I was the fourth of seven children of a Tacoma, Washington, brewery bookkeeper. I studied law at Gonzaga University in Spokane but I was more interested in playing the drums and singing with a local band.
In the early 1930s my brother sent a record of me singinh "I Surrender, Dear" to the president of CBS. My live performances from New York were carried over the national radio network for 20 consecutive weeks in 1932. My radio success led Paramount Pictures to include me in Big Broadcast of 1932, The (1932), a film featuring radio favorites. My songs about not needing a bundle of money to make life happy was the right message for the decade of the Great Depression.
My relaxed, low key style carried over into movie comedies made with a former newspaperman. I won the best actor Oscar for playing an easy going priest in Going My Way (1944). Playing golf was what I liked to do best.
Who am I?