Phyllis Jeanne Creore

Last updated

Phyllis Jeanne Creore (March 21, 1916 - October 3, 2016) was an American singer and actress in the era of old-time radio.

Contents

Early years

Creore was born on March 21, 1916, in Rochester, New York. the daughter of Alvin Creore and Florence Geneva Smith Creore. She had one sibling. [1] Growing up, she participated in activities of Monroe Avenue Methodist Church's Epworth League, including acting in plays. [2] [3]

In her youth, Creore was confined to bed for several weeks as she healed from injuries sustained when a vehicle hit her while she was riding her bicycle. During that time, she entertained herself by using her father's old guitar to write songs, creating both lyrics and music even though she could not read music. Later, a friend listened to her sing and play her compositions and transcribed them on manuscript paper. [4]

She graduated from Monroe High School in Rochester, New York. [5]

Career

Creore gained early experience by singing on WHAM radio in Rochester [5] and with Bobby Lyons's orchestra. [6]

In 1937, she moved to New York City to progress in her career, [5] living at the Rehearsal Club with other job-seeking entertainers. [7] Her efforts to obtain a job singing on radio were fruitless until a stop at the NBC studios provided an audition with John B. Gambling. She began performing on his Musical Clock Hour on WOR, using the stage name Phyllis Fane. [4] Later in 1937 she became a featured singer in Montreal, performing with Lloyd Huntley's orchestra at the Mount Royal Hotel. [8] She also toured with the Huntley orchestra, and she acted in summer stock theater in Gloucester, Massachusetts. [9]

By 1938, Creore had begun acting on radio in addition to singing. The "low, vibrant quality of her speaking voice" led to her obtaining regular parts in radio shows and making guest appearances on other programs, including multiple appearances on The Fred Allen Show . [10] In May 1938, she was a student in Paramount Pictures' dramatic school in preparation for possible work in films. [10]

Creore was Miss Television at the 1939 New York World's Fair, demonstrating TV to fair attendees. As she interviewed people in a garden outside the RCA exhibit, coaxial-cable connections enabled audiences of more than 400 people to watch the interviews indoors on 20 TV sets. [11] She co-starred in Hollywood Dreams, a twice-weekly daytime program that debuted on May 28, 1940, [12] on CBS radio. The program focused on a "movie-struck girl, who works as waitress in a resort hotel to raise funds for a trip to Hollywood". [13]

Beginning on August 28, 1942, [14] Creore starred in Canteen Girl, a radio program that was "designed to raise the spirits of members of the armed services". [5] A 2016 report on NBC described the show as "essentially a home-cooked counter-punch to the infamous 'Tokyo Rose' broadcasts airing Japanese propaganda and anti-American rhetoric during the war." [15]

The 15-minute program was broadcast on Fridays at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time on NBC's Red Network. [16] It featured dramatic monologues and popular songs by Creore, based on her experiences as she volunteered once a week at the Stage Door Canteen in New York City, serving refreshments to servicemen and dancing with them. [14] Domestic broadcasts of the program were supplemented by shortwave transmissions to troops overseas. [1] She wrote the words and music for "This Is My Wish", the show's theme song, [14] the lyrics of which began, "I wish you luck in everything you do, that all your cares will disappear from view . . ." [17]

Military men wrote letters to Creore, such as one that said, "The gang really enjoys hearing you act those 'skits', and believe me when I say, 'you make them feel as if their own girl was talking to them'". [1] A seaman wrote, "I'm in the hospital, and it [the program] makes me feel like I am at a canteen, if you know what I mean." [1] Creore sometimes read such letters on the air, and she kept them in scrapbooks that were with her in her Fifth Avenue apartment when she died. [1]

Other radio programs on which Creore had lead roles included Are You a Missing Heir?, [18] Against the Storm , Aunt Jenny , Big Sister , Listen, America, Maudie's Diary , and Melodies at Midday. [14] She also acted on television, appearing on 40 TV programs before February 1945. [19]

The New-York Historical Society included a short film about Creore in a 2012 exhibit about New York City in World War II. [20]

Personal life and death

Creore married film producer Ted Westerman in 1946, and they had a daughter. [1] After World War II, she became an artist, creating paintings and sculptures. [5] Creore died on October 3, 2016, in Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, aged 100. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WHEC-TV</span> NBC affiliate in Rochester, New York

