Ross Bagdasarian

He had two elder brothers: Richard Sirak (1910–1966) and Harry Sisvan (1915–1989).

The novelist William Saroyan, with whom he was very close, was his first cousin.

Ross S. Bagdasarian (January 27, 1919 – January 16, 1972), known professionally by his stage name David Seville, was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor, best known for creating the cartoon band Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Bagdasarian was born on January 27, 1919, in Fresno, California to an Armenian-American family.

His father was a grape-grower.

Bagdasarian graduated from Fresno High School in 1937.

He went to New York to work with his cousin Saroyan with the intention of becoming an actor.

When World War II started, he enlisted and served four years as a control tower operator and rose to the rank of a staff sergeant (SSgt) in the Army Air Forces.

He spent time in England, France and Spain; his later stage name "David Seville" originated from the fact that he was stationed in the city of Seville in Spain and he liked the city.

After the war, he returned to Fresno and married Armenouhi "Armen" Kulhanjian, and they tried for a time to be grape growers.

They were unsuccessful and they moved to Los Angeles where he started a career as a songwriter.

Bagdasarian's Broadway debut was in 1939 when he played the newsboy in The Time of Your Life by William Saroyan, his cousin.

The song was originally recorded by Kay Armen in 1950, but the version recorded by Rosemary Clooney in 1951 turned into a million-selling hit.

It is an adaptation of an Armenian folk song Bagdasarian wrote with his cousin William Saroyan.

The song was originally composed for their off-Broadway musical The Son.

It launched Clooney's career, reaching number one on Billboard charts and was number four on Billboard year-end top 30 singles of 1951.

The song sold some 750,000 records in a month.

He also appeared in minor roles in several films, such as Viva Zapata! (1952), Stalag 17 (1953), Destination Gobi (1953), Rear Window (1954), and The Proud and Profane (1956).

Notably, in Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window, he is the piano player.

In Stalag 17, he sings "I Love You" in a pivotal scene at the POW Christmas Party.

Bagdasarian's major success with songwriting came with "Come On-a My House".

The song was rejected by many record companies as being "too ethnic", until Mitch Miller of Columbia Records came across the song, liked it and persuaded Rosemary Clooney to record it.

In 1954, he wrote "Hey, Brother, Pour the Wine", a hit for Dean Martin.

In 1955 Bagdasarian signed with the then newly established Liberty Records.

In early 1956 he had a transcontinental hit with the novelty record "The Trouble with Harry" (inspired by the homonymous Hitchcock film) credited to Alfi & Harry, although Alfi & Harry was just one person, Bagdasarian himself.

It reached No. 44 on the Billboard chart and was a bigger hit in the United Kingdom reaching No. 15.

In 1956, he wrote an instrumental "Armen's Theme" named after his wife.

The executives at Liberty Records suggested that he adopt a pseudonym as they thought his name too difficult to pronounce.

In December 1956, he charted with his first record credited to his David Seville pseudonym, and "Armen's Theme" reached No. 42 on the Billboard chart.

Initially a stage and film actor, he rose to prominence in 1958 with the songs "Witch Doctor" and "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)", which both became Billboard number-one singles.

Bagdasarian's rise to prominence came with the song "Witch Doctor" in 1958, which was created after he experimented with the speed control on a tape recorder bought with $200 (around $2,000 adjusted for inflation as of 2022) from the family savings.

Liberty Records released this novelty record under the David Seville name.

It is a duet between his real voice and accelerated version.

The record went on to become a Billboard number-one single by April 28, 1958, and further established him as a songwriter.

It sold 1.5 million copies.

Bagdasarian went on to create his trio of Chipmunks named after the executives of Liberty Records: Simon, Theodore, and Alvin, named for Simon "Si" Waronker, Theodore "Ted" Keep, and Alvin Bennett.

Their debut song, "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" was released on November 17, 1958, and became a number one hit by New Years Day.

The song sold 4 million records in the first few months.

It topped Billboard charts the two weeks before and two weeks after New Years and won three Grammy Awards at the 1st Annual Grammy Awards on May 4, 1959: Best Recording for Children, Best Comedy Performance, and Best Non-Classical Engineered Song.

He produced and directed The Alvin Show, which aired on CBS in 1961–1962.