Dead, Ken Barnes, born February 14, 1933 and died August 4, 2015, he was a writer, producer, broadcaster, musicologist, film historian, film maker, songwriter and music publisher who in the 1970s worked with Bing Crosby, Peter Sellers, Frankie Laine, Peggy Lee and Fred Astaire.

In 1974, he convinced Johnny Mercer to record a two-disk collection of Mercer singing Mercer – with Johnny selecting his own favorites.

These were the last recordings made by Mercer before his death in 1976.

Ken Barnes is also the founder and CEO of The Laureate Company, a music and movie restoration Company. He died after a long illness with diabetes.

Commentary

He wrote and delivered the DVD audio commentary on Citizen Kane (1941) and Holiday Inn (1942), starring Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby.

The DVD also contains a supplemental documentary A Couple of Song and Dance Men in which he appears with Fred Astaire’s daughter, Ava Astaire-MacKenzie.