Anthony trumpets success

Friday, Feb. 28, 2003 | 9:12 a.m.

Most people are ready to relax and take it easy by the time they reach the age of 81.

But trumpeter Ray Anthony just keeps blowing and going.

The octogenarian will perform with his orchestra Friday at the Stardust, an engagement he makes three or four times a year.

Anthony was born Raymond Antonini on Jan. 20, 1922, in Bentleyville, Pa. He began playing the trumpet at age 6 and by the time he was 18 he was a member of the legendary Glenn Miller Orchestra.

Anthony joined the Navy in World War II and lead a show band that performed for troops on islands in the Pacific. After his discharge in 1946 he formed a dance band and signed a contract with Capitol Records.

"I first played Vegas in 1948 at the Thunderbird with my big band," Anthony recalled during a telephone interview from his home in Southern California. "(Comedian) Larry Storch was on the bill."

In the 1950s, when rock 'n' roll began to take over the music scene, Anthony reduced his big band to a six-piece ensemble called Ray Anthony and the Bookends.

In 1960 he and his group took over for the legendary Louis Prima at the Sahara's Casbar Lounge when Prima and his entourage went to the Desert Inn.

"We were to be there for four weeks and were held over for 19," Anthony said. "After that we went to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu and broke all kinds of records."

He performed at the popular Honolulu hotel off-and-on for 20 years, from 1960 to 1980. During that same period he was busy with the lounge circuit that included Reno and Tahoe as well as Vegas.

Anthony said he performed frequently at the Tropicana, the old MGM Grand (now Bally's) and the Riviera, among others.

He has performed for audiences on almost every continent.

In addition to touring, Anthony (often described as a Cary Grant look-alike) appeared in 15 movies with such celebrities as Fred Astaire, Danny Kaye and Jayne Mansfield.

Anthony also was busy making records and running a music publishing house. Anthony continues to run his own label, Aerospace, which reissues his recordings as well as those of Glenn Miller and Billy May.

Among his biggest hits were the theme from "Dragnet," one of the most popular television shows in the country in the 1950s and '60s, and the theme from the series "Peter Gunn."

Anthony's recording of "The Bunny Hop" made the Top 10 list 1952.

In 1955 Anthony married B-movie queen Mamie Van Doren. The couple have since divorced.

Anthony says in recent years he has slowed down the hectic pace that was his hallmark for decades.

"We don't travel a lot anymore," he said. "We do an occasional date in Los Angeles or Palm Springs or Vegas."

He sometimes performs on cruise ships, such as the Norway or the Queen Elizabeth II.

"We go on a cruise every year," he said. "We've done a lot of that. But to do a one-nighter tour? No. We just don't want to."

Anthony says he stays busy operating bigband- recordlibrary.com, on which he sells CDs from the '20s through the '50s.

"We sell music related to big bands and big band singers," he said. "Anywhere from Frank Sinatra to Russ Columbo to Bing Crosby."

Usually Anthony works on his website business daily and on weekends performs at private functions around Los Angeles.

He records a couple of albums a year.

Although Anthony is firmly rooted in the big-band sound, he doesn't know if the genre will ever come back.

"I like to relate it to Bach and Beethoven," he said. "They had a place in history. Big bands do as well. Whether the sound will come back, I don't know."