- Was a permanent member of the jury of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
- Classical pianist.
- He was also an expert bridge player. He once played in a celebrity foursome with actor Don Adams ("Get Smart"), band-leader Les Brown, and Jack Benny's daughter Joan.
- He continued to play recitals until the late 1990s.
- He said that making a recording in the 1960s with violinist Jascha Heifetz and cellist Gregor Piatigorsky was the "biggest thrill" of his life. The recording won a Grammy Award.
- He made more than 60 recordings for Capitol and other labels. In 1959, he was the top-selling American-born classical pianist.
- When he was 12 years old, he learned Grieg's "Piano Concerto in a minor" in a week, so he could play it from memory with the Dallas Symphony. He made his Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Philharmonic at age 19, having never attended a music conservatory.
- He joined the Army in 1943, and was assigned to special services. He gave concerts at hospitals and military bases in the China-Burma-India theater.
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