“Former Band Leader Dies in Topanga”
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| Les Hite (1903-1962) |
Les Hite, 57, formerly a well-known jazz musician and band leader, and for the last twenty years chauffeur and personal servant for Mrs. Vera Crofton of 21532 Entrada Drive in Topanga, died suddenly Tuesday morning of a heart attack. Hite was stricken suddenly about 8 p.m. on Monday evening and was rushed to St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica. Death came at 5:30 a.m.
Prior to an auto accident in 1939 which injured his lip and put an end to his career as a musician, Hite was well known in the entertainment world. For seventeen years he was a band leader and musician for Frank Sebastian in his famous Cotton Club and he also appeared in numerous other night clubs and restaurants in Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. He is said to have given Louis Armstrong his start in show business. He was an associate and coworker with such celebrities as Tommy Dorsey, Fats Waller, and Nat King Cole. Aside from his night club work, he was a recording artist, a song writer, and appeared in several movies—among them, "Top Hat" with Fats Waller. In recent years he was a partner in a theatrical booking agency— the Hite-Fain Artists Agency of 4477 W. Adams Boulevard, Los Angeles.
Hite was born in Champaign, Illinois, in 1905. He B survived by his widow, Lee, with whom he maintained a residence at 2021 S. Redondo Boulevard, Los Angeles. Services will be held at the Los Angeles Funeral Home at a time yet to be determined.
