Gene Krupa

Biography

Date of Birth 15 January 1909, Chicago, Illinois, USA Date of Death 16 October 1973, Yonkers, New York, USA (heart problems complicated by leukemia) Birth Name Eugene Bertram Krupa Height 5' 8" (1.73 m) Mini Biography Gene married Ethel McGuire in 1934. She was the switchboard operator at the Dixie Hotel where Gene was living while he was working in the pit band of "Girl Crazy." They were divorced in 1942 and remarried in 1946. Ethel died in 1955. Gene then married Patty Bowler in 1959 and they adopted two children, Mary Grace and Michael, who Gene nicknamed "BG." They were divorced in 1968. IMDb Mini Biography By: Spouse Patty Bowler (23 April 1959 - 1968) (divorced) 2 children Ethel McGuire (1946 - 1955) (her death) Ethel McGuire (1934 - 1942) (divorced) Trivia Bandleader and drummer Inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1983. He was innovative. It was his idea to create the tunable tom-tom; he went to the Zildjian company and asked for thinner cymbals; he was the first drummer to record using a bass drum; he was one of the first drummers (if not the first) to use a hi-hat as we know it today; and the modern drum kit basically stems from his. Inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame in 1975.