Born in Bermondsey on London's South Bank on 14 July 1910, Mr Fred Alexander is thought to be the oldest surviving ex-Mantovani musician. He is nearly seven months older than viola player Leo Birnbaum whose career we profiled recently.  

Fred was not always a permanent member of the Mantovani Orchestra, but played in the violin section quite frequently, the highlight being the Royal Command Performance at the London Coliseum on 3 November 1958 in front of HM The Queen. He also sat in at Mantovani's ATV film sessions at Elstree studios in late 1958, and on earlier occasions in the 1950s. From those days he recalls fellow fiddlers Lou Stevens, Jackie Green, Syd Kamine and Bunny Laikin and cellists David Penman and Bram Martin.

Fred remembers in particular an out of town concert with Mantovani. At Bram Martin's suggestion, and hoping to save a little money, he booked in at the local YMCA hostel. To his dismay he found the sheets on his dormitory bed to be disgustingly filthy. "I'm out of here," thought Fred, but he had some difficulty in persuading the management to return his deposit. He then proceeded to the best hotel in town, had a good night's rest, and in the morning went downstairs to find Monty and his manager George Elrick breakfasting!  

(At the bottom of this page is a copy of Fred's Commission for a Royal Command Performance for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at the London Coliseum with Mantovani and His Orchestra, 1958.)

Although not from a musical family, Fred began on the violin at the age of six then took up piano. On learning that every time he made a mistake on the piano his teacher would rap his knuckles he switched back in haste to the violin! He attended the Guildhall School of Music from the age of nine and was taught by Sasha Lasserson who also instructed Max Jaffa, the violin soloist on Mantovani's hit version of "Charmaine".  

    At 14 Fred found a well-paid niche on the silent movie circuit. He earned £20 a week for a six days a week stint as leader at the Watford Super Cinema; on the seventh day he filled in at the Metropolitan in London's Edgware Road. When the talkies arrived, however, Fred's high earning days came to a sudden end. He moved on to stage presentations at the bigger cinemas and before the 1939/45 war was at the Horseshoe Restaurant in Tottenham Court Road in Central London. In 1943 he led the Harry Fryer Orchestra for a time, and on other occasions he was the leader of the pit orchestra at Her Majesty's Theatre for the shows "Gay's The Word", "Pal Joey" and "Paint Your Wagon".  

(At the bottom of the page is a copy of Fred's Commission for a Royal Command Performance for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh at London Palladium with Alan Aynsworth and his Orchestra, 1965.) 

    After being invalided out of the Royal Artillery because of migraine Fred took up freelancing work and even played for Mantovani during the 1940s. He found Monty to be quite a hard taskmaster who sought the finest quality all of the time. For some reason Monty could never remember his name and called him Jack! As a freelance musician, Fred might play several sessions in a day in three hour segments. It was a busy life, augmented by being the leader of Fred Alexander's Players, an orchestra which was featured on BBC Radio's "Music While You Work". At one time the personnel included accordionist Henry Krein (who played for Mantovani), his brother Michael and his father Yasha, and also his namesake, Fred Alexander, a Mantovani cellist.  

    Violinist Fred also led and conducted the Portland Light Orchestra which was named after the BBC's address in Portland Place. The players made music frequently on the radio shows "Morning Music" and "Home To Music". In November 1965 Fred made a second Royal Command appearance, this time at the London Palladium with Alan Aynsworth and his Orchestra. In later years he was first violin and orchestra manager of the Johnny Arthey Orchestra, appeared on several TV shows with the Johnny Patrick Orchestra, and accompanied the well known British singers Harry Secombe, Dusty Springfield and Val Doonican, and also Bing Crosby on a re-recording of "White Christmas" shortly before his death. He even fiddled on some of the Rolling Stones backing tracks, although he says that he never actually met the group. Latterly he was a "fixer" for the singer Jonathan King whom he found pleasant enough and, unusually in this business, someone who always settled his bills on time!  

    Fred Alexander moved to Worthing in Sussex on the south coast of England in 1978. He took part in a couple of concerts with the Worthing Symphony Orchestra and worked briefly back in London until he wound down his career in 1980 after realising that he was loosing touch with the old guard of musicians. Recently he and some other Mantovani veterans have been of inestimable help in identifying many of their contemporaries in the photographs of the Mantovani Orchestra. Fred is a dab hand with the magnifying glass and his memory for names and faces is second to none. We thank him for this and we wish him well for the future.

Colin MacKenzie. With grateful thanks to Fred Alexander and Alan Dixon.

    (Again, heartfelt thanks to Colin MacKenzie, Alan Dixon and Fred Alexander for this fascinating biography of Fred Alexander. It is truly an honour to have stories like those of Fred Alexander on this website. Mantovani Musicians, so gifted in their craft, have played such an important part in making we millions of fans happy for decades in a world that is not always a compliment to such emotions. WWS) 

Colin MacKenzie. With special thanks to Paul Barrett