Shirley Ross

Last updated • 6 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Shirley Ross
Shirley Ross, 1933.jpg
Ross in 1933
Born
Bernice Maude Gaunt

(1913-01-07)January 7, 1913
DiedMarch 9, 1975(1975-03-09) (aged 62)
Other namesBernice Dolan Blum
Occupations
  • Actress
  • singer
Years active1927–1946
Height5 ft 4 in (163 cm) [1]
Spouses
Ken Dolan
(m. 1938;died 1951)
Eddie Blum
(m. 1955)
Children3

Shirley Ross (born Bernice Maude Gaunt, January 7, 1913 – March 9, 1975) was an American actress and singer, notable for her duet with Bob Hope, "Thanks for the Memory" from The Big Broadcast of 1938 . She appeared in 25 feature films between 1933 and 1945, including singing earlier and wholly different lyrics for the Rodgers and Hart song in Manhattan Melodrama (1934) that later became "Blue Moon."

Contents

Early musical career

Ross was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the elder of two daughters of Charles Burr Gaunt and Maude C. (née Ellis) Gaunt. Growing up in California, [2] she attended Hollywood High School and UCLA, [3] training as a classical pianist.

By age 14, she was giving radio recitals [4] [5] and made her first vocal recordings at 20 with Gus Arnheim's band.

Here she attracted the notice of the up-and-coming songwriting duo Rodgers and Hart, who selected her to sell their latest offerings to MGM. One song, "Prayer," later rewritten as "Blue Moon", led to a successful screen test in 1933. This test, a duet with jazz vocalist Harry Barris, was included in MGM's musical-comedy short subject Gentlemen of Polish (1934), starring the comedy team of Al Shaw and Sam Lee.

MGM cast Ross in a number of small parts in films that included Manhattan Melodrama with Clark Gable and William Powell in which, made up to look black, she sang "The Bad in Every Man," an earlier version of "Blue Moon," in a Harlem nightclub. [6]

Paramount

In 1936, MGM loaned her to Paramount, and she was paired with Ray Milland in The Big Broadcast of 1937 . [7] Although this was officially a leading role, the Big Broadcast format included a busy programme of musical comedy sketches with big-name performers who somewhat overshadowed her. But one press review declared that she had ‘one of the sweetest voices of any actress on the screen’ [8] and predicted a big future for her. Paramount signed her to a five-year contract; [9] meanwhile her introduction to the songwriting team of Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger would prove significant. [7]

Working with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope

External media
Audio
Nuvola apps arts.svg You may hear Shirley Ross with Bob Hope singing "Thanks For The Memory" in 1938
Here on Archive.org
Video
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Shirley Ross appears with Bob Hope in the movie "Rhythm Romance" in 1939 Here on Archive.org

Her duet with Bing Crosby in Waikiki Wedding was a Robin-Rainger number titled "Blue Hawaii." Thus began a three-year period during which Ross was cast opposite either Crosby or Bob Hope on five occasions. [lower-alpha 1] [7] After a career interruption in the making of This Way Please with Buddy Rogers, when she walked off the job, alleging that Jack Benny's wife, Mary Livingstone, was trying to sabotage her scenes, [10] [11] [12] [13] she was cast opposite Hope in The Big Broadcast of 1938 . Their duet, "Thanks for the Memory", became a huge hit and a defining moment for two careers headed in opposite directions – for Hope, a springboard to bigger and better things; for Ross, the pinnacle. [14] It would prove to be her sole enduring claim to fame. [15]

The duet's great success sparked spin-off movies with Bob Hope, Thanks for the Memory (1938) and another called Some Like It Hot (1939; later renamed Rhythm Romance to avoid confusion with the unrelated 1959 feature). Although Thanks for the Memory did produce another hit song, "Two Sleepy People", [16] the films themselves made little impact, apparently reflecting Paramount's declining interest in musical comedy. Although Ross would have been willing to play straight drama and had performed well in Prison Wife, [17] Paramount relegated her to supporting roles in two minor romantic comedies, which did nothing for her career, even though one of them ( Paris Honeymoon ) teamed her once more with Crosby. [7] Her extremely promising career suffered a steep decline and never recovered.

