Biography
Born on 8 May 1915 in Wheeling, West Virginia, and passing away on 21 March 1971 in Santa Monica, California, the smooth, soft-voiced singer relocated to New York during her teenage years. There she performed with the Will Hudson–Eddie De Lange Orchestra, appearing on its 1937 hit recordings “Yours and Mine” and “Popcorn Man.” Subsequent engagements found her alongside Hal Kemp, where she performed “What’s New?,” and with Raymond Scott on “And So Do I.” By the late 1930s she hosted her own radio program while also joining Kemp for the series Time To Shine. Several motion-picture roles followed in the early 1940s, among them the musicals Pardon My Sarong opposite Abbott and Costello and Is Everybody Happy?, in which Larry Parks shared top billing; she likewise appeared in the comedy Million Dollar Baby with future president Ronald Reagan. Her most consequential screen work, however, remained largely uncredited: she supplied the singing voice for Rita Hayworth in a number of films, a task also undertaken at various times by Anita Ellis, Martha Mears, and Jo Ann Greer, which sometimes obscures precise attributions. Evidence points to Wynn’s contributions on You’ll Never Get Rich (1941), You Were Never Lovelier, and My Gal Sal (both 1942). In 1944 she took the Broadway stage in Billy Rose’s revue The Seven Lively Arts, introducing Cole Porter’s bittersweet ballad “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye.” Club and small-theater dates occupied most of her schedule during the late 1940s. Among her recorded sides are “You Go To My Head,” “If I Were You,” and “Laugh And Call It Love,” all cut with Teddy Wilson; “Who’ll Buy My Bublitchki?” with Emery Deutsch; and the titles “Lullaby In Rhythm,” “I Said No,” “Ja-Da,” “They Didn’t Believe Me,” and “Good For Nothin’ But Love.”