
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 5, 1990                   TAG: 9007050064
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NASHVILLE, TENN.                                LENGTH: Short

SNOOKY LANSON, `HIT PARADE' SINGER, VARIETY HOST DIES

Snooky Lanson, the smiling crooner of "Your Hit Parade," television's pop music show of the 1950s, died Monday at age 76.

The cause of death was not disclosed.

Lanson, whose real name was Roy Landman, was nicknamed "Snooky" at age 2 after the Irving Berlin tune "Snooky-Ookums."

He got his first singing job with band leader Francis Craig at Nashville radio station WSM.

In 1940, Lanson was hired by the Ray Noble Band, and a year later recorded the hit record "By the Light of the Silvery Moon."

In the late 1940s, he had a hit with "The Old Master Painter," which helped him land the spot on "Your Hit Parade." He sang on the show from 1950 to 1957.

Lanson went on to perform in nightclubs and to host TV variety shows in Atlanta and Shreveport, La. He also had a syndicated radio show.

by CNB