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The Dream

It was early morning, 6^th August 2001 when I awoke from a dream.

That may not seem particularly unusual, except in my case I am rarely aware of dreaming (even when they have taken place) and even less likely to remember them.

The dream, though quite short, was as follows:

I was visiting Larry Adler at his flat. He greeted me at his doorway. Yet it didn’t look as I knew it to look; there was a stairwell behind me spiralling for many floors. Larry’s building had a lift. Although I found this strange, I accepted the change and extended my hand towards him. The next thing I knew, I was falling backwards down the stairwell. Larry, who stayed in view throughout my fall, appeared to get smaller and smaller until he was just a speck in the distance. Then I woke up.

I didn’t think too much of it, and so started my day. At the time, I was in France with my wife Tamar, and my children Elise and Simon. We were staying with friends at their home in the Loire Valley.

Later that day, while having lunch in their delightful French chateau, I received a call from another friend, Chris, back home (in London) to let me know that it had just been announced on the radio that Larry Adler had died.

Chris was aware of our friendship and didn’t know if I would hear the news where we were. I was extremely upset and also shocked by this. I had not been aware that Larry had been so ill, as I had not seen him for a while.

I then remembered the dream of that morning and was left wondering whether Larry had literally ‘dropped in’ to say ‘goodbye’?

So how did I get to meet Larry Adler?

When I was about six years old, a cousin gave me a harmonica that nobody used. I picked it up and could play it immediately. My whole existence was taken up with this little instrument that I could take everywhere with me. At an early point I became aware of the name Larry Adler – if for no other reason that at least one of the harmonicas I had acquired was called the Larry Adler Professional.

That in itself is an unusual story and one that Larry was interested to hear about, along with the following:

I was born in London and at around the age of three I contracted Tubercular Meningitis. To survive such an illness in the late 1950’s was in itself something of a miracle but to do so kept me hospitalised for a year. Fortunately I have no recollection of this at all. But having been so ill, and for such a long time, a check-up was essential twice a year in the form of an X-ray. On one of these visits, we had to pass a very large music shop called Squires. They sold just about every instrument going and on this particular day, I was stopped in my tracks by the sight of a mouthorgan in the front of their window. It was simply stunning; I had to have it!

When I got home that night I was so excited that I could not wait to tell my father about it. I must have been about nine years of age at the time. My father listened with great interest and then asked me what I would be prepared to do to enable me to get one. He asked whether I would kneel on the ground and kiss the floor. That seemed an odd request although at the time, I didn’t question it. I answered that of course I would if it would get me the instrument. He then asked me to demonstrate that I would in fact do so. I did.

When I stood up, there on a plate (on the table) was the mouthorgan that I had seen that very morning. Imagine my astonishment! By a strange coincidence my father had also seen the instrument in a different music shop in Central London where he worked – Chappell of Bond Street. He had bought it there and then. While I was telling him about the harmonica, unbeknown to me, he actually had it in his pocket and so was able to perform this ‘miracle’! I was speechless, probably for some time, and of course I was over the moon!

The Larry Adler Professional 16 Chromatic Harmonica - still in my possession over 50 years later.

Sometime later the head of my school, who happened to also be a musician, spotted my musical talent and called my parents in to talk. He wanted to know if they were aware that I had musical ability and if so, had they considered what they might do to help with my musical development.

After taking piano lessons for a while, I sat a music exam and became what is known as a ‘Junior Exhibitioner’. This entitled me to attend a London Music College under the guidance of Dr W S Lloyd-Webber (the father of Andrew).

Since first becoming aware of, and transfixed, by this amazing little instrument that would fit in my pocket, I have been a fan of Larry Adler. So much so, that it was my dream to meet him, although there was no valid reason why this should ever happen.

I studied music, and after some years (including studies in America) I qualified as a music teacher and became involved in music as a career. However, after some time my passion for photography took me in a new direction.

I started to work professionally in my new chosen field. Some years later, I received an answerphone message from no other than a certain Larry Adler. I was both surprised and delighted to receive this call but to my extreme disappointment, it was not the Larry I was hoping to meet. By coincidence, this Larry was the agent for another musician – Peggy Seeger (the sister of Pete).

However, it was following my change of direction into photography that I first had the opportunity to meet the Larry Adler that I had been hoping to meet.

