Editing Ross Bagdasarian (section)

==Early life==
Bagdasarian{{efn|name=name|Sometimes known as '''Bagdasarian Sr.''' to distinguish from his son, [[Ross Bagdasarian Jr.]]. He is listed as '''Ross S. Bagdasarian''' in the California Birth Index,<ref>"California Birth Index, 1905-1995," database, Ross S Bagdasarian, 27 Jan 1919; citing Fresno, California, United States, Department of Health Services, Vital Statistics Department, Sacramento.</ref> World War II Army Enlistment Records,<ref>"United States World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946," database, Ross S Bagdasarian, enlisted 05 Jan 1942, Fresno, California, United States; citing "Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938-1946," database, The National Archives: Access to Archival Databases (AAD) (http://aad.archives.gov : National Archives and Records Administration, 2002); NARA NAID 1263923, National Archives at College Park, Maryland.</ref> and in California Deaths and Burials.<ref>"California Deaths and Burials, 1776-2000", database, Ross S. Bagdasarian.</ref> <br> [[William Saroyan]], his cousin, gave his full name as '''Sipon Rostom Bagdasarian'''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Saroyan|first1=William|author-link1=William Saroyan|title=Obituaries|date=1979|publisher=Creative Arts Book Company|location=Berkeley, California|isbn=9780916870171|page=[https://archive.org/details/obituaries00saro/page/328 328]|quote=...my cousin Sipon Rostom Bagdasarian...|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/obituaries00saro/page/328}}</ref> [[Mark Arnold (historian)|Mark Arnold]] gives it as '''Rostom Sipan Bagdasarian'''.{{sfn|Arnold|2019|p=13}} }} was born on January 27, 1919, in [[Fresno, California]] to an [[Armenian-American]] family.{{sfn|Arnold|2019|p=13}} His father was a grape grower.<ref name=bronson /> He had two elder brothers: Richard Sirak (1910–1966) and Harry Sisvan (1915–1989).{{sfn|Arnold|2019|p=13}} The novelist [[William Saroyan]], with whom he was very close, was his first cousin.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=J. Y. |title=William Saroyan Dies at 72 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1981/05/19/william-saroyan-dies-at-72/5cad502d-8aca-478d-a53a-9d6156d841ab/ |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |date=19 May 1981}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Studwell |first1=William E. |last2=Lonergan |first2=David |author-link1=William Studwell |title=The Classic Rock and Roll Reader: Rock Music from Its Beginnings to the Mid-1970s |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317720683 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=D2ehAwAAQBAJ&dq=Bagdasarian+cousin+william+saroyan&pg=PA177 177]}}</ref>

Bagdasarian graduated from [[Fresno High School]] in 1937.{{sfn|Arnold|2019|p=13}} He went to New York to work with his cousin Saroyan with the intention of becoming an actor.<ref name=bronson>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RVFLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA36 |title=The Billboard Book of Number One Hits |first= Fred |last=Bronson |date= 1997|isbn=9780823076413 |publisher=Billboard Books|page=36}}</ref> When [[World War II]] started, he enlisted and served four years as a control tower operator{{sfn|Arnold|2019|p=17}} and rose to the rank of a [[staff Sergeant#U.S. Air Force|staff sergeant]] (SSgt) in the [[United States Army Air Forces|Army Air Forces]].<ref name="agbu"/> He spent time in England, France and Spain;<ref name=bronson /> his later stage name "David Seville" originated from the fact that he was stationed in the city of [[Seville]] in Spain and he liked the city.<ref name=bronson /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Blevins |first1=Joe |title=The Dark, Angry Father of 'Alvin and the Chipmunks' |url=https://www.vulture.com/2015/11/the-dark-angry-father-of-alvin-and-the-chipmunks.html |work=[[New York (magazine)|New York Magazine]] |agency=Vulture.com |date=10 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181130193449/https://www.vulture.com/2015/11/the-dark-angry-father-of-alvin-and-the-chipmunks.html |archive-date=30 November 2018}}</ref>

After the war, he returned to Fresno and married Armenouhi "Armen" Kulhanjian, and they tried for a time to be grape growers. They were unsuccessful and they moved to Los Angeles where he started a career as a songwriter.<ref name=bronson />