Died On This Date (June 14, 1994) Henry Mancini / Oscar Winning Composer
themusicsover Enrico “Henry” Mancini
April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994
Henry Mancini was a Grammy and Academy Award winning pianist, composer and conductor who was best known for his iconic Pink Panther theme and “Moon River” from Breakfast At Tiffany’s. One of Mancini’s first gigs was as pianist and arranger for the 1946 version of the Glenn Miller Orchestra which, at the time, was being lead by Tex Beneke. By the early ’50s, Mancini was in Hollywood working for such film companies as Universal Pictures where he worked on music for some 100 films. He left about six years later and began working with film maker Blake Edwards for whom he’d score almost 30 films. Mancini also scored numerous televisions shows and recorded nearly 100 albums, making him one of the most popular musicians of the Easy Listening idiom. Mancini kept working until his death of pancreatic cancer in 1994.
What You Should Own
Jimmy Dean was a country music legend, television personality, and part-time actor who used his fame to pitch his own successful Jimmy Dean sausage products for many years. After dropping out of high school in the mid ’40s, Dean chose his path as an entertainer while serving in the United States Air Force. He eventually became host of his own local radio program where future stars like Roy Clark and 
Clyde McPhatter was one of the most influential R&B singers of the ’50s and ’60s, both as leader of the Drifters and later as a solo artist. His hits included “Treasure Of Love,” “A Lover’s Question,” and “I Never Knew.” What separated him from the pack of R&B crooners was his ability to cross over to a white audience, likely due to the fact that white artists liked to cover his songs, which in turn gave them greater success. His ability to reach the pop audience became the blueprint for such followers as 