[5] Kyser graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1928, where he was senior class president and was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity.

[4] Long before his national success, Kyser recorded two sessions for Victor in the late 1920s (Camden, New Jersey in November 1928 and Chicago in early 1929).

Following graduation, Kyser and his band, which included Sully Mason on saxophone and arranger George Duning,[4] toured Midwest restaurants and night clubs and gradually built a following.

Kyser led the band as "The Ol' Perfessor", spouting catchphrases, some with a degree of Southern American English: "That's right—you're wrong", "Evenin' folks, how y'all?"

Ish Kabibble), trombonist Bruce King, saxophonist Jack Martin (who sang lead vocal on the number one hit, "Strip Polka"), Ginny Simms (who had her own successful acting and singing career after leaving Kyser's band), Sully Mason, Mike Douglas (years before he became a popular TV talk show host) and Georgia Carroll.

[8] During the Swing Era, Kyser, Hal Kemp and Tal Henry often performed in or near New York City, making possible a reunion of North Carolina musicians.

[9] During the late 1930s and early 1940s, Kyser's band appeared in several motion pictures, usually as themselves, beginning with the successful That's Right – You're Wrong (1939), You'll Find Out (1940), Playmates and My Favorite Spy.

Kyser had intended to retire following the end of the war, but performance and recording contracts kept him in show business for another half decade.

In addition to Kyser, the TV show featured Ish Kabibble and vocalists Mike Douglas, Sue Bennett and Liza Palmer, plus The Honeydreamers vocal group and the dance team of Diane Sinclair and Ken Spaulding.

Kyser and Ginny Simms co-starred in "Niagara to Reno" (described as "an original comedy") on CBS radio's Silver Theater April 6, 1941.

"[14] In the 1940s, he began to experience his own health problems, which at times confined him to a wheelchair, and he turned to the religion in earnest; becoming a practitioner himself in 1961, a teacher of Christian Science a few years afterwards, and in 1974 working at the church's headquarters in Boston directing its radio and television broadcasting.

[15][14] In the late 70s and early 80s he traveled around as a Christian Science lecturer, and in 1983, he became the church's president, a one-year position which he referred to as "honorary", joking that he hadn't "been elected Pope or anything".

[12] Kyser supported various philanthropic causes after his retirement from music including health care, educational television, and highway safety.

[16] Kyser supported the construction of a wing in St. John's hospital in Santa Monica, and there is a portrait of him at the entrance of its medical library.

[21] The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is custodian of a large archive of documents and material about Kyser which was donated by his widow and made available to the public on April 8, 2008.