Paul Samuel Whiteman[1] (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967)[2] was an American Jazz bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist.

[3] As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and early 1930s, Whiteman produced recordings that were immensely successful, and press notices often referred to him as the "King of Jazz".

[4] Whiteman recorded many jazz and pop standards during his career, including "Wang Wang Blues", "Mississippi Mud", "Rhapsody in Blue", "Wonderful One", "Hot Lips (He's Got Hot Lips When He Plays Jazz)", "Mississippi Suite", "Grand Canyon Suite", and "Trav'lin' Light".

He experienced a revival and had a comeback in the 1950s with his own network television series, Paul Whiteman's Goodyear Revue, which ran for three seasons on ABC.

Detractors suggest that his ornately orchestrated music was jazz in name only, lacking the genre's improvisational and emotional depth, and co-opted the innovations of black musicians.

His bands included many of the era's most esteemed white musicians, and his groups handled jazz admirably as part of a larger repertoire.

"[6] In his autobiography, Duke Ellington declared, "Paul Whiteman was known as the King of Jazz, and no one as yet has come near carrying that title with more certainty and dignity.

In a time when most dance bands consisted of six to ten men, Whiteman directed a more imposing group that numbered as many as 35 musicians.

Beginning in 1923 after the Buescher Band Instrument Company placed a crown on his head, the media referred to Whiteman as "The King of Jazz".

[2] While most jazz musicians and fans consider improvisation to be essential to the musical style, Whiteman thought the genre could be improved by orchestrating the best of it, with formal written arrangements.

[19] For more than 30 years Whiteman, referred to as "Pops", sought and encouraged promising musicians, vocalists, composers, arrangers, and entertainers.

Whiteman hired many of the best jazz musicians for his band, including Bix Beiderbecke, Frankie Trumbauer, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, Steve Brown, Mike Pingitore, Gussie Mueller, Wilbur Hall (billed by Whiteman as "Willie Hall"), Jack Teagarden, and Bunny Berigan.

[2] He encouraged upcoming African American musical talents and planned to hire black musicians, but his management persuaded him that doing so would destroy his career, due to racial tension and America's segregation of that time.

[23] Another notable Capitol record he made is the 1942 "Trav'lin Light" featuring Billie Holiday (billed as "Lady Day", due to her being under contract with another label).

Whiteman also appeared as the baby in Nertz (1929), the bandleader in Thanks a Million (1935),[2] as himself in Strike Up the Band (1940),[2] in the Paramount Pictures short The Lambertville Story (1949), and the revue musical King of Jazz (1930).

Although giving priority to stage appearances during his peak years in the 1920s, Whiteman participated in some early prestigious radio programs.

auspices in the past, the Dodge Brothers' Victory Hour at a reputed cost of $67,000 was disappointing and not commensurate in impression with the financial outlay."

"...The reaction to Paul Whiteman's grand radio plug for "Among My Souvenirs"…was a flock of orders by wire from dealers the day following the Dodge Brothers Victory Hour broadcast.

Old Gold Presents Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra was an hour-long show on Tuesday nights over CBS from station WABC in New York.

[4] On August 18, 1931, Whiteman married for the fourth and final time to actress Margaret Livingston in a ceremony in Denver, Colorado.

[34][35] Whiteman lived at Walking Horse Farm near the village of Rosemont in Delaware Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, from 1938 to 1959.

[42] On June 13, 1954, the #4 Jaguar XK120, driven by Al Keller, won the International 100 race of the Grand National series, held on a one mile road course on the airport at Vineland, New Jersey.

[49] The Paul Whiteman Orchestra introduced many jazz standards in the 1920s, including "Hot Lips", which was in the Steven Spielberg movie The Color Purple (1985), "Mississippi Mud", "From Monday On", written by Harry Barris and sung by the Rhythm Boys featuring Bing Crosby and Irene Taylor with Bix Beiderbecke on cornet, "Nuthin' But", "Grand Canyon Suite" and "Mississippi Suite" composed by Ferde Grofé, "Rhapsody in Blue", composed by George Gershwin who played piano on the Paul Whiteman recording in 1924, "Wonderful One" (1923), and "Wang Wang Blues" (1920), covered by Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and Joe "King" Oliver's Dixie Syncopators in 1926 and many of the Big Bands.

[50] Whiteman composed the standard "Wonderful One" in 1922 with Ferde Grofé and Dorothy Terris (also known as Theodora Morse), based on a theme by film director Marshall Neilan.

The songwriting credit is assigned as music composed by Paul Whiteman, Ferde Grofé, and Marshall Neilan, with lyrics by Dorothy Terriss.

"(My) Wonderful One" was recorded by Gertrude Moody, Edward Miller, Martha Pryor, Mel Torme, Doris Day, Woody Herman, Helen Moretti, John McCormack; it was released as Victor 961.

"Wonderful One" appeared in the following movies: The Chump Champ (1950), Little 'Tinker (1948), Red Hot Riding Hood (1943), Sufferin' Cats (1943), Design for Scandal (1941), Strike Up the Band (1940), and Westward Passage (1932).

On May 31, 1924, the song "String Beans" was copyrighted, with words and music by Vincent Rose, Harry Owens, and Paul Whiteman.

[62] Whiteman also co-wrote the popular song "My Fantasy" with Leo Edwards and Jack Meskill, which is a musical adaptation of the Polovtsian Dances theme from the opera Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin.