Born in 1909 in Chicago, Benny Goodman started taking clarinet lessons at age 10. By his teens, he'd played with a host of bands and scored a regular gig as a session musician. Before long, he was signed to Columbia Records and was leading his own band. Like many bandleaders at the time, Goodman began playing on television, with NBC's Let's Dance and later hosting a radio show with Victor Borge. Long after the golden age of big band, Benny Goodman was still producing hits. Generations later, he's still known as one of the best bandleaders of the big-band era.