In 1995, having just opened the Italiaander Portrait Gallery at Harrods, I was invited with my wife Tamar, to a Variety Club lunch at The Dorchester Hotel where Larry was to be one of the celebrity guests. The event was for the comedian Davy Kaye who had devoted his life to helping disadvantaged children through the Variety Club. Another guest who was there to speak about Davy was Dr Christian Barnard (who carried out the world’s first heart transplant).

During the lunch, the lights dimmed, an orchestral (recording) started and suddenly Larry was performing. It was a magical moment!

After lunch, I was introduced to Larry by John Ratcliff who had invited us to this special occasion. John, a past international president of Variety and his wife Marsha Rae, (who had created Gold Heart Day which has raised millions for the charity) sang my photographic praises and told Larry that I wanted to photograph him.

Larry gave me his phone number and invited me to call him to arrange a portrait session. I did so the next day and he suggested that I drop by, there and then. Fortunately I had some free time and to my amazement I discovered that his home was a short walk from my studio in Primrose Hill. We met and arranged what was to become the first of a number of portrait sittings.

I was looking forward to having the opportunity to photograph Larry and spend some time talking about music. I didn’t for one minute expect that we would develop a friendship, but Larry often dropped by my studio. We would meet for lunch or I would occasionally go to concerts where he was performing and take some photographs. Subsequently I photographed him a number of times – in his home, in my studio and on stage.

Larry with Gary Italiaander (and sculpture by an American artist) at the home of Cindy Lass.

Larry’s Early Life

It is not my intention to write a complete history of Larry’s life as he did that in his autobiography, It Ain’t Necessarily So, which makes fascinating reading!

Larry as a young child Joachim Kreck Film - und Fernsehproduktion

But I will at this point talk about how Larry started on the road to becoming the most unique presenter of the harmonica of all time and dip into that history periodically, to give some perspective to when certain things took place.

Larry started his autobiography with an explanation of his choice of the title, pointing out that memory is open to interpretation. He did this by talking about an incident involving him, which had occurred in Germany. A few different people had recalled a story as they remembered it and all the recollections were quite different. Larry then began to question his own memory of the event!

Deciding on the most appropriate title for this book, Reflections – A Tribute to Larry Adler, was relatively straightforward. Just as it was, when I decided to write the book in the first place. I wanted to collect a variety of memories about this remarkable man and to create a lasting record.

At the time of writing Reflections it had been difficult, and in some cases almost impossible, to obtain a clear record of certain information, particularly regarding tennis. However the most important aspect, his musical life, has been documented here by those who knew him well.

For now, let’s go back to 1914, the year Larry was born.

Lawrence Cecil Adler was born on the 10^th February 1914 in Baltimore, USA just before the outbreak of World War 1 - a fact that he hoped someone in the future would consider to be significant.

It is fair to say, although no one would have been aware of it then, he was about to make his mark on this world.

Larry was born into a Jewish family; his parents, whose original family name was Zelakovitch, were born in Russia before moving to America as infants.

One of the earliest portraits of Larry with his parents. From Larry’s private collection - with kind permission of Marmoset Adler

As a young child, no one in Larry’s family was musical, but when he was around 5 years old an uncle took him to see Rachmaninov perform in Baltimore and Larry was immediately smitten. After this, Larry was taken to see Al Jolson perform and he then wanted to be a combination of the two - Al Rachmaninov!

Larry’s father ran a plumbing business and Larry would sometimes help with plumbing jobs which convinced him, whatever his future, it did not include a career in plumbing.

Larry’s brother, born five years later, was named Hilliard Gerald but was known as Jerry. He also went on to become a harmonica maestro in the USA like his older brother.

A young Larry

With kind permission of Joachim Kreck Film - und Fernsehproduktion.

Jerry Adler

Written shortly after Larry’s death in 2001, during Jerry’s visit to Britain for the Memorial Concert. Jerry was also a harmonica maestro, mainly performing in the USA and on cruise ships. He died in 2010.

Now, my recollection about Larry. At the age of 10 he became the junior cantor of our local synagogue in Baltimore. He was a tyrant about mother, dad and I following the rigid rules of Sabbath. No lights in the house except for candles. We were forbidden to carry money in our pockets which, unfortunately, was not a terrible sacrifice because we didn't have any!

