Fredrick Malcolm Waring was born in Tyrone, Pennsylvania, on June 9, 1900, to Jesse Calderwood and Frank Waring. During his teen years, Waring, his brother Tom (né Thomas Lincoln Waring; 1902–1960), and their friend Poley McClintock founded the Waring-McClintock Snap Orchestra, which evolved into Fred Waring's Banjo Orchestra. The band often played at fraternity parties, proms, and dances, and achieved local success.
Waring attended Penn State University, where he studied architectural engineering. He aspired to be in the Penn State Glee Club, but he was rejected with every audition. His Banjo Orchestra became so successful that he decided to abandon his education to tour with the band, which eventually became known as Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians.
He married Dorothy McAteer, his college sweetheart, in 1923 but divorced her in 1929. He remarried in 1933 to Evelyn Nair (1910-2004) and had three children, but in 1954 they divorced. Their children were Dixie, Fred Waring Jr., William "Bill".
He married Virginia Clotfelter (died 2013) and adopted Paul from Virginia's marriage to Livingston Gearhart, and had Malcolm.
Fred Waring Jr. was a conductor and jazz trombonist. Grandson Jordan Waring is an orchestral composer.

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