Band Leader. Charlie Spivak was born in Kyiv, Ukraine (then part of the Russian Empire), and came with his family to New Haven, Connecticut, when he was just a small boy. At age ten, he learned to play the trumpet. Charlie played with locally formed bands during his teenage years. He found work with Don Cavallaro's Orchestra, which was his first real professional debut. Charlie became a gypsy trumpet player, performing with one, then another major orchestra of the time. From 1924 to 1930, he played with Paul Specht's Orchestra, then with Ben Pollack From 1941 to 1934, the Dorsey Brothers from 1934 to 1935, and then with Ray Noble. During most of 1936 to 1937, he played for Bob Crosby, Tommy Dorsey, and the Jack Teagarden orchestras, almost always as the Lead Trumpet. Then, in November 1939, with Glenn Miller's encouragement and financial backing, he formed his own band, which failed within a year due to friction between the musicians and himself. His second attempt shortly thereafter was more successful. This band was to become a major attraction throughout the 1940s. By late summer of 1942, he was at the peak of popularity. His band was among the hottest in the nation, releasing a number of top 10 and top 20 hits. However, his demise began with a musicians' strike and the draft of World War II, which diminished his orchestra. A curious sidelight on his career is that despite spending a good deal of his young life with great Jazz musicians, Charlie rarely improvised, and his orchestra was what might best be termed a good Hotel or Society Dance band. When the Big Band era ended, Spivak remained active, forming orchestras for specific work in Las Vegas and Florida. His best-remembered recordings are his themes "Let's Go Home," "Autumn Nocturne," and "Star Dreams." He worked until his death from cancer at age seventy-five and recorded as late as 1981.

He is buried at Mountain View Memorial Park in Travelers Rest, South Carolina. he has a cenotaph at his wife's grave at Woodlawn Park Cemetery South in Miami, Florida.