He was featured in some Hollywood films including A. Edward Sutherland and RKO Pictures' Sing Your Worries Away (1942), starring Buddy Ebsen, Patsy Kelly and Bert Lahr.
He developed his skills playing on his own and in several local bands as a young boy until he left home at 16 to pursue his dreams in New York City's music scene of the time.
In the years surrounding the war, he toured across the country and was featured in shows in Hollywood, California; The Roseland Ballroom, The Paramount Theater and The Palladium/Academy of Music in New York.
In 1941, after Alvino Rey's group played at New York's Paramount Theater, which led to greater exposure, they became one of the most popular acts in the country, recording top ten hits and making appearances in Hollywood films including A. Edward Sutherland and RKO Pictures' Sing Your Worries Away (1942),[3] and others.
The couple toured together for years to come including with Spivak and his own band The Crescent City Stompers (formerly The Paul Fredricks Orchestra) Theresa herself turned down opportunities to pursue a Hollywood career in order to focus on her marriage and three children with a home base near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.