(July 28th 1901 - July 3th 1986)

Hubert Prior Vallée was born on July 28th 1901 in Island Pond, Vermont. On March 29th 1917 a fifteen year old Hubert Vallée enlisted in the U.S. Navy in Portland, Maine by utilizing a phony birthdate. With W.W.I coming to an end he was discharged from the Naval Training Station, in Newport, Rhode Island less than two months later on May 17th 1917.

During his teenage years Vallée began playing clarinet & saxophone with bands around New England. Then in 1924 he accepted a gig with the "Savoy Havana Band" at the Savoy Hotel in London, England. Upon his return to the U.S. in 1925, Hubert briefly attended the University of Maine but would soon transfer to Yale University where he earned a degree in philosophy. While attending school he was a member of a jazz group known as the "Yale Collegians". Following graduation Vallee formed "Rudy Vallée & His Connecticut Yankees" adopting the first name of early saxophone great Rudy Wiedoeft. In spite of his thin tenor voice Rudy Vallee would soon establish himself as one of the first crooners of the jazz age. He would also become one of the very first pop stars with a crowd of youthful Flappers pursuing him wherever he went.