Nat Temple (18 July 1913 – 30 May 2008)
- accessed May 2011 was an English

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

leader Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

, and a

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

and

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

player. Amongst many others, he worked with Syd Roy,

Harry Roy Harry Roy (12 January 1900 – 1 February 1971) was a British dance band leader and clarinet player from the 1920s to the 1960s. He performed several songs with suggestive lyrics, including " My Girl's Pussy" (1931), and " She Had to Go and Los ...

, Geraldo,

Ambrose Ambrose of Milan (; 4 April 397), venerated as Saint Ambrose, was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promoting Roman Christianity against Ari ...

, Joe Daniels, and

Lew Stone Louis Stone known professionally as Lew Stone (28 May 1898 – 13 February 1969) was a British bandleader and arranger of the British dance band era, and was well known in Britain during the 1930s. He was known as a skillful, innovative an ...

Career

He was born Nathan Temple, the son of a

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

Stepney Stepney is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. Stepney is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name was applied to ...

, London. Temple formed his own band in 1944, and worked with

Benny Lee Benny Lee (11 August 1916 – 9 December 1995) was a British comedy actor and singer. He started his career in stage roles, and developed a television and film career. Early life Lee was born on 11 August 1916 to a Jewish family in The Go ...

Frankie Vaughan Frankie Vaughan (born Frank Fruim Abelson; 3 February 1928 – 17 September 1999) was an English singer and actor who recorded more than 80 easy listening and traditional pop singles in his lifetime. He was known as "Mr. Moonlight" after his ...

Joy Nichols Joy Eileen Nichols (17 February 1925 – 23 June 1992) was an Australian-British comedian, actress and singer who also worked in the United States. She was best known as one of the stars of '' Take It From Here'' on BBC Radio. Biography Nichols ...

Lita Roza Lilian Patricia Lita Roza (14 March 1926 – 14 August 2008) was an English singer best known for her 1953 recording " (How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?", which reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. She was the first British woman to h ...

David Whitfield David Whitfield (2 February 1925 – 15 January 1980) was a popular British male tenor vocalist from Hull. In November 1953 he became the first British male artist to have a number one single in the UK with " Answer Me" (Lita Roza having had a ...

, Anne Shelton, Beryl Davis,

Julie Andrews Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over eight decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...

and The Keynotes. After World War II, he worked with

Bernard Braden Bernard Chastey Braden (16 May 1916 – 2 February 1993) was a Canadian-born British actor and comedian, who is best known for his appearances in UK television and radio shows. Life Braden was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and educated ...

and

Barbara Kelly Barbara Kelly (5 October 1923 – 15 January 2007) was a Canadian-British actress, best known for her television roles in the United Kingdom opposite her husband Bernard Braden in the 1950s and 1960s, and for many appearances as a panelist ...

on ''Breakfast with Braden'', along with the BBC announcer, Ronald Fletcher. His band also played on the radio show ''

Music While You Work ''Music While You Work'' was a daytime radio programme of continuous live popular music broadcast in the United Kingdom twice daily on workdays from 23 June 1940 until 29 September 1967 by the BBC. Initially, the morning edition was generally ...

'' until 1983. On television he provided the band for '' Crackerjack'' with

Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ ...

, as well as '' Nuts in May with Frankie Howerd'', '' The Time of Your Life with Noel Edmonds'', '' The Russell Harty Show'', ''Tune Times With Temple'', ''A Jolly Good Time'', ''Dance Music Through the Ages'' and ''Starstruck''. Other people who worked with Temple included

Eartha Kitt Eartha Mae Kitt (née Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress. She was known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Baby" ...

Petula Clark Sally "Petula" Clark (born 15 November 1932) is a British singer, actress, and songwriter. She started her professional career as a child actor, child performer and has had the longest career of any British entertainer, spanning more than 85 y ...

George Shearing Sir George Albert Shearing (13 August 191914 February 2011) was a British jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for Discovery Records, MGM Records and Capitol Records. Shearing was the composer of over 300 so ...

Larry Grayson Larry Grayson (31 August 1923 – 7 January 1995), born William Sulley White, was an English comedian and television presenter. He hosted the BBC's Saturday-night peak-time TV game show ''The Generation Game'' in the late 1970s and early 1980s, ...

Fred Perry Frederick John Perry (18 May 1909 – 2 February 1995) was a British tennis and table tennis player and former World number 1 male tennis player rankings, world No. 1 from England who won 10 Majors, including eight Grand Slam (tennis), ...

Joyce Grenfell Joyce Irene Grenfell (''née'' Phipps; 10 February 1910 – 30 November 1979) was an English diseuse, singer, actress and writer. She was known for the songs and monologues she wrote and performed, at first in revues and later in her solo show ...

Matt Monro Matt Monro (born Terence Edward Parsons; 1 December 1930 – 7 February 1985) was an English singer. Known as "The Man with the Golden Voice", he performed internationally during his 30-year career and sold a reported 23 million records. AllMus ...

Kenneth Horne Charles Kenneth Horne, generally known as Kenneth Horne (27 February 1907 – 14 February 1969), was an English comedian and businessman. He is perhaps best remembered for his work on three BBC Radio series: ''Much-Binding-in-the-Mars ...

Mel Tormé Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "the Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arrangement, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roa ...

and

Paul Daniels Newton Edward Daniels (6 April 1938 – 17 March 2016), known professionally as Paul Daniels, was an English magician and television presenter. He achieved international fame through his television series '' The Paul Daniels Magic Show'', whic ...

Personal life

Temple was married to Freda for over 62 years. She died on 5 June 2005. They had four daughters and six grandchildren. He stopped playing live around 2004, and lived at home, near

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. Nat Temple died at home on 30 May 2008.

References

* Full article donated by Lynda Temple (daughter), text reproduced by permission of Edmund Whitehouse of "Evergreen". Source: "Evergreen", Summer 2003, pages 32–36.

External links

Biography and funeral tributes at his son-in-law's website

Announcements

Announcement in ''The Times''

Announcement in ''The Stage''

Obituaries

Obituary in ''The Times''

Obituary in ''The Stage''

Others

from Anthony Hacking, QC, in ''The Times''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Temple, Nat 1913 births 2008 deaths 20th-century English male musicians 20th-century clarinetists 20th-century British saxophonists British big band bandleaders English jazz bandleaders English jazz clarinetists 20th-century English Jews Musicians from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets People from Stepney