Lorenzo Dow Fuller Jr. (March , â€" January , ) was an American
singer, musician, actor, musical director and coach. He was an
original cast member of Finian's Rainbow and Kiss Me, Kate, and in the
radio show Van and the Genie was the first male African-American actor
to star opposite a white woman. His television show Musical Miniatures
was also the first to be fronted by a black performer.Fuller was born
in Stockton, Kansas, the son of L.D. Fuller Sr. and Effie Green
Fuller. His father was a successful newspaper publisher and founder of
the Fuller Concert Company, which produced shows throughout the
Midwest and into Canada and Mexico. By the age of eight, the younger
Lorenzo Fuller had begun performing as a harpist on local radio shows,
and in his family's troupe. At the age of , he began studying opera
and classical music at the University of Kansas, and while studying
had a regular monthly show on KFKU radio. He was the first black
performer to sing with the Kansas University symphony orchestra,
becoming known as "the Paul Robeson of KU", and on his graduation
performed a solo recital for an audience of over .He moved to New York
in and studied at the Juilliard School. He could sing in several
languages and played many different musical instruments, quickly
establishing himself in the city. In , he was a member of the original
Broadway cast of Finian's Rainbow, and the following year played Paul
in the first production of Kiss Me, Kate. His original performance of
Cole Porter's song "Too Darn Hot", with tap dancers Eddie Sledge (the
father of the Sledge sisters) and Fred Davis, was recorded and issued
in as a -rpm single. Fuller was also successful as a musical
arranger, working with George Gershwin as an assistant musical
director, and performer, in Porgy and Bess, and touring
internationally with the show as American cultural ambassadors.From ,
Fuller hosted a regular -minute show on NBC. He worked for them until
as a musical director and special materials writer on shows such as
Young Broadway, Musical Miniatures, and the Jerry Lester Show. On
Musical Miniatures, he was the first African American to have his own
television show, several years before Nat "King" Cole. He also
appeared on, and won, the Arthur Godfrey Talent Show. His radio show,
Van and the Genie on station WPIX, was the first in which a black man
appeared on equal terms with a white woman, Rosamond Vance Kaufman.
The pair marched together in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade,
behind Jimmy Durante.
singer, musician, actor, musical director and coach. He was an
original cast member of Finian's Rainbow and Kiss Me, Kate, and in the
radio show Van and the Genie was the first male African-American actor
to star opposite a white woman. His television show Musical Miniatures
was also the first to be fronted by a black performer.Fuller was born
in Stockton, Kansas, the son of L.D. Fuller Sr. and Effie Green
Fuller. His father was a successful newspaper publisher and founder of
the Fuller Concert Company, which produced shows throughout the
Midwest and into Canada and Mexico. By the age of eight, the younger
Lorenzo Fuller had begun performing as a harpist on local radio shows,
and in his family's troupe. At the age of , he began studying opera
and classical music at the University of Kansas, and while studying
had a regular monthly show on KFKU radio. He was the first black
performer to sing with the Kansas University symphony orchestra,
becoming known as "the Paul Robeson of KU", and on his graduation
performed a solo recital for an audience of over .He moved to New York
in and studied at the Juilliard School. He could sing in several
languages and played many different musical instruments, quickly
establishing himself in the city. In , he was a member of the original
Broadway cast of Finian's Rainbow, and the following year played Paul
in the first production of Kiss Me, Kate. His original performance of
Cole Porter's song "Too Darn Hot", with tap dancers Eddie Sledge (the
father of the Sledge sisters) and Fred Davis, was recorded and issued
in as a -rpm single. Fuller was also successful as a musical
arranger, working with George Gershwin as an assistant musical
director, and performer, in Porgy and Bess, and touring
internationally with the show as American cultural ambassadors.From ,
Fuller hosted a regular -minute show on NBC. He worked for them until
as a musical director and special materials writer on shows such as
Young Broadway, Musical Miniatures, and the Jerry Lester Show. On
Musical Miniatures, he was the first African American to have his own
television show, several years before Nat "King" Cole. He also
appeared on, and won, the Arthur Godfrey Talent Show. His radio show,
Van and the Genie on station WPIX, was the first in which a black man
appeared on equal terms with a white woman, Rosamond Vance Kaufman.
The pair marched together in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade,
behind Jimmy Durante.
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