Ross S. Bagdasarian | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1919-01-27)January 27, 1919 Fresno, California, U.S. |
| Died | January 16, 1972(1972-01-16) (aged 52) |
| Resting place | Chapel of the Pines Crematory |
| Other names | David Seville (stage name) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1939–1972 |
| Notable work | Alvin and the Chipmunks |
| Style | Novelty music[1] |
| Television | The Alvin Show (1961–62) |
| Spouse | [2] |
| Children | 3, includingRoss Jr. |
| Relatives | William Saroyan (cousin) Janice Karman (daughter-in-law) |
Ross S. Bagdasarian[a] (/bæɡdəˈsɛəriən/; January 27, 1919 – January 16, 1972), also known by his stage nameDavid Seville,[3] was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor best known for creating thecartoon bandAlvin and the Chipmunks. Initially a stage and film actor, he rose to prominence in 1958 with the songs "Witch Doctor" and "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)", which both becameBillboard number-one singles. He produced and directedThe Alvin Show, which aired onCBS in 1961–62.
Bagdasarian[a] was born on January 27, 1919, inFresno, California to anArmenian-American family.[8] His father was a grape grower.[9] He had two elder brothers: Richard Sirak (1910–1966) and Harry Sisvan (1915–1989).[8] The novelistWilliam Saroyan, with whom he was very close, was his first cousin.[10][11]
Bagdasarian graduated fromFresno High School in 1937.[8] He went to New York to work with his cousin Saroyan with the intention of becoming an actor.[9] WhenWorld War II started, he enlisted and served four years as a control tower operator[12] and rose to the rank of astaff sergeant (SSgt) in theArmy Air Forces.[13] He spent time in England, France and Spain;[9] his later stage name "David Seville" originated from the fact that he was stationed in the city ofSeville in Spain and he liked the city.[9][14]
After the war, he returned to Fresno and married Armenouhi "Armen" Kulhanjian, and they tried for a time to be grape growers. They were unsuccessful and they moved to Los Angeles where he started a career as a songwriter.[9]
Bagdasarian'sBroadway debut was in 1939 when he played the newsboy inThe Time of Your Life byWilliam Saroyan, his cousin.[15] He also appeared in minor roles in several films, such asViva Zapata! (1952),Stalag 17 (1953),Destination Gobi (1953) and inAlfred Hitchcock'sRear Window (1954), he is the lonely composer at the piano.[16] Acting inThe Proud and Profane (1956),[17][15] he also composed and performed thetie-in songThe Ballad of Colin Black.
Bagdasarian's first major success with songwriting came with "Come On-a My House", which he co-wrote with William Saroyan in 1939. The song was rejected by many record companies as being "too ethnic", and it was not recorded until 1950 (byKay Armen). The songwriters themselves recorded it as a duet in 1951.Mitch Miller ofColumbia Records came across the song and persuadedRosemary Clooney to record it.[9] It became a million-selling hit.[17] It is an adaptation of an Armenian folk song Bagdasarian wrote with his cousinWilliam Saroyan.[18][19][20] The song was originally composed for theiroff-Broadway musicalThe Son.[21] It launched Clooney's career, reaching number one onBillboard charts and was number four onBillboard year-end top 30 singles of 1951.[22] The song sold some 750,000 records in a month.[23] In 1954, Bagdasarian wrote "Hey, Brother, Pour the Wine", a hit forDean Martin.[17]
In 1955 Bagdasarian signed with the then newly establishedLiberty Records. In early 1956 he had a transcontinental hit with the novelty record "The Trouble with Harry" (inspired by thehomonymous Hitchcock film) credited to Alfi & Harry,[24][25] although Alfi & Harry was just one person, Bagdasarian himself.[26] It reached No. 44 on theBillboard chart[27] and was a bigger hit in the United Kingdom reaching No. 15.[28]
In 1956, he wrote an instrumental "Armen's Theme" named after his wife. The executives at Liberty Records suggested that he adopt a pseudonym as they thought his name too difficult to pronounce.[9] In December 1956, he charted with his first record credited to his David Seville pseudonym, and "Armen's Theme" reached No. 42 on theBillboard chart.[29]
Bagdasarian's rise to prominence came with the song "Witch Doctor" in 1958,[30] which was created after he experimented with the speed control on atape recorder bought with $200 (equivalent to $2,200 in 2024) from the family savings.[31]Liberty Records released thisnovelty record under the David Seville name. It is a duet between his real voice and accelerated version.[17] The record went on to become aBillboard number-one single by April 28, 1958, and further established him as a songwriter.[20] It sold 1.5 million copies.[32]
