By age 14 Apollon had already founded an ensemble and was performing professionally in a local movie theatre. During WWI, he served in the Russian Revolution and used his mandolin as his greatest weapon. He sailed to the Philippines to continue working as a mandolin player and dancer. Afterwards, he went to Japan and got his visa to the US. In 1919 he moved to New York City and almost immediately got a job in
vaudeville, where he floored audiences with stunning virtuosity. In 1929 he made the first of his musical shorts, something he would continue with for much of his career. In 1941 he was a member of the touring company of "Boys and Girls Together". In 1946 he met and played with
Django Reinhardt while the legendary guitarist was on tour with
Duke Ellington in New York. In early 1950, he released his version of the No. 1 hit "Third Man Theme" (made famous by
Anton Karas and
Guy Lombardo, among others) on the National label (#9104). The flip side was "The Cafe Mozart Waltz". "Billboard" described the single as "Sensational ... new ... and different." Apollon died in 1972, after a career that spanned over fifty years. == References ==