocals and banjo to recordings by the Paul Biese Trio on the same label. By the end of 1923, he had moved to the Victor Talking Machine Company. Among his most successful recordings were "Frankie and Johnnie," "Abdul Abulbul Amir," "A Gay Caballero," "The Prune Song," and "What Kind of a Noise Annoys an Oyster?" His back-to-back Decca recording of "The Gay Caballero" and "Abdul Abulbul Amir" sold more than four million copies. Crumit is credited with composing at least fifty songs over the course of his career, including the Ohio State University fight song "Buckeye Battle Cry" in 1919, as well as two earlier Ohio State compositions, "Round on the Ends" and "OH + IO." He published "Hills of Ohio" in 1941. His song "Donald the Dub" served as the theme music for the BBC radio adaptation of P. G. Wodehouse's Oldest Member, and his 1929 composition "A Tale of the Ticker," which addressed stock market instability, was featured in the BBC documentary The Great Crash 1929.

Crumit met Julia Sanderson, a musical comedy star, in 1922 and married her in 1928. The couple briefly retired to a country home near Springfield, Massachusetts, before launching a radio partnership two years later. They starred in Blackstone Plantation, broadcast on CBS from 1929 to 1930, on NBC from 1930 to 1934, and on NBC Blue from 1931 to 1932, performing as the "Singing Sweethearts of the Air." In 1930 they also began hosting the quiz program The Battle of the Sexes, which ran for thirteen years. Because all broadcasts of the period were transmitted live, Crumit and Sanderson made the four-hour drive from Massachusetts to New York City twice weekly to perform their radio programs.

In October 1932, Crumit was elected Shepherd, the equivalent of president, of The Lambs theatrical club, succeeding A. O. Brown. He held that position until 1936. Crumit died of a heart attack in New York City on September 7, 1943, the day after his final radio broadcast. He was fifty-three years old.