Judy Johnson | |
|---|---|
 Judy Johnson c. 1945 | |
| Born | Betty Bonney March 8, 1924 |
| Occupation | Singer |
| Spouse | Mort Lindsey (m. 1954;died 2012) |
Judy Johnson (born Betty Bonney; [1] March 8, 1924) is an American pop singer most notable for her regular appearances on the NBC television series Your Show of Shows in the 1950s. Early in her career, she was billed under her birth name.
Judy Johnson was born Betty Bonney on March 8, 1924 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. [2] In the late 1930s, Johnson and her family moved to Nutley, New Jersey, and while there she learned tap dancing. After two years, they moved back to Norfolk. There she began singing on a radio station and began singing with a band at age 11. [1] She performed at age 14 as a dancer and singer in a tent show headed by Gene Austin. [3] When she was 18, she moved to New York to study musical comedy. In addition to studying, she traveled on USO tours and appeared in night clubs, including the Copacabana in New York. [1]
In the early 1940s, she sang with the Les Brown Orchestra. In 1941, she had a hit of "Joltin' Joe DiMaggio" with Brown's group. [4] She later sang with Frankie Carle and his orchestra. [5] Her biggest hit was "How Little We Know", written by Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer for the character played by Lauren Bacall in the film To Have and Have Not .[ citation needed ]
In 1943, Johnson sang with Jan Savitt and his orchestra [6] and Jerry Wald and his orchestra. [3]
Johnson's TV appearances included singing on the syndicated game show Hidden Treasure, [7] the NBC game show Judge for Yourself , [7] : 546 and the NBC variety show Tonight! America After Dark . [7] : 1094 On old-time radio, she was a regular on The Robert Q. Lewis Show. [8]
Most of the kinescopes of Your Show of Shows were discarded by NBC, [9] so few video appearances of Johnson remain. In one remaining film clip Johnson sings a cover of the Four Lads song "No, Not Much!". [10] Her last television singing appearance was on The Arthur Murray Party in 1959.
In 1950, Johnson joined Sammy Kaye as a singer with his orchestra. [11] In 1952, she signed a contract with MGM Records to join Bill Hayes, with whom she sang on Your Show of Shows, to record duets. [12] In 1955, she performed on Broadway as Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls . [13]
Johnson married composer and conductor Mort Lindsey in 1954. [4] She turned 100 on March 8, 2024.
Rosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me", "Mambo Italiano", "Tenderly", "Half as Much", "Hey There", "This Ole House", and "Sway". She also had success as a jazz vocalist. Clooney's career languished in the 1960s, partly because of problems related to depression and drug addiction, but revived in 1977, when her White Christmas co-star Bing Crosby asked her to appear with him at a show marking his 50th anniversary in show business. She continued recording until her death in 2002.
Jane Powell was an American actress, singer, and dancer who first appeared in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals in the 1940s and 50s. With her soprano voice and girl-next-door image, Powell appeared in films, television and on the stage, performing in the musicals A Date with Judy (1948), Royal Wedding (1951), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), and Hit the Deck (1955).
David Daniel Rose was a British-born American songwriter, composer, arranger, pianist, and orchestra leader. His best known compositions were "The Stripper", "Holiday for Strings", and "Calypso Melody". He also wrote music for many television series, including It's a Great Life, The Tony Martin Show, Little House on the Prairie, Highway to Heaven, Bonanza, Leave It to Beaver, and Highway Patrol, some under the pseudonym Ray Llewellyn. Rose's work as a composer for television programs earned him four Emmys. In addition, he was musical director for The Red Skelton Show during its 21-year run on the CBS and NBC networks. He was a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the national fraternity for men in music.
Lorna Luft is an American actress, author, and singer. She is the daughter of Judy Garland and Sidney Luft, the sister of Joey Luft and the half-sister of Liza Minnelli.
Betty Hutton was an American stage, film, and television actress, comedian, dancer, and singer. She rose to fame in the 1940s as a contract player for Paramount Pictures, appearing primarily in musicals, and became one of the studio's most valuable stars of that decade. She was noted for her energetic and sometimes manic performance style.
Broadway Melody of 1938 is a 1937 American musical film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Roy Del Ruth. The film is essentially a backstage musical revue, featuring high-budget sets and cinematography in the MGM musical tradition. The film stars Eleanor Powell and Robert Taylor and features Buddy Ebsen, George Murphy, Judy Garland, Sophie Tucker, Raymond Walburn, Robert Benchley and Binnie Barnes.
Helen Kane was an American singer and actress. Her signature song was "I Wanna Be Loved by You" (1928), featured in the 1928 stage musical Good Boy. The song was written for Good Boy by the songwriting team Kalmar and Ruby. Kane's voice and appearance were thought to be a source for Fleischer Studios animators when creating Betty Boop. Kane attempted to sue the studio for claims of stealing her signature "boop-oop-a-doop" style, but the judge decided that the proof of this was insufficient, thus dismissing the case.
Kay Thompson was an American author, singer, vocal arranger, vocal coach, composer, musician, dancer, actress, and choreographer. She became famous for creating the Eloise children's books and for her role in the movie Funny Face.
Judy Valentine was an American singer and children's television actress.
Beatrice Ruth Wain was an American Big Band-era singer and radio personality born in the Bronx, New York City. She had several hits with Larry Clinton and His Orchestra, including "My Reverie", "Deep Purple", and "Heart and Soul". Wain and announcer Andre Baruch, her husband, co-hosted radio programs from the 1940s to the 1980s.
Mort Lindsey, was an orchestrator, composer, pianist, conductor and musical director for Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Pat Boone, Jack Narz, and Merv Griffin.
Dorothy Collins was a Canadian-American singer, actress, and recording artist.
Roy Landman, better known as Snooky Lanson, was an American singer known for co-starring on the NBC television series Your Hit Parade.
Lucille Norman was an American mezzo-soprano, radio personality, and stage and film actress active in the 1940s and 1950s.
Gale Robbins was an American actress and singer.
Marjorie Hughes is an American singer.
Eugenie Baird was an American big-band, jazz, and radio singer.
Joy Hodges was an American singer and actress who performed on radio, on film, on Broadway, and with big bands.
Margherita Maria Francesca LaCentra was an American contralto singer, best known for her work on old-time radio and her singing with Artie Shaw's orchestra. She also performed as Barbara Fulton.
Harriet Lee was an American radio singer during the Golden Age of Radio in the 1920s–1930s. She was best known as a blues contralto on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and, later, NBC Radio Networks. Called the "Songbird of the Air", she was named Miss Radio 1931 based on nationwide submittals from radio stations, judged by Flo Ziegfeld and McClelland Barclay, to select the "most beautiful radio artist" for the Radio World's Fair in New York City. Lee was one of the highest paid radio stars that year. She hosted the Harriet Lee show on experimental New York City station W2XAB in 1931, making her one of the first singers to have a show on U.S. television.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
Judy Johnson at IMDb
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
 | This article about a United States pop singer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