WHEC-TV is a television station in Rochester, New York, United States, affiliated with NBC. Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, the station maintains studios on East Avenue in Downtown Rochester and a transmitter on Pinnacle Hill in Brighton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phyllis Kirk</span> American actress (1927–2006)

Phyllis Kirk was an American actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florence Eldridge</span> American actress (1901–1988)

Florence Eldridge was an American actress. She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play in 1957 for her performance in Long Day's Journey into Night.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WROC-TV</span> Television station in Rochester, New York

WROC-TV is a television station in Rochester, New York, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Nexstar Media Group. The station's studios are located on Humboldt Street in downtown Rochester, and its transmitter is located on Pinnacle Hill in Brighton, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Froman</span> American actress (1907–1980)

Ellen Jane Froman was an American actress and singer. During her thirty-year career, she performed on stage, radio, and television despite chronic health problems due to injuries sustained in a 1943 plane crash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristen Wiig</span> American actress and comedian (born 1973)

Kristen Carroll Wiig is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. First breaking through as a performer with the Los Angeles comedy troupe The Groundlings, Wiig achieved stardom during her seven-season tenure on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2005 to 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Trix</span> American actress

Helen Trix was an American dancer, singer, and song composer. The August 1906 edition of Edison Phonograph Monthly describes her as having a "clear, well modulated contralto voice".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phyllis Gordon</span> American actress

Phyllis Gordon was an American actress. She appeared in 50 silent era and sound films between 1911 and 1941. She was born in Suffolk, Virginia, and died one day before her 75th birthday in Sonoma, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WXXI-FM</span> Radio station in New York, United States

WXXI-FM is a non-commercial radio station in Rochester, New York, United States. It broadcasts news, talk and informational programming as a member station of National Public Radio (NPR). WXXI-FM is owned by the WXXI Public Broadcasting Council, Rochester's primary public broadcaster. The station was founded as WJZR in January 1993 by North Coast Radio, Inc., and broadcast a smooth jazz format for 29 years before it was taken silent in July 2022 upon the owner's retirement. Since May 2023, WXXI-FM has carried WXXI's news/talk service, which originates from WXXI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lana Turner performances and awards</span> American actress popular during the 1940s–50s

Lana Turner (1921–1995) was an American actress who appeared in over fifty films during her career, which spanned four decades. Discovered in 1937 at age 16, she signed a contract with Warner Bros. but soon transferred to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The studio's co-founder, Louis B. Mayer, helped further her career by casting her in several youth-oriented comedies and musicals, including Dancing Co-Ed (1939) and Ziegfeld Girl (1941), the latter of which was a commercial success and helped establish her as one of the studio's leading performers. Turner subsequently co-starred with Clark Gable in the drama Somewhere I'll Find You (1943), the first of four films she would appear in with him.

<i>Bonino</i> (TV series) 1953 American situation comedy series

Bonino is a thirty-minute ethnic situation comedy television series starring Ezio Pinza. Originating in the Hudson Theatre in New York City, the program aired live on NBC from September 12 to December 26, 1953. The show was also known as I, Bonino, an alternate title that many newspapers and columnists used in place of the official name when the series premiered.

Henry W. Clune was an American writer. A well-known journalist for the Democrat and Chronicle newspaper in Rochester, New York, his column "Seen and Heard" was published in that paper for 55 years. He also penned 14 books; including six novels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danielle Trotta</span> American sportscaster (born 1981)

Danielle Trotta is an American journalist who covers auto racing for Sirius XM. She was the co-host of NASCAR Race Hub, and the pre-race show NASCAR RaceDay for Xfinity Series events on Fox Sports 1. Trotta started her career in high school, and after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, she worked for local station WBTV. She moved to Fox Sports in July 2010 where she has covered NASCAR and the NFL. In 2018, she joined the cast of Boston Sports Tonight at NBC Sports Boston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gwendolyn Tonge</span> Antiguan teacher and home economics expert

Dame Gwendolyn Tonge, DCN, OH, MBE was an Antiguan teacher and home economics expert. After teaching for many years, she became the head of the government Women's Desk, the precursor to the Directorate of Gender Affairs. Appointed as a Senator, she continued to work in the Ministry of the Prime Minister, responsible for policies on women's issues. As Auntie Gwen, she hosted a cooking show Cooking Magic, which began airing on the Antigua and Barbuda Broadcasting Service (ABS) in the 1960s until her death, the longest running television series in the eastern Caribbean, other than news programs. The recipient of many awards, she was honored with the Order of the British Empire, the Order of Honour of Antigua and Barbuda, Distinguished Order of the Nation.

