Tony Osbourne

Tony Osborne was devoted to making music. He was a talented trumpeter and pianist but he made his mark as a gifted arranger on many successful singles and albums during the 1950s and '60s. He was a consummate professional able to cope with prima donna antics from the likes of Shirley Bassey, Eartha Kitt and Dorothy Squires. "There's no problem," he remarked. "You just talk back to them in the same language." Tony Osborne was born Edward Osborne near Cambridge in June 1922. He became the junior accordion champion of East Anglia and then, when only 14, played with Josephine's Gypsy Orchestra. He had the same name as his father and grandfather but he tired of being called "Little Teddy". When he joined the RAF in 1942, he asked everyone to call him "Tony". He served in Cairo and the Middle East and played the trumpet on social occasions. He developed his technique and was a fine player by the end of the war.