Before reaching her twelfth birthday, Toni Harper accumulated achievements that countless aspiring performers would envy, from securing a platinum record to performing at Carnegie Hall and sharing stages with Cab Calloway, along with television appearances alongside Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Milton Berle, and Ed Sullivan.
The jazz vocalist, later known as Toni Dunlap, launched her career in 1945 after auditioning against several hundred other children for choreographer Nick Castle. A former dance student of Maceo Anderson, she satisfied the dance requirements yet clinched the part on the spot by singing “Waitin’ for the Train to Come In.” Castle placed her in his Christmas Follies production at Los Angeles’ Wilshire Ebell Theatre, where she received strong notices and, at age eight, earned a platinum record for “Candy Store Blues.”
Harper teamed with Herb Jeffries on “You’re Too Tall ’n’ I’m Too Small,” a number she later performed live with Calloway at Los Angeles’ Million Dollar Theatre. Numerous television programs soon featured the young singer, including Ed Sullivan’s variety show, while her live engagements in New York encompassed the Apollo, the Strand, and the Paramount. At age eleven she capped these accomplishments with a Carnegie Hall appearance.
As with many child stars, Harper’s momentum eased once she entered adolescence. Too old for her established youthful persona yet too young for a convincing adult profile, she attended high school in Los Angeles and participated in drama, choir, and glee club, continuing to accept professional singing work during summer breaks. After graduating in the mid-’50s she still faced age-related constraints, so she recorded material aimed at teenage listeners; for someone her age, “One Hamburger to Go” proved more publicly suitable than sophisticated later selections such as “Love for Sale.”
Harper gained the opportunity to interpret adult standards after signing with Verve, where she recorded “Love for Sale,” “I Could Write a Book,” and “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered.” Her debut Verve album featured pianist Oscar Peterson, drummer Alvin Stoller, guitarist Herb Ellis, and bassist Ray Brown. She subsequently moved to RCA Victor, remaining with the label roughly four years until 1963. Harper retired from performing in 1966, concluding more than two decades in the music business.
