Larry Verne

Known as a novelty singer, Larry Verne was born February 8, 1936 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He hit the pop charts twice in 1960, reaching number 75 with "Mister Livingston," a song about the famous encounter when Henry Stanley found David Livingstone, a Scottish missionary who had been missing in Central Africa, in 1871 and uttered the immortal words "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?," and followed it by hitting the top spot on the pop charts with "Mr. Custer," written by Fred Darian, Al DeLory, and Joe Van Winkle. Although his public image and personality were comedic, Verne grew discouraged with the music business, leaving it behind to build Hollywood film sets for the next 35 years until his retirement. Verne died in Sylmar, California on October 8, 2013 at the age of 77.