Teddy Stauffer

Infobox musical artist
Name = Teddy Stauffer


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Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name = Ernest Henry Stauffer
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Born = birth date|1909|5|2 Murten, Switzerland
Died = death date|1991|8|27 Acapulco, Mexico
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Instrument = violin, saxophone
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Genre = Jazz
Occupation = bandleader, musician nightclub owner, restaurateur
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Teddy (actually Ernest Henry) Stauffer (May 2, 1909 – August 27, 1991) was a Swiss Bandleader and Germany's "swing-king" of the 1930's.

He grew up in Berne, and played violin and saxophone there in an amateur band from 1927. In 1928 he began to perform in Germany with his band "Teddy And His Band". Their first engagement had the "Teddies" as a "Caféhaus-Kapelle" in Gleiwitz. After many engagements on cruise ships his popularity in Germany reached its peak in 1935-36. In 1936 Elfriede Scheibel, the owner of the Berlin "Delphi palace" awarded him a four-month engagement from July to October 1936. This guest performance justified the reputation of the Delphi as a swing stage. Until 1939, he appeared with his "Original Teddies-Band" especially in Berlin and Hamburg. With his jazzy swing music, however, Stauffer increasingly got in trouble with the Reichsmusikkammer.

In 1939 they travelled to the opening of the National Exhibition in Switzerland, replacing the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra, which withdrew because of the impending war. In Switzerland, he took part in the scoring of the film "s'Margritli und d'Soldate" (Marguerite and the soldiers) in 1940-41; the "Margritli-song", interpreted by the Schmid family, became a big success. Clarinetist Ernst Höllerhagen belonged to the "Original Teddies" from 1939. Buddy Bertinat wrote many of the arrangements. After the Stauffer's departure in 1941 the "Original Teddies", were headed by Eddie Brunner. Hazy Osterwald, who also belonged to the band, wrote arrangements since 1941. But the band could not build on old achievements.

After a engagement on an Atlantic cruise ship Stauffer remained in the United States and tried his luck as a film composer in Hollywood. Due to problems with his residence papers, he went to Mexico, which eventually became his second home. In Acapulco, he founded a discotheque, "The Tequila a Go-Go", and was manager of several well-known hotels (including the "Hyatt" and "Villa Vera"). The Mexicans honored the tall, blond Swiss as a popular ambassador for Acapulco. "Mr. Acapulco" helped attract Hollywood celebrities, and made the place famous, till then a fishing village of 8,000 residents.

A playboy of the old school, Stauffer was married five times, including the actresses Faith Domergue and Hedy Lamarr. He had a daughter, Melinda Morgan Stauffer. In his Mexican time fall small guest appearances on TV and film productions. After his solitary death, his ashes were dispersed into the waters of the Pacific, in accord with his last will.

Literature

*Stauffer "Forever is a Hell of a Long Time" (Autobiography).

External links

* Teddy Stauffer in Acapulco in: http://stockpunkt.com/2007/12/09/fotokiste-teddy-stauffer/
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Persondata
NAME=Stauffer, Teddy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Stauffer, Ernest Henry
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Swiss Bandleader
DATE OF BIRTH=birth date|1909|5|2
PLACE OF BIRTH=Murten, Switzerland
DATE OF DEATH=death date|1991|8|27
PLACE OF DEATH=Acapulco, Mexico