Who considered portraying singer Russ Columbo in a biopic movie? Try George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Perry Como, for starters…

by Beverly Adam (author of Two Lovers: the love story of Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo).

Who wanted to portray Russ Columbo either in a movie or in a television musical? George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Tony Curtis, Perry Como, for starters. Some of Hollywood’s biggest movie stars and singers considered taking on the challenge of portraying the well-liked, handsome singer, violin virtuoso, and gifted songwriter, who had been engaged to marry film actress Carole Lombard.

Russ Columbo left a big imprint on Hollywood upon his death in 1934, with his handsome good-looks, velvety smooth baritone voice and wonderful romantic songs, which he had made famous on stage, radio, and in the movies. Upon his death, Russ Columbo left behind thousands of fans, including some emerging Latin singers and actors who considered him to be a role model to follow.

The year World War II ended, Paramount Pictures considered casting Andy Rusell in a bio-picture about Russ Columbo. Andy Russell was born in Mexico, as Andres Rabago. He received his stage name from orchestra leader Gus Arnheim, who had worked with Russ Columbo at the Cocoanut Grove. Arnheim was Andres Rabago’s legal guardian, as he was underage when he started working in the orchestra. Andres Rabago was young and performed professionally as a drummer and solo vocalist. Arnheim made the suggestion that Rabago change his name, in order to draw a bigger audience. Arnheim told him, “I used to have a singer, a famous singer fella that took Bing Crosby’s place years ago. His name was Russell Columbo, one of the famous singers of the era. I’m gonna call you Russell-Andy Russell.” (Wikipedia) And so, Rabago’s name was changed to Andy Rusell. He, unfortunately, was not chosen.

Perry Como, the singer, had met Russ Columbo in Chicago at the Golden Pheasant Club (1933). Russ Columbo was performing there, promoting songs for the motion pictures. The experience of meeting his idol left a big impression on the young Perry Como. It was well-known, being a first-generation Italian-American himself, Como styled himself to be like Columbo.

Perry Como’s recording of Prisoner of Love, which Russ Columbo had co-written and made famous, went #1 on the Billboard Charts in 1946. Perry Como tried to take on the role of Columbo in a bio-picture, but it did not come off.

Heartthrob, Johnny Desmond, (born: Giovanni Alfredo De Simone), the singer who had made a White Suit Coat and a Pink Carnation popular, had also recorded one of Columbo’s biggest hits, Guilty, on his record label. Johnny Desmond, it was reported, had planned to make a musical out of The Russ Columbo Story and wanted to perform it on Broadway first, and then turn it into a movie with a Hollywood production company. When he disputed with NBC, his plans fell apart. The television network claimed the rights and were planning a TV series based on Russ Columbo’s life. Desmond, as late as 1975, still planned to do a musical motion picture about Columbo.  He was interviewed by The Chicago Tribune at the Playboy Club’s living room. He told the reporter, “I think the movie is going to be done. I had always planned to play Columbo, but now I think I should play his brother, Fury. (He meant Fiore, Russ Columbo’s older brother). I’d like to do the voice over for Columbo (singing).” He never did. Desmond passed away in 1985, not having achieved his goal to portray Russ Columbo’s life.

Don Cornell had a smooth baritone voice like Russ Columbo’s. He was born into a large Italian-American family in Bronx, NY, as Luigi Valaro. Cornell changed his name during World War II, Americanizing it. He made himself more acceptable to audiences in order not be booed-off the stage, due to anti- Mussollini sentiment, an event which had previously occurred during one of his performances. He had several Billboard Charted hits that went to the top of the charts. He also was rumored to have been considered for The Russ Columbo Story.

Singer and actor, Tony Martin, the husband of famous actress, Cyd Charisse, had his own television show and a long musical film career to back his ambitions. One of them was to portray Russ Columbo, in a biopic movie musical. Martin went so far as to approach one of Russ Columbo’s sisters about the possibility of obtaining the rights to Columbo’s life story. But once again, the production of another Russ Columbo Story fell through.

