Sammy Spear

American trumpet player and orchestra leader (born May 31, 1909 in Brooklyn, New York – died March 11, 1975 in Miami Lakes, Florida) In the 1930s, still under his birth name Sammy Shapiro, he played trumpet with the orchestras of Benny Goodman (1934), Tommy Dorsey (1938), and Tony Pastor (1940). Later, he went into television. Between 1949 and 1951, he and his orchestra performed on 99 episodes of the "Cavalcade of Stars" variety show. From 1955 to 1956, he served as the musical director for "The Honeymooners." In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he ran a music store in Queens, New York, before once again switching to television as the musical director of "The Jackie Gleason Show" (1966-1970).