When Larry was 10 years old, he was walking down the street in Baltimore and suddenly passed a music store. He was fascinated by a beautiful Mason-Hamlin piano displayed in the window. He walked into the store with the assurance of a knowledgeable adult that he was seriously interested in the piano. Word has it that the salesman, in his eager desire to make the sale, promised Larry that if he was serious about the purchase, he would throw in a Hohner chromatic harmonica!

Larry eagerly ran home to inform our parents that it was his dream to own this exquisite piano. Dad was a hard-working plumber who eked out a living that bordered on poverty. He actually talked Dad into going with him to see the piano and then the salesman talked our father into making the purchase. Larry promised that he would dedicate his life to learning the piano. But if the truth be told, I believe that he was far more interested in the "free" harmonica!

When Larry decided to pursue show biz he was determined to not break his orthodox rules on kosher food and proceeded to eat corn flakes three times a day. This went on for over three months until he began to gag on this popular cereal. Larry definitely made the break with a vengeance which included shrimp cocktails, ham sandwiches, Chinese pork dishes … the list goes on. I can only assume that this fall from grace provided the excuse to chuck Judaism completely!

His lust for the opposite sex came at an unusually early age. Having entered the arena of glittering lights, his fascination with the entertainment business seemed to be fused with the excitement of working in theatres that included a line of very attractive chorus girls. He did lie about his age, claiming that he was 16, which seemed to have gained acceptability with theatre owners throughout the country.

His pursuit of the opposite sex was quickly out of control and at such a tender age, (14 if I'm not mistaken) he had a string of conquests that boggled the mind.

He was not particularly attractive. Short, scrawny and terribly near-sighted with his horn-rimmed coke bottle lenses that seemed to emphasize his physical deficiencies. Yet, his ability to get himself involved with the most beautiful women remains one of the great mysteries.

The ensuing years solidified his ability to find the most alluring sex goddesses which became legend. However, he has allowed some of these women to literally walk all over him with the tiresome excuse that he "didn't want to hurt their feelings." These same women were unmerciful in their desire to wrest his considerable wealth from him.

Jerry Adler

Larry and I were not interested in athletics so his interest in music started at the age of 12. That's about when he became fascinated with the "mouthorgan." We are both self taught due to the characteristics of the instrument. I do not know, nor have I ever known, of a good teacher so it was up to us. We were 5 years apart in age and I was inspired by his genius and I pursued the instrument with great energy.

In his ever-consuming desire for sexual pleasures, Larry became the easiest "mark" around. He protected the "integrity" with his ill-conceived belief that they were honest and all they wanted to do was to protect his welfare.

Larry was well into show biz when I began to teach myself so he was not around to give me pointers. I have always worshipped him as a musical genius but more so as a very loving brother.

Our father was a hard-working plumber and mother was a well-organized homemaker, adoring mother and excellent cook.

When Larry became enmeshed in the disgrace of the McCarthy hearings, it totally destroyed mother and she spent the last 35 years of her life in and out of mental hospitals.

There is no doubt that Larry was an original in the world of classical music who proved to a world-wide audience that a simple instrument, the harmonica, in the sensitive hands of a true artist, can achieve the respect and admiration accorded to musical giants such as Vladimir Horowitz and Isaac Stern. I vividly recall a rehearsal at the Hollywood Bowl where there was to be a concert with the Los Angeles Philharmonic featuring Horowitz, Stern and Adler. Larry who played the piano with some virtuosity had the chutzpa (cheek), while the audience was having a break, to start playing the piano in the presence of musical royalty. Horowitz said to him; “Larry, why do you continue to play that silly little instrument, the harmonica? THIS is your instrument!”

But there is no doubt that Larry’s instrument was indeed the harmonica. He gave me the love, understanding and encouragement to make it my instrument as well, allowing me to establish my mark as a solo performer.

By coincidence, I have officially retired from the music business, and on November 6th I gave my final concert here in Sarasota. I plan to donate my harmonicas to a local high school. 68 years in the business is quite enough. I am now 83 and intend to live out my life in peace and comfort with my dear wife, Jean.

