Born Abba Avrom Tracovutsky in
Kamenetz-Podolsky,
Russian Empire (now
Ukraine), he emigrated to the
United States with his parents, listed as Mordeche and Fannie Trasowitzkey, and sisters, in October 1906; and appeared in various New York amateur revues, where he was seen by
William S. Paley who offered him a 15-minute CBS radio program. To avoid embarrassing his family if his show failed and to prevent being blackballed from future vaudeville bookings for having appeared on radio, Tracy decided to make his identity a mystery and borrowed a billing from the title of
Frederick Lonsdale's musical
The Street Singer (1924). and he had an extended stay in UK. He toured the variety stages extensively over the next few years and appeared on radio. During the next four years, he made four films in the UK. He returned to the USA in July 1939. In 1967, Tracy was on holiday in the UK and he was persuaded to make a five-week variety tour appearing in Nottingham, Birmingham and Liverpool. In 1978, Arthur Tracy was crowned King of the
Beaux Arts Ball. He presided with Queen
Hope Hampton, the one-time silent screen star. Arthur Tracy's 1937 recording of "
Pennies from Heaven" was chosen from hundreds of versions for
the 1981 movie of that name, with
Vernel Bagneris lip-synching to Tracy's voice. The film brought Tracy out of retirement, and at age 82 he returned as a cabaret singer at The Cookery in
Greenwich Village in 1982. He died in
Manhattan,
New York, on October 5, 1997, at the age of 98. His autobiography,
The Street Singer, was published posthumously. ==Films==