Med Flory
Publicity Photo of Med Flory
Publicity Photo of Med Flory
Background information
Birth nameMeredith Irwin Flory
Born(1926-08-27)August 27, 1926
Logansport, Indiana
DiedMarch 12, 2014(2014-03-12) (aged 87)
North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Musician, actor, screenwriter
Instrument(s)Saxophone

Meredith Irwin Flory, known professionally as Med Flory (August 27, 1926 – March 12, 2014),[1] was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader, and actor.

Early years

Flory was born in Logansport, Indiana, United States.[2] His mother was an organist and encouraged him to learn clarinet as a child. During World War II, he was an Army Air Force pilot, and after the war he received his college degree in philosophy from Indiana University.[1]

Career

Flory played in the bands of Claude Thornhill and Woody Herman in the early 1950s, before forming his own ensemble in New York City.[2] In 1955, he relocated to California and started a new group, which played at the 1958 Monterey Jazz Festival. In the late 1950s, he played with Terry Gibbs, Art Pepper, and Herman again, playing both tenor and baritone saxophone.[3] He was cast in twenty-nine episodes from 1956 to 1957 of the ABC variety show, The Ray Anthony Show.

In the 1960s, Flory was less active in music, working in television and film as an actor and screenwriter; his credits include Wagon Train, The Rifleman, Ripcord (twice), Rawhide (twice), Gunsmoke (twice), Perry Mason (twice - including 'The Case of Crying Comedian'), Maverick (twice), The Virginian (five episodes), Route 66 (twice), Bronco, Surfside 6, Mona McCluskey, Run, Buddy, Run, 77 Sunset Strip (three episodes), The Dakotas, Destry, Lawman (three episodes), Wendy and Me, It's a Man's World, The Monroes, Cimarron Strip, Daniel Boone (seven episodes), Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (twice), Bonanza (three episodes), Mannix, Lassie (ten episodes), How the West Was Won (three episodes), High Mountain Rangers (four episodes as Sheriff Mike McBride) and the films, Starsky and Hutch (once), The Gumball Rally, The Night of the Grizzly with Clint Walker and The Nutty Professor with Jerry Lewis.

In the mid-1960s Flory worked with Art Pepper and Joe Maini on transcriptions and arrangements of Charlie Parker recordings, and in 1972, he co-founded Supersax, an ensemble devoted to Parker's work.[2] Supersax's debut album, Supersax Plays Bird, won a Grammy Award.

In 1972, Flory appeared in the first episode of the final season of Mission Impossible as Toledo.

Personal life

Flory was married to Joan Barbara Fry until her death in 2000.[4]

Death

Flory died of a heart ailment[4] on March 12, 2014, in Hollywood, California, at the age of 87.[1]

Filmography

References

  1. 1 2 3 Heckman, Don (March 15, 2014). "Med Flory dies at 87; alto saxophonist and actor founded Grammy-winning jazz group Supersax". The Los Angeles Times.
  2. 1 2 3 Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 881. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  3. ↑ Pennell, Brenda (1994). "Med Flory". The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. Macmillan. p. 391.
  4. 1 2 Lentz, Harris M. III (2015). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2014. McFarland. p. 114. ISBN 9780786476664. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
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