Spoiler : (birth name was Eugene Lucas) Born in Gainesville, Texas 6/24/1900; died 1/9/1972 of lung cancer in Palm Springs, California. Educated at the Baltimore University. Served in the U.S. Army with the Mexican Punitive Expedition and during WWI. Singer in vaudeville (1923). Recorded "My Blue Heaven" in 1927 that sold over seven million copies (winning the first Gold Record ever presented (on view at The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Vocalist on The Joe Penner Show (The Park Avenue Penners) for CBS-Radio (1936-1940). Regular on The Jimmy Dean Show for CBS-TV (1957). Ran for Governor of Nevada in 1962 and was defeated.