PASSINGS: Byron Palmer, Dr. John Miller Hyson Jr.
Byron Palmer, 89, an actor and singer who broke through in the late 1940s in the hit Broadway musical “Where’s Charley?” and later co-starred on the TV show “This Is Your Music,” died of natural causes Wednesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his family announced.
Born June 21, 1920, in Los Angeles, he was the second of four children of Harlan G. Palmer, publisher of the old Hollywood Citizen News, and his wife, Ethelyn. While attending Occidental College, Palmer wrote obituaries for his father’s paper, then joined CBS as a page and eventually became a radio announcer.
During World War II, Palmer joined the Army Air Forces and ran a radio station on an island in the Pacific. Between news broadcasts, he sang tenor on the air with a quartet called the Music Mates. Soldiers sent him fan mail that persuaded him to take voice lessons after the war, his family said.
After acting as master of ceremonies for a touring “Hollywood on Ice” show, he starred with Ray Bolger in “Where’s Charley?” in 1948. He also was featured in the early 1950s Broadway revue “Bless You All” with Pearl Bailey.
In the movies, Palmer debuted in 1953 in “Tonight We Sing.” He also appeared with Jack Palance in “Man in the Attic” (1953), with Gordon MacRae in “The Best Things in Life Are Free” (1956) and in several other films.
On television, he had guest roles on several series, including dramas, but may be best known for co-starring with Joan Weldon on “This Is Your Music.” The show, which aired on KTTV-TV Channel 11, featured the pair singing “songs America loves best,” according to a 1955 ad in Billboard magazine.
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