Van Alexander

Oral History Information

Interview Date
Birth Date
Deceased Date
Job Title
Songwriter, Composer, Arranger
Tags
Deceased, Jazz, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman, Film Scores-Soundtracks, Big Bands, Composers/Songwriters, Music Publishing, Chick Webb, Paul Whiteman, Centenarians, Television Scoring, Audio Only, Multiple Interviews, Bing Crosby, The Sing Era, Arrangers, ASMAC (American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers), Musical Director

Van Alexander co-wrote “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” with Ella Fitzgerald while both worked in the Chick Webb Orchestra back in 1938. The success of that song led to a job as arranger for Webb as well as Benny Goodman and Paul Whiteman and super stardom for Ella. Van formed his own band during the wonderful swing era but gave it up to work in the movies when Bing Crosby offered him a job in 1948. He went on to become one of the most prolific conductors in Hollywood working on such movies as “Baby Face Nelson, The Big Operator, and The Private Lives of Adam and Eve; he also provided music for television shows such as Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie and Dennis the Menace.