Mac Davis

Davis has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Jimmy Dorsey died of cancer in New York City. Mac Davis played the title role in the Broadway production of The Will Rogers Follies. Dorsey is considered one of the most prominent alto saxophone players of the pre-bebop era. He made his motion picture debut opposite Nick Nolte in the 1979 football film, North Dallas Forty and as a result, was listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1979" by Screen World Magazine. Jimmy Dorsey appeared in a number of Hollywood motion pictures, including That Girl From Paris, Shall We Dance?, The Fleet's In, Lost in Harlem, I Dood It, and the bio-pic with his brother Tommy, The Fabulous Dorseys. He was named the 1974 "Entertainer of the Year" by the Academy of Country Music. In 1953 he joined Tommy's Orchestra, renamed "The Fabulous Dorseys"; he took over leadership of the orchestra after Tommy's death.

Davis recorded his own hits "I Believe In Music" and "Baby, Don't Get Hooked On Me." From 1974 to 1976 he had his own television variety show on NBC, The Mac Davis Show. Jimmy continued leading his own band until the start of the 1950s. Davis also wrote the song "Watching Scotty Grow" that became a hit for Bobby Goldsboro. Tommy broke off to form his own band in 1935. As a songwriter, in the early 1970s, he wrote the hits In the Ghetto, Memories and Don't Cry Daddy for Elvis Presley. He also penned A Little Less Conversation for Presley's 1968 film, Live a Little, Love a Little that was re-released in 2002 in a remixed version. After returning to the USA he worked briefly with Rudy Vallee and several other bandleaders, in addition to the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra with Tommy. During his early years in music, he lived in Atlanta, Georgia where he played in a rock & roll band. He joined Ted Lewis's band in 1930, with whom he toured Europe.

Mac Davis (born January 21, 1942 in Lubbock, Texas) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. The brothers also appeared as session musicians on many jazz recordings. He did much free lance radio and recording work throughout the 1920s. He formed a band with his brother Tommy, then in 1924 joined the California Ramblers (who were based in New York City). He switched to saxophone in 1915, and then learned to double on clarinet.

He played trumpet in his youth, appearing on stage in a Vaudeville act as early as 1913. Jimmy Dorsey was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the son of a music teacher and older brother of Tommy Dorsey who also became a prominent musician. James "Jimmy" Dorsey (February 29, 1904 - June 12, 1957) was a prominent jazz clarinetist, saxophonist and big band leader.