Music
Anthony made his professional debut in 1940, backing Al Donahue.
Anthony joined the Glenn Miller Orchestra as an eighteen year-old in 1940, replacing Phil Rommel. Anthony was in the band from 1940 to 1941. He had seen the band live three months before he joined them. He recalled being teased by the other members for being the youngest member: "He (Glenn Miller) was tough but it’s a business. You don’t have much time to do anything but follow the lines". Reportedly, Anthony was constantly fired by Miller due to him repeatedly suggesting new ideas for the band, but was always rehired again as his "skills were so high"; this led to him being nicknamed "Peck's Bad Boy". Ray appeared uncredited in the Glenn Miller movie Sun Valley Serenade.
Anthony lasted less than a year in the group, leaving without return in 1941 after six months over not getting along with Miller. He then briefly played with Jimmy Dorsey before he joined the U.S. Navy in 1942 during World War II (with Miller joining the Army and organizing his famous military band before his plane's 1944 disappearance over the English Channel.) While in the Navy, Anthony entertained troops in the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.
After the war, he remained in the Navy for one more year, and upon being discharged formed his own group, The Ray Anthony Orchestra, which became popular in the early 1950s with "The Bunny Hop" (#13 on Billboard, #34 on Cash Box), "Hokey Pokey", and the memorable theme from the radio/television police detective series Dragnet, which reached no. 2 on Billboard and no. 7 in the UK. He had a No. 2 chart hit on Billboard with a recording of the tune "At Last" in 1952, which also reached no. 20 on Cash Box; it was the highest charting pop version of the song in the U.S. His 1962 recording "Worried Mind" received considerable radio airplay, reaching no. 20 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.
In 1953, Anthony and his orchestra were featured when Helen O'Connell and Bob Eberly headlined a summer replacement program for Perry Como's CBS television show.
From 1953 to 1954, Anthony was musical director of the television series TV's Top Tunes. In 1957, Anthony and his orchestra recorded the music score for the film This Could Be The Night, with vocals performed by Julie Wilson.
He continued his musical career and had another hit record with the jazzy drumming theme from the Peter Gunn private detective series featuring Craig Stevens, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart with its popularity enduring for decades. Among the Anthony band's pianists was Allen "Puddler" Harris, a native of Franklin Parish, in Louisiana, who had been a member of the original rock singer Ricky Nelson's band, and Kellie Greene, who also played the vibraphone.
In the early 1980s, Anthony formed Big Band '80s, with other members of the band including Buddy Rich, Harry James, Les Brown, and Alvino Rey. His later works tended to break away from the big-band jazz style, ranging from MOR and lounge music to blues, film and television themes.Anthony also made tv appearances and recordings as a vocalist.
