Begin the Unsanguine

Artie Shaw, one of the last stars of the Big Band era, has died at the age of 94. A clarinetist, Shaw rivaled Benny Goodman for the title of the King of Swing, and as a bandleader, his recording of Begin the Beguine was one of the best known of the Big Band era. The clarinet he played on that recording hangs in the Smithsonian with Dizzy Gillespie’s trumpet and Ella Fitzgerald’s red dress. He walked away from music at the height of his career in the 1950s, and wrote a few novels and did some cameo work, probably to screw his 7 ex-wives out of alimony. Among those he loved and left were the pin-up actresses Ava Gardner and Lana Turner. He finally found the secret to marital success with wife No. 8 Evelyn Keyes, the middle of the O’Hara sisters from Gone with the Wind, by largely staying away from her.