My Hit Parade . . . And a Few Misses

Russell Arms is probably best known for his six-year stint on the famous Your Hit Parade TV show, but he also was active in many other theatrical fields. After graduating from the Pasadena Playhouse he was signed to a contract by Warner Bros. Studios were he made several important pictures, including The Man Who Came to Dinner, Captains of the Clouds, and By the Light of the Silvery Moon. He also free-lanced at other studios and, in all, appeared in over 20 movies, including several Westerns.Deciding to try his luck in New York he discovered he had a singing voice which he immediately put to good use with his own radio show on WNEW as well as on a TV show, School Days, on the Dumont network. His next step was a national game show, Chance of a Lifetime, on ABC where he stayed for over a year. From there it was on to CBS for The 54th St. Revue, another national TV offering which lasted for over a year.The big break came shortly after that by his signing with the Hit Parade and that opened up a whole world of opportunities, including recordings, night clubs, fairs, personal appearances, and many guest spots on TV (including the Ed Sullivan Show with his hit record, “Cinco Robles”), as well as dinner and summer theaters all over the country (including versions of Can Can, Bells Are Ringing, 1776, Irma LaDouce, No, No, Nanette, with the incomparable Martha Raye!), and many others both musical and non-musical.Russ also got involved with MC’ing beauty pageants and fashion shows. He staged and MC’d the Miss World-USA Pageant for three years and added music to the fashion shows by singing to the models as they paraded the runway.