Biography
Born on 11 August 1923 in Chicago, Illinois, USA, and passing away on 2 May 1973 in Encinio, California, USA, this vocalist enjoyed widespread popularity as a band singer throughout the swing-dominated 1940s. Half-sister to Ina Ray Hutton, she performed with that leader’s acclaimed all-female ensemble during the closing years of the 1930s. Between 1941 and 1943 she belonged to the Stardusters, the vocal ensemble attached to Charlie Spivak’s orchestra, and joined the same group on screen in the 1944 feature Pin Up Girl, headlined by Betty Grable. Also in 1944 she took Jo Stafford’s place within Tommy Dorsey’s celebrated Pied Pipers, remaining after the ensemble parted ways with Dorsey. Her voice can be heard on the group’s successful recordings of “Dream,” “Lily Belle,” “Aren’t You Glad You’re You?,” “Mam’selle,” and “Ok’l Baby Dok’l.” Turning solo in 1950, she scored several American chart entries in the ensuing years—“Say You’re Mine Again,” “No Stone Unturned,” and “For The First Time (In A Long Time)”—each supported by orchestral arrangements from her husband, conductor and arranger Axel Stordahl. Like numerous contemporaries working in similar idioms, she encountered mounting difficulties once rock ’n’ roll emerged, and by the close of the 1950s her professional fortunes had faded sharply.
Albums
