BEFORE HE WAS SKY KING Kirby Grant (1911-1985) was a child prodigy violinist. He continued to study music and became a professional singer and bandleader. After winning a Gateway to Hollywood talent contest in 1939, he was awarded a movie contract and his birth name of Kirby Grant Hoon, Jr. was changed to Robert Stanton. After freelancing, he revamped his professional name to Kirby Grant and, in 1943, signed with Universal Studios. It wasnt until 1952 that Grant took to the air he famous flying frontiersman, SKY KING. The series ran for 72 episodes between 1952-59 and was seen in repeats into the 1960s. There were two different aircraft used as Skys plane, The Songbird in the series. The first was a Cessna T-50 Bobcat; the second was a Cessna 310B. Grant was killed in an auto accident in Titusville, Florida on October 30, 1985whileen route to watch the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger at Cape Canaveral. He was to have been honored for encouraging aviation and space flight. Heres the trailer from one of Kirby Grants musicals, ILL REMEMBER APRIL (1945).... youtu.be/SUF8QrOTgD0
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 15:26:00 +0000
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