Hugh “Uncle Lumpy” Brannum

January 5, 1910 – April 19, 1987

Lumpy was originally from Illinois. He later moved to Redlands, California where he attended Redlands University. Lumpy played string bass in the Marine Corp band and later as a member of Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians.

Lumpy created and narrated the Little Orley stories for Fred Waring’s radio program of the late 1940s and was a scriptwriter for the Waring TV show in the 1950s (click to hear Lumpy whistle the Orley theme). While the Orley stories were a weekly feature of the radio program, they were offered less and less often once Waring moved the program to television. The Orley stories were later released on Decca Records (see discography).

In 1955, Lumpy joined the Captain Kangaroo show as Mr. Green Jeans. He remained with the show throughout the entire run, retiring to his home in the Poconos in 1984. He died on April 19, 1987.

HOW ORLEY GOT HIS NAME