RIP,Stan Kann

[SaintLouieWoman]

I guess this dates me, but remember Stan Kann on the Johnny Carson show with his vacuum cleaners. He was well known in St Louis. In fact SR and I saw him last year when we took a tour of the Fox Theater and Stan was there playing the "Mighty Wurlitzer". The Fox is one of those old legendary, gilded movie palaces that was brought back to life.

RIP, Stan. He was a lovely and gentle man.


http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/deathsobituaries/story/DA9908DAD29472B5862574D3007B91FA?OpenDocument

Stan Kann, legendary organist, dies

Stan Kann played the Fabulous Fox Theatre’s mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ for 22 years. (Stephanie Cordle/ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH)ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
09/30/2008

Stan Kann, whose local fame as the organist for the Fox Theatre led to a career as a national talk-show sidekick and gadget guru, died Monday (Sept. 29, 2008) at St. Louis University Hospital after complications during heart surgery. He was 83.

Mr. Kann began playing the organ at age 4, and the piano as a student at Soldan High School. He majored in classical organ at Washington University. Mr. Kann gave his last performance Saturday at the Fox.

Mr. Kann played the Fabulous Fox Theatre's mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ from 1953 to 1975, performing between movies and at special events. During those years he also performed at Ruggeri's Restaurant on the Hill and Stan and Biggie's restaurant. From 1964-1975, the NBC Radio Network broadcast those performances nationally every Saturday night. RELATED LINKS
 See video of Stan Kann at the Fox Theatre.
 Post your memories of Stan Kann, or condolences to his family.
 INTERVIEWS WITH STAN KANN
 At Home With: Stan Kann
 Stan Kann's the man for vaudeville holiday celebration
 Stan Kann: Celebrating the Fox Theatre's 60th birthday

As a graduation gift, Mr. Kann's parents gave him a trip to New York, where he saw his first theater organ at Radio City Music Hall. He then convinced Ed Arthur, the owner of the Fox, to let him restore the theater's Wurlitzer.

As a hobby, Mr. Kann began collecting vacuum cleaners when he was a young man; he claimed he could identify a specific model from across the street. He owned more than 150 antique sweepers, which he kept in his home in the Holly Hills neighborhood.

Television viewers first met Mr. Kann in the 1950s, when he served as the musical director for the "The Charlotte Peters Show" and "The Noon Show," both produced by KSD-TV.

His involvement with Peters' show led to his becoming a national celebrity of sorts.

Mr. Kann met comedian Phyllis Diller, who lived in Webster Groves in the 1960s and occasionally filled in for Peters. She liked Mr. Kann's music and thought he was funny in sketch routines. When Mr. Kann showed Diller his vacuums, something clicked. Diller introduced him to Johnny Carson, who thought the collection was worth a few laughs.

On June 8, 1966, Mr. Kann appeared on "The Tonight Show." His haywire demonstration of antique vacuums cracked up Carson and his viewers. Mr. Kann appeared on "The Tonight Show" 76 more times, always demonstrating strange gadgets that never seemed to work.

[Chris_]

Good Lord, SLW, I can remember my mother and grandmother dragging me as a kid to the Fox for various events, and I can certainly remember the Wurlitzer being played many times........

Since I'm dating myself, I can also remember the steam Calliope being played on the "Admiral", during its trips down to the Jefferson Barrracks Bridge and back.......

RIP Stan....

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