I have never been as devoted and as dedicated as Larry was in his pursuit of musical success. He has achieved the kind of successful heights that we all dream about. However, he paid a heavy price for it.

Larry begins his career

Eventually, it was decided that Larry would be given piano lessons. Enrolled at the Peabody Conservatory of music in Baltimore where he studied the piano, he achieved the distinction of being the only student to be expelled from the Peabody! He had prepared a waltz by Grieg and as he entered the stage the Principle said; “And what are we going to play little man”? The ‘little man’ didn’t like being referred to in this way so instead of playing the Grieg he played ‘Yes, we have no bananas’! Following this, his parents received a letter stating: ‘Do not send him back!’

That was effectively the end of Larry’s academic music education. A little while later, he had seen in the Evening Sun newspaper that a harmonica group was being formed so he went along to see what it was like. There was a man there who had been sent over from Germany by the Hohner harmonica company to form a band and teach the harmonica. Larry liked him and could see that he was a natural teacher.

After about a year of lessons, the Evening Sun sponsored a competition, which Larry entered and made it to the finals. The main judge for the competition, Gustav Strube, was the founder of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and while all the other boys played popular songs, Larry played a classical piece; the Beethoven Minuet in G. At the end of the competition, after conferring with his panel, Gustav stepped forwards and announced:

“Ve haf given de avord to Lorenz Cecil Aidler mit an average of ninety-nine und nine tents.” He shrugged, apologetically. “No von is pairfect.” (Larry Adler; It Ain’t Necessarily So, 1984).

While growing up, it was a time of great bigotry and according to Larry the ethnic groups feared and despised each other and they avoided each other. He personally experienced anti-Semitism but didn’t understand the logic behind what made people think that way.

With kind permission of Joachim Kreck Film - und Fernsehproduktion

Larry wanted to leave home and go on the stage and as he had managed to gather around $50 from subscriptions of a magazine that he sold (which his parents didn’t know about), he did just that. Astonishingly, at 14 years of age, he simply bought a ticket and took a train to New York. Once there, he phoned his parents to let them know where he was and they immediately went to get him.

However, he told them that if they did take him home he would simply run away again. He didn’t want to go back to school or to Baltimore. His parents consulted the family doctor who said that he was a very neurotic child and therefore the best thing was to leave him alone and let him stay in New York. Larry believed that the doctor hoped never to have to see him again.

When Larry first got to New York, all he wanted to do was get a job on the stage in vaudeville. At this time the harmonica was considered to be a child’s instrument. A friend managed to get him an audition with ‘Borah Minevitch and His Harmonica Rascals’ who were the biggest name at the time where the harmonica was concerned. Larry played the same piece that had won him the competition in Baltimore but when he finished playing, Minevitch said, “Kid, you stink”! Larry was extremely upset, burst into tears, and his first thought was to go back to Baltimore. However, once he’d had time to think, he decided to try elsewhere and managed to get an audition with Rudy Vallee who at the time was a huge star.

Vallee gave him the first opportunity to get on the stage at his night club and so Larry stayed in New York. Within a week he landed a job with Paramount, touring all over the United States on a salary of $100 a week in 1928, which is roughly the equivalent of over $1,300 today. This tour gave him the opportunity to learn stage craft; in particular how to entertain an audience as he was performing up to six shows a day.

Larry had an amazing level of ‘chutzpah’. Whatever an obstacle came along, he found a way to overcome it. Even when he couldn’t get work or things weren’t going so well, he remained confident in his own talent.

At the age of 15 he was effectively ‘kidnapped’ off the street by a well-known gangster who was married to the singer, Ruth Etting. He drove Larry to the studio where Ruth was creating a record and insisted that Larry be included in the recording. She tried to object but clearly that was not an option and the band, which included Benny Goodman as well as Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, agreed to put him on the record.

That same week, Paul Whiteman was playing in town and so Larry hung around the stage door and whenever he saw someone about to enter he would play in their face, hoping that someone would say ‘what a talented kid’ and give him a job. Whiteman’s saxophone player, Frankie Trombauer, liked what he heard, led him into the dressing room and told Paul to listen to the kid.

He played a popular song and when he finished it, Whiteman said, “…play the Rhapsody in Blue.” At 15 years of age it was technically beyond his ability but he wouldn’t admit that there was anything that he couldn’t play so he replied, “I don’t like Rhapsody in Blue.”

