Harry Barris
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Harry Barris (November 24, 1905 – December 13, 1962) was a American popular singer.
Born in New York City, he was a member of the Rhythm Boys, an early 1930s singing trio which included Al Rinker and Bing Crosby, and was Crosby's entry into show business. The group sang several songs in the Paul Whiteman Orchestra film King of Jazz (1930) and recorded both with Whiteman and on their own with Barris on piano. Barris appeared in 57 films between 1931 and 1950, usually as the pianist during party sequences, and composed songs including Mississippi Mud, I Surrender, Dear, and Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams. Crosby's unique runaway success as a single left his early partners feeling a bit like Pete Best of the Beatles must have a generation later, but songwriters Rinker and Barris also carved out careers on their own as well.
Barris was the uncle of game show host and producer Chuck Barris, who was the subject of the George Clooney film Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.
Bing Crosby: The Hollow Man by Donald Shepherd and Robert F. Slatzer
ISBN-13: 978-0523421643