Biography
Meg Myles earned prominence chiefly as one of the most admired pin-up figures of the 1950s and early 1960s while establishing herself as a committed stage performer who accumulated several noteworthy screen roles; her vocal talent also proved sufficient to obtain recording agreements with three major labels across the same span. Born Billie Jean Jones in Seattle, WA, she studied dance throughout childhood and resolved to pursue a livelihood in entertainment, later concentrating on dance and health education at the College of the Pacific. Her striking physical presence drew the notice of a talent agent, resulting in television appearances alongside Bob Hope and other prominent entertainers.
As opportunities multiplied through the early and mid-1950s, her acting and stagecraft matured during nightclub engagements that also featured her singing. Although selections frequently hinged on her impressive figure, which earned consistent attention in men’s magazines of the period, her assignments incorporated musical dimensions: a cameo as a Cuban singer in the 1954 film Dragnet and a more prominent part in Phil Karlson’s fact-based The Phenix City Story (1955), where she performed the title song. She had already cut sides for the Sunset label in 1954 and 1955, yet the latter screen credit generated a national promotional tour for the picture and “Phenix City Blues,” prompting Capitol Records to issue the single and sign her to a contract.
Her releases never achieved massive sales, yet they usefully supported her modeling and acting work by confirming that her abilities extended beyond physical measurements; even when likened to Jayne Mansfield, the discs supplied clear evidence of substantive skill. In 1957 Liberty Records reissued her final Capitol recordings, while she took a purely dramatic role in Calypso Heat Wave, a motion picture that also featured Joel Grey, the Treniers, the Tarriers, the Hi-Lo’s, and Maya Angelou. She further became a regular on Steve Allen’s television series, appearing there as a vocalist.
Allen’s endorsement encouraged Liberty to produce her first long-player, Just Meg and Me, on which she collaborated with Benny Goodman/Tommy Dorsey alumnus and Billie Holiday accompanist Jimmy Rowles for renditions of “You Made Me Love You,” “More Than You Know,” and “I Wanna Be Loved.” Tiara Records followed in 1958 with a budget-priced collection of her early Sunset material titled Passion in Paris. She next appeared in the 1961 film Satan in High Heels, singing “You Walked Out of My Life” and one additional number. By then she performed regularly at leading New York nightclubs, often backed by an early version of the Ramsey Lewis Trio, and recorded Meg Myles at the Living Room for Mercury Records under producer Quincy Jones.
That session marked the close of her recording activity, however, as shifting tastes diminished the commercial prospects of her style; by the middle of the decade she concentrated on stage and screen acting, performing at the New York Shakespeare Festival and in such successful films as Coogen’s Bluff and The Anderson Tapes. She returned briefly to singing in the early 1990s for an AIDS benefit concert devoted to music by Harold Arlen.
As opportunities multiplied through the early and mid-1950s, her acting and stagecraft matured during nightclub engagements that also featured her singing. Although selections frequently hinged on her impressive figure, which earned consistent attention in men’s magazines of the period, her assignments incorporated musical dimensions: a cameo as a Cuban singer in the 1954 film Dragnet and a more prominent part in Phil Karlson’s fact-based The Phenix City Story (1955), where she performed the title song. She had already cut sides for the Sunset label in 1954 and 1955, yet the latter screen credit generated a national promotional tour for the picture and “Phenix City Blues,” prompting Capitol Records to issue the single and sign her to a contract.
Her releases never achieved massive sales, yet they usefully supported her modeling and acting work by confirming that her abilities extended beyond physical measurements; even when likened to Jayne Mansfield, the discs supplied clear evidence of substantive skill. In 1957 Liberty Records reissued her final Capitol recordings, while she took a purely dramatic role in Calypso Heat Wave, a motion picture that also featured Joel Grey, the Treniers, the Tarriers, the Hi-Lo’s, and Maya Angelou. She further became a regular on Steve Allen’s television series, appearing there as a vocalist.
Allen’s endorsement encouraged Liberty to produce her first long-player, Just Meg and Me, on which she collaborated with Benny Goodman/Tommy Dorsey alumnus and Billie Holiday accompanist Jimmy Rowles for renditions of “You Made Me Love You,” “More Than You Know,” and “I Wanna Be Loved.” Tiara Records followed in 1958 with a budget-priced collection of her early Sunset material titled Passion in Paris. She next appeared in the 1961 film Satan in High Heels, singing “You Walked Out of My Life” and one additional number. By then she performed regularly at leading New York nightclubs, often backed by an early version of the Ramsey Lewis Trio, and recorded Meg Myles at the Living Room for Mercury Records under producer Quincy Jones.
That session marked the close of her recording activity, however, as shifting tastes diminished the commercial prospects of her style; by the middle of the decade she concentrated on stage and screen acting, performing at the New York Shakespeare Festival and in such successful films as Coogen’s Bluff and The Anderson Tapes. She returned briefly to singing in the early 1990s for an AIDS benefit concert devoted to music by Harold Arlen.
Albums
