The Voice That Amazed America: The Life, Times, & Singing Career of Tommy Dix - Paperback

by Ken Robichaux (Author)

The story of Tommy Dix is the story of a remarkable singer and a remarkable man. Overcoming a chronic illness, and rising above his family's initial poverty, Tommy used his talents to become one of America's most popular entertainers during the 1940s. He amazed a nationwide audience for the first time at the age of thirteen when he appeared on "Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour", the country's most popular radio show in the mid-1930s. Tommy's unusually rich, deep baritone singing voice lit up the switchboard and compelled Major Bowes to immediately invite him back for an encore. When Tommy was sixteen he appeared before the mother of President Roosevelt and a large audience at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel singing his own original composition "The March of Dimes" and then leading everyone in a rendition of "Happy Birthday." The following year he appeared on Broadway where he made the song "Buckle Down, Winsocki" a nationwide pop favorite, and by the time he was nineteen he was starring opposite Lucille Ball in the hit M-G-M musical "Best Foot Forward." For the next decade Tommy performed throughout the United States entertaining young and old alike with his amazing singing voice. Numerous B&W and color photographs and illustrations. The expanded Second Edition has 40 additional pages of new information and photographs.

Author Biography

Ken Robichaux retired from gainful employment in 2004, and up until June 2014 he maintained a popular website that focused on the history of motion pictures from 1890 to 1960 (www.pictureshowman.com). In 2010, while he and friends were doing research on the movie "Best Foot Forward", they located one of the film's stars, Tommy Dix, and contacted him for some information. Tommy graciously responded, and that first telephone conversation led to many more between Ken and Tommy. Over time the two of them discovered that they shared many interests and opinions, and a close friendship has developed and grown. Ken helped his friends launch a website about Tommy and his career (www.tommydix.com), and using the biographical information he compiled for that website as a starting point, he has now written the first biography of Tommy Dix to appear in print. The second edition of Tommy's biography has been expanded to include an additional 40 pages of new information and photos.