born to a jewish family in the pittsburgh suburb of greensburg, pennsylvania, rupe grew up in the nearby suburb of mckeesport. as a boy, he listened to music sung at a local black baptist church. he attended college at virginia tech, miami university, and ucla. during world war ii, he worked for a shipbuilding company in los angeles. along the way, he changed his surname from goldberg to rupe, which was an ancestral name.