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Vic Berton was born Victor Cohen on May 7, 1896 in Chicago, Illinois. His father was a violinist who began his son on string instruments around age five. He was hired as a percussionist at the Alhambra Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1903 when he was only seven years old. By 16, he was playing with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. While serving in World War I he played drums for John Philip Sousa’s Navy band.

In the early 1920s, Berton played in the Chicago bands of Art Kahn, Paul Beise, and Arnold Johnson. He led his own ensemble which played at the Merry Gardens club. 1924 saw him become the manager of The Wolverines, and occasionally played alongside Bix Beiderbecke in the ensemble. Later in the decade, he played with Roger Wolfe Kahn, Don Voorhees, Red Nichols and Paul Whiteman. He worked extensively as a session musicianbefore moving to Los Angeles, California in 1927.

During his time in Los Angeles he played with Abe Lyman and recorded in studios for film soundtracks. Vic served as director of Paramount Films’s music division for a period and worked in the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. In the 1940s, he worked as a percussionist in the studios for 20th Century Fox.

Drummer Vic Berton died on December 26, 1951 in Hollywood, California from lung cancer.

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