Lyle Russell Cedric “Skitch” Henderson (January 27 1918 – November 1 2005), was a pianist, conductor, and composer. His nickname ("Skitch") reportedly derived from his ability to quickly "re-sketch" a song in a different key.

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Biography

Skitch was born Lyle Russel Henderson at Halstad, Minnesota to parents Joseph and Josephine Scheie Henderson, both of Norwegian descent. His mother died shortly after his birth, and he was then sent to live with his Aunt Hattie Henderson Gift and Frank Gift in Halstad, Minnesota who raised him and taught him piano, starting at the age of four.

Though he did not receive formal conservatory education in music, Henderson received classical training under Fritz Reiner, Albert Coates, Arnold Schoenberg, Ernst Toch and Arturo Toscanini, who invited him to conduct the NBC Symphony Orchestra. He would also his recount his learning the ropes by playing in 'Taverns' with many popular singers of the day.

He started his professional career in the 1930s playing piano in the roadhouses of the American Midwest, his major break being as an accompanist on a 1937 MGM promotional tour featuring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney.

Henderson later said that as a member of MGM’s music department, he worked with Garland to learn "Over the Rainbow" during rehearsals for "The Wizard of Oz" and played piano for her first public performance of the song at a local nightclub before the film was finished. However this account is at odds with the memoirs of the tune's composer, Harold Arlen, who said he first performed the song for the 14-year-old Garland.

After the war, he worked for NBC Radio, where he was the musical director for Frank Sinatra's Lucky Strike Show and The Philco Hour with Bing Crosby. Henderson also played on Bob Hope’s Pepsodent Show .

The origin of his nickname is often traced to this period, with Henderson crediting the invention to Bing Crosby who said he (Henderson) should have a nickname. Crosby settled on the name 'Skitch', which came from 'The Sketch Kid', referring to Henderson's ability to quickly transcribe music to a written score. Other reports, however, claim that the name came from something that a young Skitch and his buddies would say to act cool and hip, "skitchadudawawa," long before Crosby entered his life.

Legal problems

He was indicted on July 2 1974, on charges of tax evasion for the years of 1969 and 1970 for claims about the value (allegedly $350,000) of a music library he donated to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He further claimed that he had consulted on the value of his collection with Leonard Bernstein and Henry Mancini, both of whom denied the claims. A signature on an acceptance letter from the library director was also deemed a forgery.

Henderson was sentenced January 17 1975 to 6 months in prison and fined $10,000. He began serving his sentence at a minimum-security Federal prison on April 9 1975 and was released on August 4 of that year. In later years, walking up Seventh Avenue, Henderson would greet a shop owner he had known while in prison; continuing up the Avenue, he said "prison friends are the best friends."

Henderson was also accused of sexual harassment while at NBC.

Conducting career

In 1983 he founded The New York Pops, which makes its home at Carnegie Hall in New York City. He served as the music director and conductor of the orchestra until his death in 2005. Henderson also conducted numerous symphonic orchestras throughout the world.

His radio work included:

• California Melodies debuted 1940, Mutual, KHJ
• Songs by Sinatra 1946
• I Deal in Crime 1946, ABC
• Philco Radio Time starring Bing Crosby 1946, ABC
• Best of All 1954, NBC
• United States Air Force Presents 1969
• Skitch Henderson With the Music Makers

Television

In a career at NBC spanning 1951 to 1966, he succeeded Toscanini as music director for NBC Television and was the original conductor of the orchestras for The Tonight Show and The Today Show .

Henderson served as the original bandleader for The Tonight Show with founding host Steve Allen (as well as for Allen's Sunday-night variety show), then came back to Tonight after the departure of host Jack Paar and his orchestra director Jose Melis. Henderson left Tonight again in 1966, during Johnny Carson's early years as host, and was replaced first by Milton DeLugg and then Henderson trumpeter Doc Severinsen, who headed the NBC orchestra until Carson's 1992 retirement.

Television programs

• Match Game 1962-1963

Films

• Skitch Henderson and His Orchestra 1948
• Skitch Henderson and His Orchestra 1950
• Movietone Melodies: Murder in A-Flat 1952

He wrote Baby Made a Change in Me for the 1948 movie On Our Merry Way .

Recordings

Among his hundreds of recordings, spanning the era of 78s to DVDs, were two recent releases as pianist for Arbors Records). The two albums were Swinging With Strings and Legends (w/ Bucky Pizzarelli). He also served as conductor of The New York Pops with Maureen McGovern on With a Song in My Heart: The Great Songs of Richard Rodgers for Reader's Digest and Centaur Records.

He conducted a 1963 recording for RCA of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess with Leontyne Price and William Warfield that won a Grammy.

Personal life

Henderson was married to actress/presenter Faye Emerson from 1950 to 1957. Henderson married Ruth Einsiedel in 1958 and raised two children, Hans and Heidi. Hans was married to Sandra Watson for 18 years, before divorcing in 2000. Heidi was married to actor William Hurt from 1989 to 1992, and they have two sons. Skitch and Ruth Henderson owned and operated "The Silo," a renowned store, art gallery, and cooking school in New Milford, Connecticut from 1972 until his death. He also owned a restaurant in Manhattan called Daley's Dandelion.

In 2003 Ruth and Skitch Henderson co-founded the Hunt Hill Farm Trust, an effort to preserve their farm’s land and buildings and to celebrate Americana in music, art and literature through the creation of a living museum.

Awards and honors

An affiliation with the Smithsonian Institution resulted in the Trust's inaugural exhibit: Skitch Henderson: A Man and His Music . On January 29, 2005, the Smithsonian awarded him the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal in recognition of his contributions to American culture.

Henderson was honored for the vital role he played in the cultural life of New York, including receiving New York City’s Handel Medallion. He was also the recipient of three honorary degrees – from St. Thomas Aquinas College, the University of South Florida, and Western Connecticut State University.

Miscellaneous

The Retro Swing Band at the University of Wisconsin plays arrangements from "The Tonight Show" and the BBC Dance Band included in the Skitch Henderson Collection at the Mills Music Library.

Skitch Henderson's name probably served as the inspiration for the character Guy "Skitch" Patterson in the 1996 film That Thing You Do! .

Henderson was known for his unique laugh on the Carson show. In addition to McMahon's famously hearty laugh, Henderson could also frequently be heard laughing on the track, as "Hoo-hoo-hoo!"

References