Whiteman then turned to a young man that Larry hadn’t noticed before who was sitting at the piano and said, “How’d you like that George?”

And that’s how Larry met Gershwin!

Larry auditioning for Paul Whiteman - the first meeting with George Gershwin

The relationship between the Hohner Company and Larry Adler by Clayman B. Edwards – CEO of Matth. Hohner AG.

I believe that Hohner’s early advertisements for harmonica’s ‘Don’t be a loner, get a Hohner’ describes the beginning of a life-long relationship between Larry Adler, the greatest harmonica player in the world, and Hohner. At the age of 13, Mr Adler entered a harmonica contest sponsored by the Baltimore Sun and was awarded a silver cup as first prize. Having been thrown out of multiple schools and with a passion for the harmonica, Mr Adler ran away to New York in 1928 to audition with Borrah Minevitch’s Harmonica Rascals, a top vaudeville act at the time. Unfortunately, Minevitch told him he stank, but undeterred Adler stopped by the Paramount Theatre where Rudy Vallee gave him a chance and so the story begins of a talented and motivated man and an instrument of inspiration, the Hohner harmonica.

In 1934, Adler held his first appearance in London. By 1935, Hohner had introduced two Larry Adler chromatic models for international sale. Adler’s music had driven Hohner’s sale of harmonicas to England to increase by two thousand percent in a single year. Larry Adler’s worldwide influence on the popularity of chromatic harmonica playing sold millions of Hohner harmonicas and inspired generations of players.

During the 1940’s the Larry Adler model chromatic harmonica was the largest selling instrument in the world and the team of Adler and Paul Draper became one of the highest paid concert attractions in America. It was Adler’s amazing gift with the instrument and in promoting his music, his friendships, and his collaboration with Hohner that propelled him to become the greatest.

As for Larry Adler’s friendships, his letters to Hohner and his statements in the media illustrate his mastery of talking about himself, revering his many high profile friends, and making you feel like you are just as important in the conversation. In one letter to Hohner’s Marketing director, he writes, “Now I am organizing an 80th birthday album. George Martin will produce. Sting and Elton John have volunteered to appear on it. I only want artists I know personally. How’s your singing voice?” In a casual name dropping contest with Walter Cronkite, Adler mentions that Charlie Chaplin called him in Beverly Hills and asked him to come and make up a foursome for tennis, Bill Tilden’s dropped out. So Adler arrived and Chaplin motions for me to get on the court. Not long thereafter, Adler learned that the woman badly dressed for tennis was Greta Garbo and the man with the weird moustache was Salvador Dali.

Larry Adler’s sole goal in playing the harmonica was to develop a ‘singing tone’. He said, “If you can get a singing tone in your playing, that’s as far as you can go. Miles Davis does it on the trumpet; Johnny Hodges did it on the saxophone. That’s what I loved about Rachmaninoff when I heard him play the piano when I was a kid in Baltimore. Years ago, I played Sophisticated Lady with Duke Ellington and his band at the club. Billie Holiday was there and afterwards Duke introduced me to her at the table. She said, “You don’t play that thing, Man, you sing it.” Now I cannot think of a better epitaph than that.”

The Hohner Company is extremely proud to have had such a lifelong relationship with Mr Larry Adler. He made our mouthorgans sing and he became the pied piper of his generation.

Larry Adler: Brilliant ambassador of the Hohner-Chromonica - Classical harmonica soloist of world-class calibre by Arnold Kutzli

The harmonica is played in over 140 countries worldwide. But what if it hadn’t been for the musicians that gave this little musical instrument the voice it deserved. Creativity, ingenuity, virtuosity, as well as persuasiveness were the most important factors here.

The company founder Matthias Hohner chose his slogan to be “my field is the world”, and this attitude was to lead to many a win-win situation in the company's long history.

The example of ‘Mister Harmonica Himself’, Larry Adler, makes this especially clear. He must have been the most famous harmonica soloist of the 20th century; he made the harmonica fashionable. In this context one should point out the CD, The Glory of Gershwin he recorded for his 80th birthday together with Sting, Elton John, Cher, Kate Bush and many others. Adler’s masterpiece then: Rhapsody in Blue.

