Aladdin Abdullah Achmed Anthony Pallante (September 12, 1912 – June 9, 1970) was an actor and musician better known to fans as Aladdin who appeared on ''

The Lawrence Welk Show ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years, from 1951 to 1955, then nationally for another 16 years on ABC from 1955 t ...

'' from 1955 to 1967. Born and raised in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, Aladdin first began his professional career as a dancer at age three, but a serious fall, which left him temporarily paralyzed, forced him to turn his talents in an instrumental and vocal direction, which led him to learning to play the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

. Prior to joining Welk's Champagne Music Makers, he appeared with

Ray Noble Raymond Stanley Noble (17 December 1903 – 2 April 1978) was an English jazz and big band musician, who was a bandleader, composer and arranger, as well as a radio host, television and film comedian and actor; he also performed in the United ...

on the Edgar Bergen Show and has appeared in several

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

movies both as an actor and musician. Among his film roles were, '' The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing'', '' Easy to Love'', '' Deep in the Heart of Texas'', and '' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes''. He was also a featured violinist for

Rudy Vallee Rudy or Rudi is a masculine given name, sometimes short for Rudolf, Rudolph, Rawad, Rudra, Ruairidh, or variations thereof, a nickname and a surname which may refer to: People Given name or nickname *Rudolf Rudy Andeweg (born 1952), Dutch pol ...

Xavier Cugat Xavier Cugat (; 1 January 1900 – 27 October 1990) was a Spanish musician and bandleader who spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba. A trained violinist and arranger, he was a leading figure in the spread of Latin music. In New York City ...

, and Carmen Cavallaro. He joined the Welk orchestra in 1953. Known informally among the band members as Tony Pallante, he took the stage name Aladdin. In addition to his talents as an expressive violinist, he displayed a flair for comedy and appeared in the show's novelty numbers, sometimes using dialects and often duetting with another singer-violinist,

Bob Lido Robert Lido (September 21, 1914 – August 9, 2000) was an American musician and singer who was a regular member of television's ''The Lawrence Welk Show''. His instrument was the violin. Life and career Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, he began ...

. He was also well received by audiences for his dramatic readings, most of them submitted by Helen Steiner Rice of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

. Aladdin was known to speak several different languages, which included

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

, French,

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, Yiddish and

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. He recorded the song " Darktown Strutters Ball" for Welk in

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on the Coral record label with

singing in English. As the honorary mayor of Van Nuys, he was one of 21 honorary mayors to serve in the Honorary Mayors Association of Los Angeles when it formed in 1965. He left the show after suffering a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which m ...

in the fall of 1967, and died a few years afterward in 1970.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pallante, Aladdin 1912 births 1970 deaths Musicians from New York City American male violinists 20th-century American violinists Lawrence Welk 20th-century American male musicians