About Buddy DeFranco
Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco was an American jazz clarinetist. In addition to his work as a bandleader, DeFranco led the Glenn Miller Orchestra for almost a decade in the 1960s and 1970s. DeFranco won twenty awards from DownBeat magazine, nine awards from Metronome, and sixteen Playboy All-Stars awards. He was playing the clarinet by the time he was nine years old and within five years had won a national Tommy Dorsey swing contest. In this period, DeFranco recorded for MGM, Norgran and Verve; the latter two labels were owned by Norman Granz.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.