On March 29, 1917, he enlisted in the US Navy in Portland, Maine to fight in World War I, but authorities discovered he was only 15 and had given the false birth date of July 28, 1899.

[6] With this band (formed in 1928),[7] which included two violins, two saxophones, a piano, a banjo, and drums, he began singing as a member of a trio and as a soloist.

But his singing, saxophone playing, and the innovative arrangements he wrote for his band attracted attention from a rapidly increasing number of listeners, especially from young women.

[8] In 1928 he started performing on the radio, first at New York station WABC, leading his Yale Collegians Orchestra,[9] and then on WEAF and the NBC Red Network beginning in February 1929.

However, his voice still failed to project in venues without microphones and amplification, so he often sang through a megaphone, a device he had used when leading the Yale football band.

Faultlessly attired in evening dress, he pours softly into the radio's delicate ear a stream of mellifluous melody.

The winning letter, written by a man who disliked Vallée's music, said, "Rudy Vallee is reaping the harvest of a seed that is seldom sown this day and age: LOVE.

He signed with RCA Victor in February 1929 and remained with the company through 1931, leaving after a heated dispute with executives over song selections.

[18][19][20] In 1929, Vallée began hosting The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour,[21] a popular radio show with guests such as Fay Wray and Richard Cromwell in dramatic skits.

When Vallée took his contractual vacations from his national radio show in 1937, he insisted his sponsor hire Louis Armstrong as his substitute.

While his initial performances were rather wooden, his acting greatly improved in the late 1930s and 1940s, and by the time he began working with Preston Sturges in the 1940s, he had become a successful comedic supporting player.

In 1955, Vallée was featured in Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, co-starring Jane Russell, Alan Young, and Jeanne Crain.

[23] He appeared in the 1960s Batman television series as the villain Lord Marmaduke Ffogg and in 1971 as a vindictive surgeon in the Night Gallery episode "Marmalade Wine".

[24] From 1948 to 1952, Vallée owned Vallee-Video, a television production company formed in the early days of national TV broadcasts.

[25] Vallée made 16mm film shorts for television, including These Foolish Things and Under a Campus Moon, in which he appeared himself.

Vallée and Byrd also worked on a proposed radio show based on the comic strip Hawkshaw the Detective.

[32] Vallée died of cancer at his Los Angeles estate known as Silvertip on July 3, 1986 while watching the televised centennial ceremonies of the restored Statue of Liberty.

During his divorce from his first wife Fay Webb, she alleged that "Vallée is possessed of a violent, vicious, and ungovernable temper, and given to the use of blasphemy and the use of intemperate, vile, and vituperative language, particularly when applied to [her]".

The judge found him "not guilty of any misconduct or maltreatment of Webb which detrimentally affected her health, physical or medical condition.

[35] NBC announcer George Ansbro wrote in his memoirs that Vallée "had quite a temper and a very foul mouth... almost always the butt of his nastiness was the orchestra... his outbursts were mean-spirited, and he didn't care who overheard".

Dorothy Brooks wrote in 1936, "Other stars on the air have their troubles, their disagreements, and yet you don't read about their ending in black eyes.