It is remarkable that the marketing of Hohner-USA itself contributed to Larry Adler's interest in the harmonica in the first place. Already as a little boy in Baltimore he won his first competition. He was the only one who chose to perform Beethoven on the harmonica; an absolute novelty. No wonder that at the age of 14 he was already at the beginning of his stage career.

The year 1930 was a benchmark for Larry Adler. It was the beginning of a lifelong connection to Hohner in Trossingen, the city of the harmonica. With this, he had established himself as an advertiser for Hohner.

This heyday of his artistry was dominated by performances ranging from Swing to Classic; amongst other things, he played as a soloist accompanied by a symphonic orchestra. It was therefore all the more painful to see him ‘blacklisted’ during the McCarthy era, thus practically banned from his profession - an unbelievable decision.

It went quiet about Larry Adler and surely this was partly due to the change in people’s musical taste. However, this made the World Harmonica Festivals that took place in Trossingen in 1989, 1993 and 1997 all the more impressive: there he was performing again, the world-class musician with his unmistakable charisma.

So until this day, even beyond his 100th birthday, Larry Adler and his Hohner-Chromonica mark a milestone in musical history. A history, this exceptionally gifted musician has co-written.

Arnold Kutzli initiated and organised the World Harmonica Festivals in Trossingen, as well as the World Music Festival in Innsbruck. He was Procurator and Director of Culture Marketing in the Matthias Hohner AG, Germany.

(Translated from German by Verena Rechmann)

Dr Antony Dannecker

“I have always felt honoured, but humble, when working with such a genius as Larry Adler”.

All top concert artists, whichever instrument they have mastered, require the backup of technicians with the experience and technical ability to maintain the instrument being used with a consistency of all its working parts, while enabling the artist the opportunity to create the best sound.

Antony Dannecker & Willi Dannecker, Hohner's Chief Mouthorgan Repairers in Europe, tuned and maintained Larry Adler’s harmonicas from the early 1950’s right up until his death in 2001.

“Due to Larry’s busy performing, recording and touring schedule, his collection of harmonicas were in perpetual need of tuning and adjustment. Over these 50 or so years, I guess Willi and I must have completed more than 4000 of these overhauls to his three octave chromatic harmonicas”.

“When my mouthorgans are out of tune I need Antony Dannecker, who besides being Chief Hohner Repairer, is also my friend”.

Larry Adler

The War Years

In 1943 Larry’s agent, Abe Lastfogel, was made head of the USO - The United Service Organization, providing live entertainment to US troops at military bases within the United States and overseas.

Larry was invited to participate and jumped at the chance. In fact, even though he was booked to perform for a number of weeks in Chicago, he lied and said that he had been drafted for an overseas tour which allowed him to get out of the commitment.

Once the USO tour was announced, Larry was contacted by the founder of the Chicago Sun to see if he would do a weekly dispatch for the newspaper. As he had always been keen to write, this provided the perfect opportunity and it was agreed that his fee would go to The Red Cross.

It gave Larry the opportunity to travel widely all over the world entertaining the troops with Jack Benny and a host of other stars.

It was during one of these tours that he first met Ingrid Bergman. Although married at the time to his first wife, Eileen Walser, it didn’t stop them from forming a close relationship with Larry considering whether his future was to be with Ingrid.

Working on this project has unearthed some fascinating images from the period and I am extremely grateful that the holders of the images made them available for use with this publication.

Larry with Ingrid Bergman, Jack Benny and US servicemen

Larry with Ingrid Bergman on the balcony of the Reichskanzlei in Berlin 1945, Martha Tilton can be seen below.

With kind permission of Joachim Kreck Film- und Fernsehproduktion

Close-up of the previous image – Ingrid can be seen photographing Larry

With kind permission of Joachim Kreck Film - und Fernsehproduktion

During this visit to Berlin, Larry played The Battle Hymn of the Republic while Ingrid recited the Gettysburg Address.

This, one of the most famous historical U.S speeches, was delivered by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, during the American Civil War, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, soon after the Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy (at Gettysburg).

Jack Benny with Larry Adler – extracted from documentary film

With kind permission of Joachim Kreck Film - und Fernsehproduktion

A remarkable photograph!

Ingrid Bergman, unknown officer, Jack Benny & Larry. Taken in the room in the bunker where Hitler committed suicide.