Loretta Lee was an American singer in the first half of the 20th century.

Kate Norton McComb was an American radio and stage actress who performed on Broadway. She also played the piano and sang. Originally not wanting to act professionally, McComb began her professional career at age 52. The Kate McComb Playhouse in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, was dedicated in her honor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hildegarde Lasell Watson</span> American actress

Hildegarde Lasell Watson was an American actress, singer, writer and arts patron.

WAWW-LD is a low-power television station licensed to serve Rochester, New York, United States. The station is owned by Squirrel Broadcasting Company, a joint venture of James Smisloff and New York radio and TV station owner Craig Fox. Its main subchannel broadcasts HSN.

Dagmar's Canteen was an American variety television series that was broadcast on NBC, first as a single 45-minute episode on November 30, 1951, then as a series of 15-minute episodes from March 22, 1952, until June 14, 1952.

Roberta Quinlan is an American musician.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gates, Anita (October 6, 2016). "Phyllis Creore, the Radio 'Canteen Girl,' 100" . The New York Times. p. A 20. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  2. "Church Young People Will Present Comedy". Democrat and Chronicle. New York, Rochester. March 11, 1931. p. 10. Retrieved July 12, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Epworth Leaguers to Present Comedy Twice". Democrat and Chronicle. New York, Rochester. January 7, 1932. p. 17. Retrieved July 12, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 Clune, Henry W. (October 14, 1936). "Seen and Heard: Rochester Girl Goes to Town". Democrat and Chronicle. New York, Rochester. p. 13. Retrieved July 12, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Remarkable Rochesterians". Democrat and Chronicle. New York, Rochester. October 12, 2016. p. A 4. Retrieved July 12, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Comes Home to Sing". Democrat and Chronicle. New York, Rochester. December 10, 1936. p. 13. Retrieved July 12, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  7. "She Started Here". The Gazette. Canada, Quebec, Montreal. December 24, 1942. p. 6. Retrieved July 13, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  8. Clune, Henry W. (November 6, 1937). "Seen and Heard: Proper Suggestion". Democrat and Chronicle. New York, Rochester. p. 13. Retrieved July 12, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Radio Singer Guest of City". Asbury Park-Press. August 9, 1940. p. 4. Retrieved July 13, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  10. 1 2 Newcomb, Robert (May 28, 1938). "Two Montrealers Who Made Good on New York Stage and Radio". The Minneapolis Star. p. 16. Retrieved July 12, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Fair's 'Miss Television' on Visit Fascinated by Interviewer Role". Democrat and Chronicle. New York, Rochester. August 11, 1939. p. 19. Retrieved July 12, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  12. Gross, Ben (May 26, 1940). "Listening In". Daily News. New York, New York City. p. 58. Retrieved July 13, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Radio Actress Is City Guest". Asbury Park-Press. August 12, 1940. p. 6. Retrieved July 13, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "Radio Roundup". The Morning Call. August 25, 1942. p. 10. Retrieved July 13, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  15. Prince, Lauren (June 19, 2016). "Letters From Long Ago Now Lift Spirits of WWII's 'Canteen Girl'". NBC News. Archived from the original on February 18, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  16. "Phyllis Jeanne Creore". WWII & NYC. December 17, 2012. Archived from the original on July 24, 2021.
  17. Kilgannon, Corey (April 8, 2013). "Off Air for Decades, Canteen Girl Resurfaces" . The New York Times. p. A 18. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  18. Mitchell, Major Curtis (February 21, 1942). "The Radio Front: Washington" (PDF). Movie-Radio Guide. p. 10. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
  19. "Acting for Television a Distinct Art Of Its Own, Declares Phyllis Creore". The San Francisco Examiner. January 28, 1945. p. 15. Retrieved July 14, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  20. Stamberg, Susan (December 18, 2012). "WWII 'Canteen Girl' Kept Troops Company From Afar". knkx. Pacific Public Media. Archived from the original on July 15, 2022. Retrieved July 15, 2022.