Ernani Bernardi

Ernani (Noni) Bernardi was a musician in the big band era, playing lead sax for some of the greats. He is best known for his arrangements of two of the mid-20th century's most popular dance melodies, Benny Goodman's "And the Angels Sing" and Tommy Dorsey's "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You." After his career as a musician he became a successful politician serving on the Los Angeles (CA) City Council. He represented District 7 from 1961 to 1993, making him the second longest serving council member in the history of the city. Ernani Bernardi was born on October 29, 1911 above a grocery store his family owned in Standard, Illinois. He was the son of musician Alfonso Bernardi and Nerina Biagini. His parents immigrated to America through Ellis Island from a small town in the province of Modena in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy. His mother died in childbirth, and he was raised by his father, two grandmothers, an aunt and an uncle. His father, who traveled as a musician, remarried and when Ernani was eleven he was moved to the nearby town of Toluca, Illinois to be with him. He had two younger half siblings, Rudy and Yolanda. He left home at age seventeen to be a musician. He married his wife, Lucille May Sawasky of Port Arthur, Ontario, in 1933 whom he met while playing saxophone in a dance band at Detroit's Graystone Ballroom. They lived in Detroit before moving to New York and eventually settling in Los Angeles. They had four children, Joanne Marie, Judith Ann, John Paul and (Ernani) James. In 1939, Ernani appeared with Kay Kyser's orchestra in the film, That's Right, You're Wrong." After his career as a musician, Ernani began his second career as a contractor, building custom homes in Los Angeles before his career as a councilman. Lucille, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, died in 1993. In 1994 he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ernani Bernardi remarried in November 2001 to Eve Troutman. Ernani died of heart failure at the age of 94 on January 4, 2006.