I graduated from Senn High School in 1980. Located on Chicago’s North Side, Senn is a fairly typical inner-city public high school, except for the fact that a lot of famous and semi-famous people graduated from there. Today let’s meet one that will really make you take note: Arranger and conductor Buddy Bregman, class of 1948.

Louis Isadore “Buddy” Bregman was born in Chicago in 1930 and grew up there, but he spent his summers in Hollywood with his uncle, songwriter Jule Styne. Buddy became interested in music at a young age, writing his first arrangement at age 11.

After he graduated from Senn, Buddy attended UCLA for a couple of years but then left to pursue a career in arranging music. He may have gotten his start as a nepo-nephew, but he soon proved himself to be a wunderkind, and at age 25 was named the head of A&R for the newly formed Verve Records. He produced Verve’s first single and album, both by Anita O’Day*. In 1956, learning that Bing Crosby** was no longer under an exclusive contract with Decca, Buddy contacted Bing and sold him on the idea of an album called Bing Sings Whilst Bregman Swings. The album went platinum. Buddy went on to arrange and conduct music for Ella Fitzgerald, Fred Astaire, Count Basie, Bobby Short and many others.

In the sixties, Buddy moved on to Europe and became a television producer and director, overseeing several television specials. Upon his return to America he continued working on television and doing occasional arranging and composing.

Buddy was married to model and actor Susan Lloyd; their daughter Tracey Bregman is also an actor, known for her work in soap operas. Buddy passed away in 2017 due to complications from Alzheimer’s; he was 86.

*More on Ms. O’Day in a future installment of this series
**Bing’s first wife, Dixie Lee, was featured in a previous installment of this series