American jazz bandleader, entertainer, singer and clarinetist.

Lewis started his recording career in 1917, playing clarinet in Earl Fuller’s Famous Jazz Band. That band tried to copy the style of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band after the ODJB had had a tremendous success with its jazzy Livery Stable Blues earlier that year.

In 1919, Lewis founded his own band. Playing a combination of jazz and dance music, the band became very popular, not least because it included well-known jazz musicians such as Muggsy Spanier on trumpet and George Brunies on trombone. Other distinguished musicians that recorded with Lewis’ band, but more briefly, include Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey, and Don Murray (2) on clarinet. Lewis’ catchphrase was Is Everybody Happy? which itself became the title of a 1929 movie featuring his band.

For many years, Ted Lewis recorded exclusively for Columbia, which honored him with his own picture label (1929-1933), a special distinction he shared only with Paul Whiteman. In 1934, however, Lewis switched to a new start-up label, Decca, for which he re-recorded many of his earlier hits, such as When My Baby Smiles at Me, Wear A Hat With A Silver Lining or The Sweetheart Of Sigma Chi.

Born: June 06, 1890 in Circleville, Ohio.
Died: August 25, 1971 in New York City, New York.