Maurice "Muzzy" Marcellino (November 27, 1912 – June 11, 1997) was an American singer and musician, known primarily for his clear, melodious style of
whistling.
Marcellino was born in San Francisco. He began playing with the Lofner-Harris Orchestra in 1932 and then moved to the Ted Fio Rito band in 1935. He formed the Marcellino Orchestra in 1938, with
Gloria DeHaven as his singer.
Marcellino's whistling was featured in many television and film soundtracks, such as ''
The Mickey Mouse Club'' and ''
Lassie
Lassie is a fictional female Rough Collie dog and is featured in a short story by Eric Knight that was later expanded to a full-length novel called ''Lassie Come-Home''. Knight's portrayal of Lassie bears some features in common with another fic ...
''. His contributions can also be heard on the soundtrack to the 1954 film ''
The High and the Mighty'' and on
Hugo Montenegro's 1968 hit version of the
main theme
In music, a subject is the material, usually a recognizable melody, upon which part or all of a composition is based. In forms other than the fugue, this may be known as the theme.
Characteristics
A subject may be perceivable as a complete m ...
to the film ''
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly''.
He was also the musical director of the
CBS daytime show, Art Linkletter's
House Party.
The Reader's Digest set of six records called Gaslight Musc Hall (1969) featured Marcellino whistling in the tune Whistling Rufus, performed by the Gaslight Novelty Orchestra and conducted by Heinie Beau. Whistling Rufus was composed by Kerry Mills and, as stated on the record collection, the jaunty Whistling Rufus came at a transitional point in his career.
Marcellino was the maternal uncle of jazz musician
Vince Guaraldi.
References
1912 births
1997 deaths
20th-century American musicians
American people of Italian descent
Whistlers
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