Mel Torme, singer, composer who co-wrote 'The Christmas Song,' has died

Torme, who suffered what was described as a mild stroke in August 1996, died of complications from that stroke at 1:45 a.m. after being rushed from his Beverly Hills home to the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center with breathing problems, said Rob Wilcox, Torme's publicist.

His wife Ali and five children were at his side when he died, Wilcox said.

"The passing of Mel Torme is an enormous loss," singer Tony Bennett said. "He was an encyclopedia of jazz. He was the best white jazz singer I ever heard."

Torme received a lifetime achievement award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences at February's Grammy Awards.

Besides his singing and prolific song-writing, Torme's career included acting in movies and on television, most notably in the late 1980s on "Night Court" as the musical hero of main character Judge Harold T. Stone, played by Harry Anderson.

"What a one of a kind. It's a tremendous loss. He was fabulous guy, great sense of humor, as sweet as an elf," Anderson said. He recalled one episode in which his character said about tickets to a Torme concert: "Woodstock was just a concert, this is Mel Torme."

Actor Charlton Heston called Torme was one of the outstanding vocalist and composers of our time. "I was proud of his friendship and, like anyone else who cared about music, I will miss him greatly," he said.

"The stroke was more debilitating than he admitted to anyone," said Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, another longtime friend. But Torme dealt with it "in amazing, heroic ways. His spirit continued to be extremely good."

"I've lost a wonderful friend," added comedian Jerry Lewis. "There could never be anyone to replace Mel, not only as a singer but as a dear friend."

Melvin Howard Torme was born in 1925 in Chicago and made his professional debut in 1929, at age four, with the Coon Sanders Orchestra in Chicago. He was featured singer on a weekly radio show and wrote his first song, "Lament To Love," at 16.

In 1943, Torme co-starred with Frank Sinatra in "Higher and Higher" and in the following year, formed the vocal group The Mel-Tones.

"The Christmas Song," written with Robert Wells, brought Torme musical immortality. The holiday pop classic, recalling "chestnuts roasting on an open fire; Jack Frost nipping at your nose," was a huge hit for Nat "King" Cole in 1946 and has been recorded by countless other singers, including Torme himself.

In the '50s, he hosted "The Mel Torme Show," an afternoon variety talk show, while continuing to record and compose.

He was his own arranger for much of his career, played piano and other instruments, and acted in a few Hollywood films. He was nominated for a best supporting actor Emmy in 1956 for a role in "The Comedian," a Playhouse 90 production.

"He was one of the supreme jazz singers of all time, with the vocal dexterity matched only by Ella Fitzgerald," said singer Jack Jones. "He had the best sense of timing and a lot of heart in his work."

In all, he wrote some 300 songs, more than half with Wells. It was a sweltering summer day when they wrote "The Christmas Song."

"I saw a spiral pad on his piano with four lines written in pencil," he recalled. "They started, 'Chestnuts roasting ... Jack Frost nipping ... Yuletide carols ... Folks dressed up like Eskimos.'

"He didn't think he was writing a song lyric. He said he thought if he could immerse himself in winter he could cool off. Forty minutes later that song was written. I wrote all the music and some of the lyrics. I've racked my brain to remember which lyrics I wrote. It doesn't matter."

When people would ask why he kept singing old songs, Torme said they're simply better than new songs: "When young rock singers began writing their own, they displaced the community of songwriters who worked with grace, wit, charm, intelligence and brilliance."

In fact, Torme got so discouraged about the state of popular music that at one point in the '60s, he decided to quit and went to school to become an airline pilot. Luckily, the pendulum swung back and interest in his work revived.

George Shearing, who won two Grammys with Torme, said it was hard to imagine a more compatible musical partner.

"I humbly put forth that Mel and I had the best musical marriage in many a year," he said. "We literally breathed together during our countless performances. As Mel put it, 'We were two bodies of one musical mind."'

At 70, Torme said he maintained his vocal strength by taking care of himself: no smoking, only an occasional glass of wine, careful avoidance of drafts.

"Before I sing I force myself to have seven or eight hours of sleep. I can sing acceptably well on six hours. There is that little grade of difference between six hours and eight hours."

In a June 1994 concert at Carnegie Hall, he joked about his age. In "You Make Me Feel So Young," the 68-year-old Torme sang, "You know that age is just a number" then interjected "If I could really believe that."

Torme is survived by his wife Ali and five children - Steve, Melissa, Tracy, Daisy, and James - and two stepchildren, Carrie Torme and Kurt Goldsmith.

Memorial services were not immediately announced.

archive