Biography for
Frank De Vol

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Date of Birth

20 September 1911, Moundsville, West Virginia, USA

Date of Death

27 October 1999, Lafayette, California, USA (congestive heart failure)

Mini Biography

Frank DeVol was born to Herman Frank DeVol and Minnie Emma Humphreys DeVol in Moundsville, West Virginia on September 20, 1911. He grew up in Canton, Ohio. His father had a "pit" orchestra at the local movie house and his mother had a sewing shop in Canton. His father was also an accountant. He graduated from McKinley High School in 1929. He attended Miami of Ohio University for six weeks. His parents wanted him to be a lawyer but he wanted a musical career. He was a member of the musicians' union from the age of 14 and worked for his father in the theatre orchestra. His instruments were violin, saxophone at first. After his stint in college, he joined Emerson Gill's orchestra in Ohio and traveled the state. Later, he joined Horace Heidt's band and not only he was a musician but he became an arranger for the band. Later, he traveled with Alvino Rey's band. This affiliation led to long time friendships with the King Family. Finally, in 1943, he settled in California and started his own band appearing on KHJ radio and accompaniment to many radio shows, such as Jack Carson and Jack Smith. With the beginning of television, he moved to working on "The Betty White Show" (1958) and "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show" (1956), among others. In the 1950's, he broke into movie composing and composed the score for 50 films. In addition, he composed the music for a number of television shows, such as "Family Affair" (1966), "The Smith Family" (1971), "My Three Sons" (1960) and "The Brady Bunch" (1969). He was also a character actor and acted in both films and TV. After his first wife, Grayce, died, he married Helen O'Connell (I). Helen died two years later. Frank left two daughters and four grandchildren when he died October 27, 1999 in Lafayette, CA.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Donna DeVol CopelandSOURCE

Mini Biography

Joining ASCAP in 1964, he collaborated musically with Mack David and Bobby Helfer, and his popular-song compositions include "I've Written A Letter to Daddy", "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?", "Hush ... Hush Sweet Charlotte", "I and Claudie", "My Chinese Fair Lady", and "The Chaperone".

IMDb Mini Biography By: Hup234!

Spouse

Helen O'Connell	(1991 - 9 September 1993) (her death)
Grayce Agnes McGinty	(4 June 1935 - 1 February 1989) (her death) 2 children

Trivia

Jaye P. Morgan got her first regular singing gig with his orchestra.

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