Ross Bagdasarian

Armenian-American pianist, singer, songwriter, actor and record producer, born January 27, 1919 in Fresno, California, USA, died June 16, 1972 in Beverly Hills, California, USA. Bagdasarian graduated from Fresno High School in 1937. He went to New York to work with his cousin Saroyan with the intention of becoming an actor. When World War II started, he enlisted and served four years as a control tower operator and rose to the rank of a staff sergeant (SSgt) in the Army Air Forces. He spent time in England, France and Spain; his later stage name "David Seville" originated from the fact that he was stationed in the city of Seville in Spain and he liked the city. After the war, he returned to Fresno and married Armenouhi "Armen" Kulhanjian, and they tried for a time to be grape growers. They were unsuccessful and they moved to Los Angeles where he started a career as a songwriter.
Father of Ross Bagdasarian Jr., the progenitor of The Chipmunks taking the "New Chipmunks" to a new group of children in the 1980s. First cousin of noted novelist William Saroyan. He had two elder brothers: Richard Sirak (1910–1966) and Harry Sisvan (1915–1989).