Many times USA Olympic Swim Coach, Jon Urbanchek’s 50-year career included a stop at Anaheim High between 1964 and 1978, an era when the Colonist swimming and water polo teams achieved CIF championships and All American honors.
Many of his Anaheim athletes went on to play water polo and swim on NCAA Championship teams in college and, indeed, some went on to make their mark internationally.
[Read more…]
Cassie Miller’s Anaheim High teachers and classmates always knew she would hit the big time. A natural, Cassie was a star member of the school’s choir and a featured vocalist in theater productions throughout her time at Anaheim High and Fremont Junior High.
Now she’s touring the world and performing for audiences that number in the thousands, making stops along the way at Carnegie Hall, recording studios, TV and film sets.
But Cassie hasn’t forgotten her hometown roots. She performed for the Sept. 11 Service and Remembrance sponsored by the City of Anaheim to remember victims of the 9/11 terrorists attacks, including AHS Class of ’67 grad Charles “Chic” Burlingame, the pilot for American Airlines Flight #77, which was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon.
Returning home to sing for another Anaheim audience has brought Cassie full circle in a career that started immediately upon graduating in 1978 from Anaheim High when she joined the Knott’s Berry Sisters trio. She also paid her dues singing on cruise ships and performing in various shows at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland.
Cassie’s big break came when she began singing background and touring with Perry Como and Andy Williams. She stills considers sharing the stage with these legendary singers a career highlight and “a dream come true.”
Cassie said she found her forte when she began singing with a local big band in Long beach in 1984. This experience ignited her love for the swing era. Since then she has worked with many ghost bands and swing bands including the Harry James, Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller orchestras and others.
Her most recent tour was a departure from the big band genre as a background singer for Supertramp. She recently returned from a tour in France, performing for an audience of 77,000 people.
Other career highlights including doing her own solo tour of jazz clubs overseas, singing with John Lithgow at Carnegie Hall and being “Big Band Singer of the Year” by the LA Music Awards.
Her song styling has brought her wide acclaim from many entertainers including Gregory Peck, Jimmy Stewart, Placido Domingo, Jerry Lewis and Liza Minelli.
Cassie has also appeared in commercials and print ads for such companies such as IBM, Chrysler and others that have aired all over the US and other parts of the world.
Still she is drawn to her Anaheim roots and shared an interesting part of her life. “My parents adopted me when I was a few days old. I ended up finding my birthparents and siblings, only to discover that my birthfather had also gone to Anaheim High and I went to junior high with one of my half-sisters, but never knew it at the time. My birthfather and I both had the same music director, Sheldon Disrud, who is still living.”
More about Cassie, including her schedule of appearances, can be found at www.CassieMiller.net.
Athletics were the key to success for Anaheim High Class of ‘54 graduate Dean Philpott. From humble beginnings, Dean learned early in life that hard work and discipline, on and off the playing field, were necessary to attain a better life for himself and his family.
His character and determination helped him achieve his dreams and earn Dean the status of one of Anaheim High’s and Fresno State University’s most outstanding athletes. His considerable talents also led to a career as a pro football player. When Dean suffered a career-ending injury, he turned his energies and abilities to helping children though teaching and coaching. [Read more…]
Bobby Hatfield – Class of 1958
Anaheim High’s most famous graduate is undoubtedly singer Bobby Hatfield, a member of the legendary Righteous Brothers.
Bobby and his partner Bill Medley both grew up in Orange County, Bobby graduating from Anaheim High in 1958 and Bill from Santa Ana High School. The duo performed together for the first time in 1962 and went on to sell millions of albums. Their 1964 track, You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling became an instant hit and still holds the record as the most-played song in the history of American radio.
Dubbed the founders of “blue-eyed soul,” the Righteous Brothers unique sound led them to become a leading act and a favorite group among millions of fans. Their musical relevance continues to be a staple in American pop music culture.
Remembering D-Day graduation at Pearson Park
http://www.ocregister.com/news/classmates-303511-kellogg-day.html
It took a 63-year journey, but Robert Watter’s treasured trombone has returned to “Old AU” to be played by a new generation of Colonists. When Bob, a former Anaheim High band member from Class of 1949, heard the 160-member Colonist band was looking for instruments, he decided to take his trombone out of retirement.
Bob, who is married to Janet Vincent from Class of 1951, first played the instrument when he joined the Anaheim High Band in 1948. His talent for playing the trombone caught the ear of band director William Cook and Bob was recruited to play in the popular nine-member swing band that performed for the school’s Military Ball, dances and other functions. (Bob is pictured fourth from left in this photo of the Swing Band from the 1949 yearbook.) Bob was also a member of the Varsity A Club, swimming and water polo teams.