Later career

Although Ross knew that her understated appeal was better suited to the screen than the stage, she played the lead in Rodgers and Hart’s Broadway musical Higher and Higher (1940), featuring the song "It Never Entered My Mind." The show was a critical failure. Ross signed with Republic Pictures for feature films, and did some radio work, most notably as a regular cast member on The Bob Burns Show between 1943 and 1947. [18]

Personal life

Ross married agent Ken Dolan in 1938 at age 25. When he became ill Ross increasingly attended him, which became an early retirement for her. He died in 1951, when Ross was 38. [19] She married Eddie Blum in 1955, when she was 42. She had 3 children. In 1959 she said that she had given up show business to devote her time to her children, and did not regret the decision a bit. [20]

Death

Ross died from cancer in Menlo Park, California, aged 62. As her married name, Bernice Dolan Blum, was not well known, her death was not widely publicized. But Hope, with whom she had an enduring real-life friendship, [19] [21] [22] [23] did not fail to commemorate her death. He and Crosby sent a 5-foot tall cross with white carnations and a spray of red roses to her funeral. According to her daughter, the service was mobbed. [23]

Filmography

Notes

  1. Less than a year later, as their erstwhile co-star's career floundered, Hope and Crosby themselves were paired, beginning the longstanding and hugely successful Road to ... series.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothy Lamour</span> American actress and singer (1914–1996)

Dorothy Lamour was an American actress and singer. She is best remembered for having appeared in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Darwell</span> American actress (1879–1967)

Jane Darwell was an American actress of stage, film, and television. With appearances in more than 100 major movies spanning half a century, Darwell is perhaps best remembered for her poignant portrayal of the matriarch and leader of the Joad family in the film adaptation of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, for which she received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Rainger</span> American songwriter

Ralph Rainger was an American composer of popular music principally for films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuart Erwin</span> American actor (1903–1967)

Stuart Erwin was an American actor of stage, film, and television.

<i>The Big Broadcast of 1938</i> 1938 film by Mitchell Leisen

The Big Broadcast of 1938 is a Paramount Pictures musical comedy film starring W. C. Fields and featuring Bob Hope. Directed by Mitchell Leisen, the film is the last in a series of Big Broadcast movies that were variety show anthologies. This film featured the debut of Hope's signature song, "Thanks for the Memory" by Ralph Rainger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Jenks</span> American actor (1902–1962)

Frank Jenks was an American actor and vaudevillian.

<i>The Big Broadcast of 1936</i> 1935 musical film by Norman Taurog

The Big Broadcast of 1936 is a 1935 American comedy film directed by Norman Taurog, and is the second in the series of Big Broadcast movies. The musical comedy starred Jack Oakie, Bing Crosby, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Ethel Merman, The Nicholas Brothers, Lyda Roberti, Wendy Barrie, Mary Boland, Charlie Ruggles, Akim Tamiroff, Amos 'n' Andy, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and Argentinian tango singer Carlos Gardel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Morgan</span> American actor (1908–1994)

Dennis Morgan was an American actor-singer. He used the acting pseudonym Richard Stanley before adopting the name under which he gained his greatest fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marjorie Gateson</span> American actress (1891–1977)

Marjorie Augusta Gateson was an American stage and film actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slim Summerville</span> American actor (1892–1946)

Slim Summerville was an American film actor and director best known for his work in comedies.

"Two Sleepy People" is a song written on September 10, 1938 by Hoagy Carmichael with lyrics by Frank Loesser.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olin Howland</span> American actor (1886–1959)

Olin Ross Howland was an American film and theatre actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warren Hymer</span> American actor (1906–1948)

Edgar Warren Hymer was an American theatre and film actor.

<i>Thanks for the Memory</i> (film) 1938 film by George Archainbaud

Thanks for the Memory is a 1938 film directed by George Archainbaud and starring Bob Hope and Shirley Ross. The picture was adapted from the play by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich. The film is a remake of Up Pops the Devil (1931) starring Carole Lombard and Norman Foster. The titular song, "Thanks for the Memory", remained Bob Hope's theme song for the rest of his long and successful career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Hope filmography</span>

This is a selection of films and television appearances by British-American comedian and actor Bob Hope (1903-2003). Hope, a former boxer, began his acting career in 1925 in various vaudeville acts and stage performances

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralf Harolde</span> American actor (1899–1974)

Ralf Harolde was an American character actor who often played gangsters. Between 1920 and 1963, he appeared in 99 films, including Smart Money with Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney, Jimmy the Gent with James Cagney and Bette Davis, Night Nurse with Barbara Stanwyck and Clark Gable, I'm No Angel with Mae West, Baby Take a Bow with Shirley Temple, A Tale of Two Cities with Ronald Colman, Our Relations with Laurel and Hardy, and Murder, My Sweet with Dick Powell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia Caine</span> American actress (1876–1964)

Georgiana Caine was an American actress who performed both on Broadway and in more than 80 films in her 51-year career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Esther Dale</span> American actress (1885–1961)

Esther Dale was an American actress of the stage and screen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Kelly (actor)</span> American actor (1901–1947)

John F. Kelly was an American actor whose career spanned the very end of the silent film era through the 1940s. While most of his parts were smaller, often-uncredited roles, he was occasionally given a more substantial supporting or even featured role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lillian Yarbo</span> American actress, dancer and singer (1905–1996)

Lillian "Billie" Yarbo was an American stage and screen actress, dancer, and singer.

