Torme’s Zest for Life Remembered

He was a renaissance man, beloved for his quirkiness and joie de vivre, friends and relatives of Mel Torme said Tuesday as hundreds gathered for his memorial service in Westwood.

Torme, a multitalented musician best known for his jazz singing, died Saturday in Los Angeles at 73.

The service at Pierce Bros. Westwood Village Memorial Park was attended by friends and Hollywood luminaries, as well as by fans who knew Torme only through his music.

A singer, songwriter, arranger, instrumentalist, actor and author, Torme had an infectious enthusiasm for life, friends and relatives said.

“If it wasn’t for the word ‘babe,’ he wouldn’t be able to finish a sentence,” actor Harry Anderson said to audience laughter.

He said Torme taught him that cars--one of the singer’s passions, in addition to gun collecting, model trains and airplanes--could be “delicious.”

Tracy Torme recalled his father as loving and supportive. He recalled how, as a boy, he found himself playing baseball against the son of Sammy Davis Jr., a fellow entertainer with whom his father had a “love-hate relationship.” Torme signaled his son, the pitcher, to strike out the Davis boy, who was at bat. But Tracy’s pitch hit the batter squarely in the head.

“I looked over at my dad, and he just kind of hung his head,” Tracy said. But after the game, the singer offered these words of comfort: “Well, son, don’t feel too bad. If he’s anything like his old man, he deserved to be dusted.”

For years, recalled Hugh Hefner, Torme and his friends went to the Playboy Mansion every week to have dinner and watch films. “He was a movie buff like no other,” Hefner said. “He was with us right up to the end.”

Other speakers included actor Cliff Robertson, author Harlan Ellison and entertainer Donald O’Connor. Among those in attendance were Nancy Sinatra, Mel Brooks, Steve Allen, James Darren, Robert Culp, Roger Williams and Rhonda Fleming.

Torme, who died of complications from a stroke he suffered in 1996, was buried near a palm tree at the tiny, exclusive park, the final resting place for movie legends such as Natalie Wood, Marilyn Monroe and Dean Martin.

Referring to Torme’s most famous composition, daughter Daisy Torme said, “Don’t be sad when you hear ‘The Christmas Song.’ Be happy he gave it to us.”