Skitch Henderson Remembers Working on The Tonight Show at NBC in the 1950s

In a career at NBC spanning 1951 to 1966, Skitch Henderson succeeded Arturo Toscanini as music director for NBC Television and was the original conductor of the orchestras for The Tonight Show and The Today Show. Henderson served as the original bandleader for The Tonight Show with founding host Steve Allen (as well as for Allen's Sunday-night variety show), then came back to Tonight after the departure of host Jack Paar and his orchestra director José Melis. In this interview with Frank Beacham backstage at the Apollo Theatre in 2002, Henderson recalled his days at NBC and the first on-air solo by a black performer, Clark Terry, in the early 1950s. Henderson had hired Terry from Duke Ellington. Henderson expressed no nostalgia for those days at NBC saying one had to develop "thick skin" for the routine business machinations.

Added 1 May 2026