In Central Florida-wide competition, Richart Milham, 11 years old, won first place in the Fall Prevue Amateur Contest tenor rendition of “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows.”

Richard has been singing since he was three, says his Syrian – born mother. He began in his native Brooklyn. “Richard used to go out to play and come home with a pocketful of money,” Mrs. Milham related. “He had been singing in the streets and people thought it was to make money, but he just loves to sing . . . anywhere, anyplace or anytime. All you have to do is ask him, and often doesn’t even have to be asked.”

The Fall Prevue festivities marked Richard’s first official public appearance, but he comes from a long line of singers and musicians, and his parents plan to let him continue.

Popular music is his field. He learns the latest hits from radio programs. “We often leave him at night to watch the younger children and he can listen to the radio without interruption,” Mrs. Milham explained. “That’s the nearest to work that he likes to get.”

Richard’s father, David Milham, specializes in Oriental music. He plays the oboe, and at one time broadcast regularly from WBBR in New York City. His sister, now Rene Lisene, was a member of the New York City Chorus in 1937. Mrs. Milham, also a singer, says that in Syria, any type of entertainer was looked down upon, so she was unable to make it a career. Richard, unusually friendly, shows an almost swashbuckling poise. He gladly demonstrated his vocal prowess during the interview, and amid conversation, general noise and confusion, broke into ‘The Gypsy” and “Shoo Shoo Baby.”

He likes opera, recognizes the arias from several and goes in for the classics “strictly as a listener.” His ambition is to continue singing. “I don’t care if it’s for radio, night clubs, stage or soap boxes,” he declared. “Just so long as I can sing.”

Published by the Orlando Evening Star, September 23, 1946, as Margery Daugherty’s Orlando Star Radio Dial Twister column; original column shown below.