During the 1950s, finding the perfect singer-actor to portray Russ Columbo was a bit like a casting call of the singers Hall of Fame. This included young teen-idol, the dreamboat, Alan Dale. He had made a hit of the songs:  Oh, Marie, Gentle and Sweet (#10 Billboard) and Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White.  The teen was considered to be extremely talented and went by the moniker Prince of The Baritones. When he was still underage, Dale had his own TV show with Dumont and CBS  Pictures (1948).
Alan Dale recorded the hit song Heart of My Heart, with fellow Russ Columbo wannabes, Don Cornell and Johnny Desmond. The song was on the Billboard Chart at number #10 (1953).  Alan Dale was qualified to portray Columbo. Born in New York, he also had come from an Italian-American family (bn: Alando Sigismondi). His father had been a theater comedian. Alan Dale started performing onstage when he was nine-years old.  It was reported in a couple of sources that in 1955, Dale was approached by film producers. They intended on making a motion picture of Russ Columbo’s life. It seemed like the singer was a “sure in” for the role, but for an unknown reason, most likely the copyrights, the motion picture was never made.

Movie actor Tony Curtis had set his sights on making a musical about Russ Columbo for NBC, which was to be aired for one hour on tv. The planned production went as far as rehearsals, but for various reasons, including a dispute with Johnny Desmond about the rights, the show fell apart and was not aired.

Comic, Sid Caesar, was a gifted linguist and musician. He performed on his own tv show with Benny Goodman, the big band orchestra leader, and drummer, Gene Krupa, both of whom had worked for Russ Columbo, when they were first starting out in the business. Contrary to what many biographers wrote, both Goodman and Krupa claimed on television that they had “enjoyed” working for Russ Columbo.

Imogene Coca wearing a locket and comic Sid Caesar dressed and looking like Russ Columbo.

 

Caesar did a comic sketch titled: “Housewarming” for his television show. Housewarming Sid Caesar Show (click link to view show) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0CYOj0kXYw&t=29s. If it does not connect, try youtube search engine) Imogene Coca wears a fur wrap similar in style to the one Carole Lombard wore to Clifton Webb’s housewarming party (lighter in color). Her date, according to movie actor Clifton Webb, in his biography, was Russ Columbo. Caesar is dressed in clothing identical to what Russ Columbo wore in the wedding scene from Broadway Thru a Keyhole, speaks in the same range of voice, and could pass for Columbo’s double. The sketch is also loaded with well-known Carole Lombard-isms connected to her life. Caesar was trying to show in a comedic manner that there were ways to go around the copyrights issues plaguing productions wanting to portray Russ Columbo’s life. And as you can see, from the photo above (Wikipedia), the comic often dressed and looked like Columbo on his show. By the way, yes, I think he was making a bid for the role. But as he had his own show, Caesar successfully went ahead and honored Russ Columbo and his romance with Carole Lombard in his own unique manner. Bravo!

Skip ahead a couple of decades…

Tom Cruise and Michelle Pfeiffer were at the top of their movie careers in the 1990s. Michelle Pfeiffer’s ethereal beauty and comedic timing was being compared in the newspaper and movie reviews to that of Carole Lombard’s. Michelle Pfeiffer and Tom Cruise, both won Golden Globe Awards for their outstanding performances as actors in film at the same time. There begins a rumor that they should be paired together. Michelle Pfeiffer, as Carole Lombard, and Tom Cruise, as her singing love interest, Russ Columbo. It would have made a great motion picture. A biopic, however, does not develop, and the idea is dropped.

Michelle Pfeiffer and Tom Cruise

 

George Clooney, the famously handsome actor-director, who owns a villa in Italy, had also considered making a movie about Russ Columbo, based on the book, Crooner Mystique, by Dennis Penna.

George Clooney’s favorite aunt was the well-known singer, Rosemary Clooney. She had once lived in the same house Russ Columbo had rented on Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills. The house had been built by Monte Blue (movie actor) in the 1920s, and had been lived-in by the song composer, George Gershwin. Rosemary Clooney lived there, with husband, Jose Ferrer, raising her children. Bing Crosby came one day to visit Rosemary, to discuss their radio show. Crosby, wrongly thinking that Russ had died in the house, refused to step into the den. He should not have worried. Russ Columbo had been shot and killed by his friend Lansing Brown, in Brown’s parents’ home, not there.

