Veteran dance band leader, former vaudevillian. Lewis set up his first orchestra in 1910. After working at the College Arms Cabaret in New York, he formed another group ("Ted Lewis & His Nut Band") on Coney island in 1916, initially intending it to be a vaudeville novelty act. By the early 1930s this four-piece unit had developed into a bigger show band, which headlined at the Orpheum Circuit and toured theaters and vaudeville houses both in the US and in Europe. Lewis was able to attract many top-flight musicians, including
Jimmy Dorsey,
George Brunis and Mugsy Spanier.