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Charlie Ventura was born Charles Venturo on December 2, 1916 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During the 1940s, he played saxophone for the Gene Krupa and Teddy Powell bands. In 1945 he was named best tenor saxophonist by DownBeat magazine.

During the Forties he led big bands and led a band which included Conte Candoli, Bennie Green, Boots Mussulli, Ed Shaughnessy, Jackie Cain, and Roy Kral. By the 1950s he formed the Big Four with Buddy Rich, Marty Napoleon, and Chubby Jackson. He was a sideman with Krupa through the 1960s, then worked in Las Vegas with comedian Jackie Gleason. By the 1980s he slowed down until finally retiring from music.

Tenor saxophonist and bandleader Charlie Ventura transitioned from lung cancer on January 17, 1992 in Pleasantville, New Jersey at age 75.  was an American from

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