After graduating from Anaheim, Bob’s trombone traveled with him to his next three gigs, which included the Fullerton Junior College Band (1950), the Santa Ana College Band (1951), then the U.S. Air Force Band (1952). Once he left the military, Bob retired the trombone and it was safely stored in his attic for the next 40 years.
The beloved instrument made an encore appearance at the June Anaheim Alumni Breakfast, when Bob presented his trombone to Anaheim’s new band director Breysi Garcia, a Class of 2000 AHS grad. Breysi brought along five of his top trombone players to entertain the breakfast crowd, many of whom were former band members.
Breysi also informed his fellow alumni that the band, known today as the Colonial Regiment, is working to raise funds for a trailer to transport instruments to its many performances. Alumni who care to donate to this effort are encouraged to contact Breysi at garcia_br@auhsd.k12.ca.us or emailing anaheimalumni@yahoo.com.
Graduates from the Classes of ’43, ’44 and ’45 gathered at Anaheim High recently to reminisce about their school days nearly 70 years past (see photo slideshow of the event below).
The campus was then named Anaheim Union as the only high school in town serving the city’s then 11,000 inhabitants. Anaheim High also served the outlying farming and dairy communities. Many ‘40s grads in attendance recalled riding the bus to school from what would become the cities of Buena Park, Cypress, La Palma and Stanton. [Read more…]
Anaheim High Class of ’75 graduate Bob Lauder will bring 30 years of experience as an actor and singer to his performance this weekend in the Fullerton Civic Light Opera (FCLO) 40th anniversary show at historic Plummer Auditorium.
Bob, who recently finished a national tour as Old Max in “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” will be among Broadway performers and FCLO veterans who will celebrate the theater company’s 40 years as one of the region’s major cultural resources.
The company will be presenting favorite Broadway musicals, from classic ballads to big dance spectaculars. For tickets to the Jan. 28 show at 8 p.m. or the Sunday matinee at 2 p.m., visit www.fclo.com or call 714-879-1732. Plummer Auditorium is located at 201 E. Chapman, Fullerton.
While at Anaheim High, Bob was a drama major and played in the band’s brass section with the marching, stage and pep bands. A Las Vegas resident, Bob is also famous for his role as a real bearded Santa: www.lasvegassanta.com.
See Bob in action at http://www.bigleague.org/video_grinch.htm and support this Colonist by attending the FCLO 40th Anniversary celebration.
Little did Jim Langford know when he lent his Class of ’70 letterman jacket to a friend participating in a ’50s night that it would take more than 20 years to be reunited with a favorite high school memento that held so many memories for him. Jim was a lineman on two CIF Semifinalists teams in 1968 and 1969.
Jim figured the jacket was a goner, like his friend who disappeared after a divorce. (Apparently, the ex-wife donated the jacket to a thrift store.) But the fates were with him when Class of ’87 Colonist Angel Zavala happened to be shopping in at Goodwill in Lake Forest and spotted the classic Colonist jacket from the corner of his eye. He swooped it up for $5.99, knowing he purchased a piece of Anaheim High history.
The jacket remained hanging in Angel’s garage for nearly six years. Then one day last summer he received a call from friend and fellow alumnus Tom Bateman, a Class of ’89 grad and immediate past president of the AHSAA. During their phone call, Angel mentioned finding the jacket and the two decided to put their heads together to find the owner.
It took several more months, but they finally learned that the jacket belonged to Jim by searching yearbooks and football programs to trace the jersey number from the jacket. From there, they contacted Linda Fast Cooper, a Class of ’69 grad who is also an AHSAA board member. Linda had Jim’s phone number and called him to inform him that his jacket had been recovered, to ask if he wanted it back and to find out how it got separated from its owner.
Jim was ecstatic and it was arranged that he would retrieve his jacket at the Dec. 4 Alumni Breakfast, where AHSAA President Jan Domene assisted Tom and Angel in sharing the story of how the jacket was lost and found with the nearly 100 alumni who attend the monthly breakfast at Jagerhaus in Anaheim. In a happy ending to the story, Jim gave Angel back the $5.99 he had spent on the jacket, causing their Colonist classmates to give a big cheer.
Photo caption: Jan Domene, Tom Bateman and Angela Zavala present Jim Langford with found letterman jacket.