References

  1. Ross, Lanny (April 1, 1939). "Who's Who". Picturegoer Weekly. p. 43. ProQuest   1771127984.
  2. "Father of Charles Burr Gaunt" posted on October 23, 1999 by Caren Lea, Ross' niece. "I am looking for the parents of Charles Burr Gaunt, born in Iowa 1886. Worked as telegrapher on railroad. Later moved to Omaha, Nebraska and married Maude Ellis. They had two daughters and moved to California around 1923."
  3. United Press: "Co-Ed Crashes Gates of Hollywood Studio", The Pittsburgh Press, December 26, 1933, p. 18.
  4. "Cello Virtuoso in Recital", The Los Angeles Times, June 15, 1927, p. A13. "Cello Virtuoso in Recital: BERNICE GAUNT – Pianist, SAMUEL – Cellist, Los Angeles Railway Orchestra Broadcasts."
  5. Dr. Ralph L. Power: "GERMANS WILL TALK OVER KHJ", The Los Angeles Times, August 4, 1927, p. A-5. "Interesting bits of juvenile entertainment on the child hour at KHJ last evening included the 13-year-old pianist, Bernice Gaunt."
  6. Max Cryer: Love Me Tender: The Stories Behind the World's Favourite Songs (Titirangi, Exisle Publishing Limited, 2008), p. 117
  7. 1 2 3 4 Shirley Ross at IMDb
  8. "New Star Tops State Musical", Spokane Daily Chronicle, October 12, 1936, p. 10.
  9. Ed Sullivan: "Broadway: Building Up From a Terrific Letdown", The Pittsburgh Press, October 24, 1936, p. 6.
  10. Eileen Percy: "Shirley Ross to Play Lead Opposite 'Buddy' Rogers in 'This Way Please,'" The Milwaukee Sentinel, April 29, 1937, p. 2.
  11. Roy Hemming: Discovering Great Singers of Classic Pop: A New Listener's Guide to the Sounds and Lives of the Top Performers and Their Recordings, Movies, and Videos (New York, Newmarket Press, 1991), pp. 93–94
  12. Sidney Skolsky: "Hollywood:The Gossipel Truth", The Milwaukee Sentinel, May 26, 1937, p. 3. "The Mary Livingstone and Shirley Ross feud began because Shirley was talking loudly about Mary in the makeup department and Mary happened to be a thin wall away."
  13. Louella O. Parsons: "Shirley Ross Has New Job", The Rochester Journal, June 29, 1937, p. 6. "Chit chat over Shirley Ross' withdrawal from the cast of 'This Way Please' has subsided. Adolph Zukor, no less, denied that his company had dropped her from the payroll and that she was taken out of the cast because of a battle with Mary Livingstone."
  14. Jimmy Fidler: "Hollywood: Short Short Story", The Pittsburgh Press, August 19, 1940, p. 9. "A local theater marquee the other day displayed these billings: 'Thanks for the Memory' and 'March of Time.' And it has been a march of time, for when that picture was made, Shirley was an established star and Hope was making his debut. Today, Hope is a star – while Miss Ross is in a Broadway show, hoping for a comeback."
  15. "Reader Searches for Memories of Ross", The Sarasota Herald-Tribune, April 11, 1992, p. 2E.
  16. "Sydney's Leading Theatres Present Sydney's Chief Current Attractions". The Sydney Morning Herald, March 3, 1939, p. 2.
  17. "Prison Farm (1938) - User reviews - IMDb" via www.imdb.com.
  18. Harrison Carroll: "Behind the Scenes in Hollywood", Bradford Record, June 26, 1946, p. 2.
  19. 1 2 Rick Du Brow: "Original 'Thanks for the Memory' Girl Prefers Family to Stardom; Once Musical Comedy Star", The Beaver Valley Times (Monday, July 20, 1959), p. 9. "Bob really had it from the start – and we're still close friends. I spoke with him on the phone for an hour yesterday."
  20. Images, Historic. "1959 Press Photo Eddie Blum with wife Shirley Ross and their children". Historic Images.
  21. United Press: "Bing Crosby Shoots 73 to Defeat Hope", The Eugene Register-Guard, November 8, 1937, p. 6.
  22. "Cutie Silences Glib Bob Hope with a Smart Crack", The Pittsburgh Press, September 18, 1938, p. D7.
  23. 1 2 Email correspondence with Victoria Rosendahl, May 15, 2012. "Hope and Crosby sent a five-foot-tall cross, with white carnations and a spray of red roses, to her funeral. It was mobbed."

Press coverage

Miscellaneous