Rosemary Clooney’s children, a bit frightened by the idea of a ghost haunting the house, used to call out as they went downstairs at night, “Hello Russ, we’re coming down!” Sadly, despite protests not to, the house was torn down in 2005.  The other house, the one on Outpost Drive, which Russ Columbo owned and lived-in with his parents, still remains in existence today. Movie actress Melanie Griffith used to live there.

The only singer to complete a project and sing with the title, The Russ Columbo Story, was singer Paul Bruno. He released an album in 1960, where according to Billboard Chart Magazine, Bruno “warbled tunes associated with Russ Columbo,” and the album cover featured several pictures of Russ Columbo. For more information about Russ Columbo, read my free blog: So how famous was Russ Columbo?

How Russ Columbo became The Valentino of The Radio

by Beverly Adam (author of Two Lovers: the love story of Russ Columbo and Carole Lombard)

Russ Columbo’s connection to Rudolph Valentino was a genuine one. He worked, when he was a young man, for Pola Negri (Valentino’s last lover). He was a recognized violin virtuoso. He played both classical, as well as contemporary music. This ability brought him to the attention of silent movie star, Pola Negri.

Russ Columbo.

Russ Columbo was performing one evening in the ballroom, where the Mayfair Ball was held at the Biltmore Hotel, when Pola Negri walked in. She saw him and was immediately interested in the violinist. The resemblance between her lover, Rudolph Valentino, and Russ Columbo, was striking. She hired him on the spot, asking him to report to her set the following day to play background mood music. This was the era of silent film, when live music was played during filming to help set the mood for the actors.

Russ Columbo was a young eighteen-years-old, and had been looking for a way into motion pictures. He worked for Pola Negri, playing violin music. She occasionally found him work as an extra, an unnamed actor. For two years, Columbo was employed by Negri. She was involved with Rudolph Valentino, with whom she performed in motion pictures.

In August 1926, news was brought to the movie set that Rudolph Valentino had died in New York, from complications due to an appendicitis surgery. Valentino was only thirty-one. Columbo was in the middle of performing Dvorak’s Humoresque, while a love scene was in the process of being filmed. A messenger whispered to Columbo, “Valentino has collapsed into a coma and died.”

Humoresque click here to hear music.

Stunned by the news, Columbo suddenly ceased playing.

Noticing that Russ Columbo had stopped, and now wore a bereaved expression on his face, Negri asked, “What is the matter with you? Why did you stop playing right in the middle of a scene?”

“Rudolph Valentino is dead,” he responded.

The movie star fainted. Columbo later vouched for the fact that it was not an act, but from genuine shock. For days, Negri was inconsolable over the loss of her lover.

Russ Columbo went forward with his career and worked with the Gus Arnheim Orchestra, playing the violin and singing. It was at The Cocoanut Grove that he was discovered, during a performance by the songwriter, Con Conrad. He became Columbo’s manager and brought him to New York City. Columbo found stardom on the radio and stage. Russ won the hearts of thousands of young girls and listeners, who heard his velvety baritone voice on the radio. The songs he composed, such as, You Call It Madness, But I Call It Love, Prisoner of Love, and Too Beautiful For Words, became billboard charted hits.

Years later, Russ Columbo returned to Hollywood, after breaking up with his manager. Universal Pictures considered having him star in a biopic about Rudolph Valentino, but it did not come to fruition and the project was dropped. The moniker: The Valentino of the Radio, however, remained.

Rudolph Valentino in The Son of The Sheik. Below featured: Russ Columbo.

Dressing Carole Lombard, her clothing designers and my book.

by Beverly Adam (author of Two Lovers: the love story of Russ Columbo and Carole Lombard). Two Lovers: the love story of Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo by Beverly Adam

Dressing Carole Lombard for my book, Two Lovers, is one of the enjoyable tasks I had as an author. Carole was a stunningly beautiful movie star and one of the most photographed women in Hollywood. She had posed by 1938, for photographers, over 42,000 times.

