Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.

Rostom Sipan "Ross" Bagdasarian (January 27, 1919 – January 16, 1972) was an American pianist, musician, actor, and record producer of Armenian descent.

Otherwise known by his stage name David Seville, Bagdasarian was the creator of Alvin and the Chipmunks and the founder of Bagdasarian Productions (formerly Bagdasarian Film Corporation)

Early career

Bagdasarian was born in Fresno, California, the youngest child of Dick and Virginia (Saroyan) Bagdasarian, Armenian immigrants from the Ottoman Empire. He enlisted in the United States Army one month after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and served until the end of World War II.

Bagdasarian performed in the Broadway cast of The Time of Your Life, written by his famous cousin, William Saroyan. Bagdasarian's first musical success was the song he wrote with Saroyan, "Come on-a My House", recorded by Rosemary Clooney in 1951. The lyrics are based on dialogue from Saroyan's novel The Human Comedy. They wrote the song on the post-Broadway tour bus of The Time of Your Life in 1939, and recorded it under their own names as a duet (Saroyan speaking the narrative, Bagdasarian delivering the lyrics in dialect) for Coral Records. ("Come on-a My House" inspired an answer record, "Where's-a Your House?" by Robert Q. Lewis.)