Richard Benjamin Haymes (September 13, 1918 – March 28, 1980) was an Argentine singer, songwriter and actor. He was one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, an actor, television host, and songwriter.
Early life
Haymes was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1918.[1][2] According to Haymes's obituary in the New York Times, "His father was a rancher of English descent and his Irish mother had been a musical comedy singer. His parents traveled widely and he grew up in France, Montreal, California and Switzerland."[3]
Career
At the age of 17 Haymes moved to Los Angeles, where he initially worked as a stunt man and film double. Two years later, in 1937, he moved to New York City, where he worked as a vocalist in a number of big bands.[4] By the early 1940s Haymes was singing with the Harry James orchestra.[5]
On September 3, 1942, Frank Sinatra introduced Haymes on radio as his replacement in the Tommy Dorsey band.[6][7]
He paired repeatedly with the Andrews Sisters on a dozen or so Decca collaborations, including the Billboard hit "Teresa", "Great Day", "My Sin", and a 1952 rendering of the dramatic ballad "Here in My Heart", backed by the sisters and Nelson Riddle's lush strings. His duets with Patty Andrews were also well received, both on Decca vinyl and on radio's Club Fifteen with the sisters, which he hosted in 1949 and 1950. He also joined Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters for 1947 session that produced the Billboard hit "There's No Business Like Show Business", as well as "Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)". His popular renditions of tender ballads such as "Little White Lies" and "Maybe It's Because" were recorded with celebrated arranger Gordon Jenkins and his orchestra and chorus.[9]
World War II and attempted deportation
Haymes's birth in Argentina to non-U.S. citizens meant he was not an American citizen. In order to avoid military service during World War II, Haymes asserted his nonbelligerent status as a citizen of Argentina, which remained neutral until almost the end of the war. Hollywood-based columnists Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper questioned Haymes' patriotism, but the story had little effect on his career. About that time, he was classified 4-F by the draft board because of hypertension. As part of his draft examination, he was confined for a short period to a hospital on Ellis Island, which confirmed his diagnosis of hypertension.[10]
In 1953 Haymes went to Hawaii (then still a territory of the United States) to visit actress Rita Hayworth, whom he later married.[11] On returning to the U. S. mainland in August he was arrested for deportation under the McCarran–Walter Act for refusing to enter U.S. military service, and therefore was not entitled to live in the country.[12] He appealed, and won his battle to remain in 1955 on the basis that Hawaii was a geographical part of the United States, and thus had never left it.[13]
Personal life
Dick Haymes in 1966
Haymes experienced alcoholism and had serious financial problems later in life, by the early 1960s declaring bankruptcy with $500,000 in debts.[14]
He appeared as unscrupulous doctor Elroy Gantman in a 1974 episode of the TV show Adam-12.
Through his mother's nationality, Haymes spent his last years as an Irish citizen.[citation needed]
Marriages
Haymes was married six times. His first marriage to Edith Harper (1939) occurred when she claimed to be pregnant but was annulled after it was discovered that she was not.[15] Haymes wives included film actresses Joanne Dru (1941–1949), Nora Eddington (a former wife of Errol Flynn) (1949–1953), Rita Hayworth (1953–1955), and Fran Jeffries (1958–1964). Haymes had a total of six children—three with Joanne Dru, one with Fran Jeffries, and two with his sixth and final wife, British model Wendy Smith (1966).[3]
^Prigorzy, The Life of Dick Haymes, op cit, p. 177. "By the early sixties I was a desperate alcoholic. I had been forced into bankruptcy with a half million dollars in debts and no assets."
