Ted Fio Rito, born in Newark, New Jersey in 1900, composed more than 100 songs across a career spanning from the early 1920s through the 1960s. Initially co-leading the Russo-Fio Rito Orchestra with Dan Russo from 1922 to 1928, Fio Rito achieved his greatest compositional success during the 1920s and early 1930s before shifting focus toward bandleading. His signature composition "Toot Toot Tootsie" (1921) became forever associated with Al Jolson, who premiered it and performed it throughout his career. His "I Never Knew" (1925) became a standard jam vehicle for jazz ensembles during the 1930s and 1940s. Working with lyricists including Gus Kahn, Ernie Erdman, and Sam Lewis, he created popular hits such as "Charley, My Boy," the latter immortalized by Bix Beiderbecke and the Wolverine Orchestra. Fio Rito died in 1971 in Scottsdale, Arizona.
