About Harry James
Harry Haag James was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band to great commercial success from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947, but shortly after he reorganized and was active again with his band from then until his death in 1983. He was especially known among musicians for his technical proficiency as well as his tone, and was influential on new trumpet players from the late 1930s into the 1940s. He was also an actor in a number of films that usually featured his band. James’s first job was playing at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis and he played regularly with Herman Waldman's band, and at one performance was noticed by nationally popular Ben Pollack. James' band was the first high-profile orchestra to feature vocalist Frank Sinatra, who signed a one-year, $75 a week contract with it in 1939 ($1,589 a week in 2022). Subsequently, known as Harry James and His Music Makers, it produced the hit "You Made Me Love You", which peaked at no. 5 on Billboard's National Best Selling Retail Records chart for the week ending November 18, 1941.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.