Frank Devol & His Orchestra - Essential Classics, Vol. 482: Frank Devol & His Orchestra (2024)

American actor, musician, bandleader.
Born September 20, 1911, Moundsville, West Virginia, USA.
Died October 27, 1999, Lafayette, California, USA.
Frank's father had a "pit" orchestra at the local movie house. De Vol began composing music when he was 12. He was a member of the musicians' union from the age of 14 and worked for his father in the theatre orchestra and doing professional level arrangements by age 16. His instruments were violin and saxophone at first. After his stint in college, he joined Emerson Gill's orchestra in Ohio and traveled the state. Later, he joined Horace Heidt's band and not only was he a musician but also became an arranger for the band. Later, he traveled with Alvino Rey's band. In 1943, he settled in California and started his own band, appearing on KHJ radio and accompaniment to many radio shows, such as Jack Carson and Jack Smith.
With the advent of television, De Vol moved to working on The Betty White Show (1958) and The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1956), among others. In the 1950s, he broke into movie composing and composed the score for 50 films. In addition, he composed the music for a number of television shows, such as Family Affair (1966), The Smith Family (1971), My Three Sons (1960), and The Brady Bunch (1969). As a composer he was nominated for four Academy Awards: Pillow Talk (1959), Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), Cat Ballou (1965) and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). . The success of "Nature Boy", recorded for Capitol Records, led to an executive position for De Vol at the rival Columbia Records in 1957, West Coast Director of Popular Artists and Repertoire. His second wife was big-band vocalist Helen O'Connell, member West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.