Phil Harris (born
Wonga Philip Harris
; June 24, 1904 – August 11, 1995) was an
American singer,
songwriter,
jazz musician,
actor and
comedian. Though successful as an orchestra leader, Harris is remembered today for his recordings as a vocalist, his
voice work in animation and as a pioneer in
radio situation comedy, first with
Jack Benny, and then in a series in which he co-starred with his second wife,
singer-
actress Alice Faye, for eight years.
Bandleader
Harris was born in
Linton, Indiana but grew up in
Nashville, Tennessee, and identified himself as a Southerner (his hallmark song was "That's What I Like About the South"). His upbringing accounted for both his trace of a Southern accent and, in later years, the self-deprecating Southern jokes of his radio character. The son of two
circus performers, Harris' first work as a drummer came when his father, as tent bandleader, hired him to play with the circus band.
[Staff and news services. "Phil Harris, comic, bandleader," The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, California), August 13, 1995, page B5.] Harris began his music career as a drummer in San Francisco, forming an orchestra with Carol Lofner in the latter 1920s and starting a long engagement at the
St. Francis Hotel. The partnership ended by 1932, and Harris led and sang with his own band, now based in Los Angeles. Phil Harris also played drums in
Henry Halstead Big Band Orchestra in the mid 1920s.