With kind permission of Jonathan Shalit

Larry had commented on occasions (and in his autobiography) that he considered himself a coward. I don’t know whether he really believed that to be so but things that happened to him and his response to these happenings indicate that this was not the case.

One example of this refers to The Hohner factory - producer of the world famous harmonica, based at Trossingen in the Black Forest, Germany. During the war, being a German factory they were forced to work for the German war machine. At one point, Larry found himself based near Stuttgart on an overseas tour which was close to the Hohner factory. He didn’t want to pass up the chance to get some new instruments; by this stage it had become a French-occupied territory but getting permission to travel to the area would have taken some time. A pilot, hearing of the situation, told Larry that he was prepared to take him there immediately in a small plane he had access to. This was not easy as the war was still on. However, when they located a suitable place to land in a field nearby, they did so and were soon surrounded by French soldiers. It just happened that one of the soldiers played the mouthorgan, knew of Larry and escorted him to Hohner. The trip was a success and two senior members of the Hohner family who there at the time, were delighted to see him. He left Trossingen with many new harmonicas - or mouthorgans as Larry preferred to call them.

The second, and very definite example of Larry’s strength of character refers to the dreadful period of American History known as McCarthyism.

In brief, it was brought about by a real fear of Communism. Once Senator Joseph McCarthy introduced the concept that there was a real threat to US security caused by Communism, it started a ball rolling that caused great damage to many people, a number of whom ended up committing suicide. The FBI, under the leadership of J Edgar Hoover, also helped to develop the idea that many people needed to be side-lined, particularly in the entertainment industry. An advertisement from the period shows just how seriously this matter was taken as it was considered a danger to the American way of life.

From Wikipedia

Having lived in America in the late 60’s when I was a teenager and at High School, I was aware of the very strong anti-communist comments (that I heard in school) but felt that this had nothing to do with understanding what Communism was actually about.

Larry documented exactly what happened to him and how it affected him personally in his autobiography. He was required to say whether or not he was a Communist and to name others that he knew were Communists, neither of which he was prepared to do, whatever the outcome for himself.

He spoke to me about how terrible a period this was and the damage it did to many of his friends - all huge names in the world of entertainment. Like many others, Larry was ‘blacklisted’ and this meant that he could no longer work in America – people simply would not or could not offer him employment.

Fortunately, he was already well-known internationally and what was happening in the States was of little interest abroad. When he was invited to visit London by C B Cochrane, who was the major name in entertainment in the UK, the opportunity was too good to turn down and Larry made London his new home.

He rebuilt his life and continued to be a huge force in the world of music and entertainment, until the end of his life.

Larry’s passion for tennis

What it was that originally captivated Larry’s interest in the game of tennis has not been possible to discover and unfortunately, it was a question I never thought to ask him!

However, it was an interest that grew into a passion that led, it seems, to his playing every day where it was possible to do so.

One of the earliest and best known stories is about how Larry received a phone call from his friend Charlie Chaplin inviting him to join a doubles game that had been arranged as one of the players had dropped out at the last moment. The person unable to make it that day was none other than a certain Bill Tilden who, with his incredible record, is considered one of the greatest players of all time; he won the Wimbledon title three times and held the position of number one player in the world for seven years.

Larry with Chaplin, Garbo and Dali.

On arriving at Chaplin’s house, Larry was ushered onto the tennis court but did not immediately recognise the other two players. After a short while it became clear who they were; Greta Garbo and Salvador Dali - an incredible mixture of characters.

According to Larry, Chaplin was the best player there with incredible anticipation.

Larry enjoys a game in the sun

From Larry’s private collection - with kind permission of Marmoset Adler

Larry proving that you can make music while playing tennis. He commented, “… this is probably why I never won Wimbledon!”

From Larry’s private collection - with kind permission of Marmoset Adler

Living in London provided the opportunity to visit Wimbledon on an annual basis for the world famous tournament and Larry was often seen in the player’s box.

On one occasion, Larry was invited by Virginia Wade to join her on court but he wasn’t keen to be shown up. “Don’t worry” she said, “I’ll make you look good!”

With Wimbledon winner Virginia Wade

From Larry’s private collection - with kind permission of Marmoset Adler

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