Chummy MacGregor

He was portrayed by Harry Morgan in the 1954 Universal Pictures biopic The Glenn Miller Story.

• Name — Chummy MacGregor • Birth Name — John Chalmers MacGregor • Born — 28 May 1903 • Birthplace — Saginaw, Michigan, U.S. • Died — 9 May 1973 • Place of death — Los Angeles, California, U.S. • Genre — Jazz • Occupation — * Musician • composer • Instrument — piano • Years Active — late 1920s – early 1940s • Past Member Of — Glenn Miller Orchestra

As a young student, Chummy MacGregor attended the University of Michigan. A member of its Delta Tau Delta, he graduated in 1925. Before teaming with the legendary arranger, trombonist and band leader Glenn Miller, MacGregor played with jazz musician, songwriter and recording artist Irving Aaronson. In 1936 he became a sideman in the first Glenn Miller orchestra. Unsuccessful, that outfit disbanded in 1937. When Miller reformed his orchestra in 1938, MacGregor remained by his side. During its brief four-year history, The Glenn Miller Orchestra would sign a recording contract with RCA Victor, have it awarded the music industry's first gold record, star in a weekly radio series for the CBS Network and appear in two successful musical motion pictures for 20th Century Fox films. Considered by writers and critics as the most popular and commercially successful big band of the swing music era, MacGregor was a major contributor to its legacy. Between 1939 and 1943 the band would achieve twenty-three no.1 hit records on the Billboard, Variety and Hit Parade Magazine music charts, second only to vocalist Bing Crosby in that period. Original 78 rpm Miller records such as In the Mood, Tuxedo Junction and A String of Pearls are mainstays of 1940s popular music and cultural collector's items representing "the greatest generation." From the early 1950s into the 21st century hundreds of long play albums, extended play singles and compact disc reissue releases internationally continue the preservation of the original Miller recordings for future generations. The spirit of "the Miller sound" is also kept alive by countless World War II era dance bands and nostalgia radio and internet programming. Actor Harry Morgan, a well known veteran of dozens of later television roles including December Bride, Dragnet and M*A*S*H, portrayed MacGregor in the 1953 Universal Pictures biography, The Glenn Miller Story. James Stewart and June Allyson were cast as Miller and his wife, Helen. MacGregor, seen as a close friend to Miller and his family, was a consultant and technical advisor to the film.

He was in the Twentieth Century Fox box office hit motion picture Sun Valley Serenade (1941) starring John Payne and Sonja Henie and its equally successful follow-up, Orchestra Wives (1942), starring George Montgomery and Ann Rutherford as part of the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Both films featured Miller and his band as themselves. He appeared, uncredited, in "Sun Valley Serenade" as part of the orchestra. He is on the piano as the Miller band is seen practicing Chattanooga Choo Choo. Leading man John Payne plays Ted Scott, band pianist in the film. For Orchestra Wives MacGregor played all keyboard parts and solos for actor Cesar Romero's role as the pianist in that film.