Bagdasarian went on to create his trio of Chipmunks named after the executives of Liberty Records: Simon, Theodore, and Alvin, named forSimon "Si" Waronker,Theodore "Ted" Keep, and Alvin Bennett.[17][33] Their debut song, "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" was released on November 17, 1958, and became a number one hit by New Years Day.[34] The song sold 4 million records in the first few months.[15] It toppedBillboard charts the two weeks before and two weeks after New Years and won three Grammy Awards at the1st Annual Grammy Awards on May 4, 1959:Best Recording for Children,Best Comedy Performance, andBest Non-Classical Engineered Song.[35][36] Bagdasarian won the first two as David Seville. The song was the 23rd most performed Christmas song of the 20th century.[37]
Shana Alexander, writing forLife magazine in 1959, noted that Bagdasarian was the first case in the "annals of popular music that one man has served as writer, composer, publisher, conductor and multiple vocalist of a hit record, thereby directing all possible revenues from the song back into his pocket." Alexander also found it remarkable that Bagdasarian "can neither read nor write music nor play any musical instrument in the accepted sense of the word."[38] Bagdasarian owned Chipmunk Enterprises, which sponsored Chipmunk-related sales. By 1963, some 15 companies were using or planned to use Alvin figures. By that year,Billboard magazine estimated the total income from the Chipmunks' record sales (including overseas sales) and record club sales to be around $20 million ($157 million adjusted for inflation in 2024 dollars).[30]
In the following years, the Chipmunks released several hit songs: "Alvin's Harmonica" (1959), "Ragtime Cowboy Joe" (1959), "Alvin's Orchestra" (1960), "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" (1960), "The Alvin Twist" (1962), and the albumThe Chipmunks Sing the Beatles Hits in 1964 during theBritish Invasion.[17]
Bagdasarian producedThe Alvin Show, a half-hour TV cartoon show broadcast onCBS from October 1961 to September 1962.[15]
In 1968, Alvin and the Chipmunks recorded a version of "The Chipmunk Song" with the rock bandCanned Heat, who also recorded for Liberty Records.
Bagdasarian married Armenouhi "Armen" Kulhanjian (1927–1991) in 1946.[2][b] They had three children: Carol Askine (b. 1947), an actress;Ross Jr. (b. 1949); and Adam Serak (b. 1954), a fiction writer.[2][31][16] They lived in Los Angeles from 1950.[20][17] As of 1963,he owned a grape ranch in California called the Chipmunk Ranch.[30] In the mid-1960s, he bought Sierra Wine Corp., a winery that supplied product, among others, toE & J Gallo Winery.[16]
Bagdasarian died in hisBeverly Hills, California home of a heart attack on January 16, 1972, eleven days before his 53rd birthday.[15][17] He was cremated and inurned at theChapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles.[42]
Bagdasarian willed the Chipmunks franchise to his wife and three children.[31] Ross Jr. said in an interview that he "worshipped" his father and felt a need to continue his work.[31] He resumed the franchise with his wifeJanice Karman in the late 1970s, after finishing law school,[20] and became the complete owner when he bought the rights from his siblings in the mid-1990s.[16]
...for the pseudonym he used for the chipmunk enterprise, David Seville, is far better remembered than his real name.
...my cousin Sipon Rostom Bagdasarian...
The home had been owned by the late Armen Bagdasarian, widow of songwriter Ross S. Bagdasarian Sr....
At the second wedding, left to right, Ross and Armen Bagdasarian...
| Business positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Created | President ofBagdasarian Productions 1961–1972 | Succeeded by |
| Owner ofAlvin and the Chipmunks 1958–1972 | ||
| Preceded by Created | Voice of Dave Seville 1958–1972 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Created | Voice of Alvin & The Chipmunks 1958–1972 | Succeeded by Ross Bagdasarian Jr. |
| Preceded by Created | Voice of Alvin Seville 1958–1972 | Succeeded by Ross Bagdasarian Jr. |
| Preceded by Created | Voice of Simon Seville 1958–1972 | Succeeded by Ross Bagdasarian Jr. |
| Preceded by Created | Voice of Theodore Seville 1958–1972 | Succeeded by Janice Karman |
