BOBBY SHORT, 1924-2005

March 23, 2005 -- New York has lost an institution — and the world a little elegance and a lot of class — with the passing of Bobby Short. Short, the longtime mainstay at the Carlyle Hotel, succumbed to leukemia Monday; he was 80. Born in Danville, Ill., Robert Waltrip Short, a self-taught singer and pianist, was touring vaudeville by the age of 12. By 1948, he was a regular at the upscale Los Angeles hotspot, the Cafe Gala. A few years later, he abandoned America for Europe, where his growing popularity brought him an album contract with Atlantic Records. His breakthrough came in 1968: Two nights at Town Hall with singer Mabel Mercer put Short on the map. Later that year, a two-week engagement at the Carlyle Hotel led to a more steady gig. For six days a week, eight months a year — for 35 years — Bobby Short would be found playing the Carlyle, popularizing the songbooks of George Gershwin, Cole Porter and Rodgers & Hart for younger generations, all the while burnishing his reputation as the world's greatest cabaret singer. Full Story: http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/editorial/43018.htm