Gown by Travis Banton

Travis Banton was the head costume designer at Paramount Pictures, the studio where Carole was under contract during the 1930s. Carole paid him to also create street clothes for her, mostly pencil skirts with matching tailored jackets. She had to look polished on and off the set.

Carole Lombard was an emerging star in 1933, twenty-five, and had been gradually working her way up the entertainment ladder. This required looking glamorous. Travis Banton liked her and had a very friendly working relationship with the star. He once was having such a good time chatting with her during a fitting that he arrived almost an hour late to a dinner party that he was supposed to be hosting.

Eliza Schiaperelli

Italian designer, Elsa Schiaperelli, made a big splash in California in the 1920s. The daring designer was a noted rival of the famous French designer, Coco Chanel.

Her surrealistic elements transformed Hollywood style, with her cloche hats, broad double breasted jackets and artistic notes of whimsy. Paramount took note and copied her style.

Carole wearing a Juliet styled cap. The drawing was by Charles Sheldon.

Irene Maud Lentz was a twice Oscar nominated costume designer. She freelanced at several studios in Hollywood, working at one point for Paramount Studio.

Irene Maud Lentz

She designed clothes for Carole Lombard for the films: Mr and Mrs Smith and To Be Or Not To Be. Lentz was known to have originated the dressmaker suit. Her clothing was popular at the Bullocks clothing outlets. Gary Cooper was reported to have been Irene’s lover. Many believe Lentz committed suicide when Cooper died.

Carole Lombard wore on a date with her own lover, Russ  Columbo, one of Irene Lentz’s designs.

Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo

“We would have married,” said Carole Lombard about her romance with Russ Columbo.

by Beverly Adam (author of Two Lovers: the love story of Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo).

“We would have married,” said Carole Lombard during her interview with magazine writer, Sonia Lee, for Movie Screen Magazine, in 1934. Russ Columbo had been killed. Lombard revealed that she had been planning to marry the famous singer, whose movie and radio career she had been guiding.

Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo were young, the same age (twenty-five years old), and very much in love. She helped run his career, and was guiding him to film stardom. If any couple could be called soulmates, they were.

Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo                

Two Lovers: the love story of Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo. Meet some of their friends.

By Beverly Adam (author of Two Lovers: the love story of Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo).

“Carole was crazy about him,” Bing Crosby said during a televised interview on the Joe Franklin Show, and he was not referring to Clark Gable.  He was talking about the greatest love in Carole Lombard’s life, Russ Columbo, with whom Bing had been both friend and rival  during the early 1930s.

Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo were both twenty-five  years old  and very much in  love in 1933.  Their studios, however, were not happy. They wanted the couple to  be seen as  single. And if Carole was to be in love, Paramount wanted it to be with George Raft, her co-star in Bolero, not the handsome crooner.  A lot of money and publicity had been invested to make that impression.

Carole Lombard and Russ, notice what finger the ring is on?

• Sally Blane, sister of Loretta Young, had met Russ Columbo four years before, during a break when he was performing at The Cocoanut Grove. She, Columbo, and the photographer Lansing Brown, were close friends. The threesome  were often seen about Hollywood at different parties and at Columbo’s performances. How did they react to Carole Lombard becoming Russ Columbo’s girlfriend? Were they happy about Lombard becoming the “most important person in the world” to the talented singer?

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• Dixie Lee with her husband Bing Crosby and their newborn, Gary

  In September of 1933, the publicity department was working overtime putting out the rumor that Russ Columbo was afraid to meet Bing Crosby on the set of We’re Not Dressing, while his girlfriend, Carole Lombard, was performing  on Catalina Island.  

  Russ Columbo and Bing Crosby had once been friends and had worked together with  the Gus Arnheim Orchestra. The congenial Columbo “had always hated the idea” of being rivals with Bing Crosby. Carole Lombard played a part in their reconciliation. You can read about all of them in Two Lovers: the love story of Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo.