George Durgom; Manager for Entertainers

George Albert Durgom, the onetime Glenn Miller band boy known throughout musical circles as “Bullets” and who became personal manager for scores of celebrities--including Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr.--has died.

His brother, John Durgom, said Thursday from his home in Rockford, Ill., that his brother, whose nickname came from his foot speed, had died Oct. 1 in Palm Desert of complications of Alzheimer’s disease. Announcement of the death had been delayed until services were arranged.

Durgom, who had been incapacitated for some time, was 77.

His fascination with big bands came when he was a boy hanging around Frank Dailey’s Meadowbrook Ballroom in New Jersey after working days as a New York Stock Exchange page.

Miller took a liking to the boy and put him in charge of the band’s instruments and luggage, later making him road manager. Durgom left Miller for Tommy Dorsey’s band, where he and Sinatra--then Dorsey’s male vocalist--became lifelong friends.

During World War II, when bands broke up as musicians went into military service, Durgom became a personal manager for those left behind.

He was a co-founder and past president of the Conference of Personal Managers, and his clients over the years included Dick Haymes, Andy Russell, Jo Stafford and the Pied Pipers, Connie Haines, Bobby Troup, Merv Griffin, Jackie Gleason, Mort Sahl and many others.

Durgom had lived in Beverly Hills and Palm Springs before being moved to a nursing home.

Married and divorced three times, he is survived by his brother and several nieces and nephews.

Services were planned in East Hanover, N.J.