Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the chart-topping female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during the Big Band era. She achieved even greater success a decade later in television, mainly as the host of a series of variety programs for the Chevrolet automobile company.
This article is about the American singer and actress. For the lesbian-centered music festival, see Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend.
Dinah Shore
After failing singing auditions for the bands of Benny Goodman, and both Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Shore struck out on her own. She became the first singer of her era to achieve huge solo success. She had a string of eighty charted popular hits, spanning from 1940 to 1957, and after appearing in a handful of feature films, she went on to a four-decade career in American television. She starred in her own music and variety shows from 1951 through 1963 and hosted two talk shows in the 1970s. TV Guide ranked her at number 16 on their list of the top 50 television stars of all time. Stylistically, Shore was compared to two singers who followed her in the mid-to-late 1940s and early 1950s, Jo Stafford and Patti Page.
Early life[edit]
Frances "Fanny" Rose Shore was born on February 29, 1916, to Russian-Jewish immigrant shopkeepers, Anna (née Stein) and Solomon Shore, in Winchester, Tennessee.[1][2] She had an elder sister, eight years her senior, Elizabeth, known as "Bessie". When Fanny was eighteen months old, she was stricken with polio (infantile paralysis). The only known treatment was bed rest and sometimes more extreme care if the child was severely compromised. Her mother provided extensive care for her, which included regular therapeutic massage and a strict exercise program.[2] She recovered, but sustained a deformed foot and limp. Fanny loved to sing as a small child; her mother, a contralto with operatic aspirations, encouraged her. Her father often took her to his store, where she would perform impromptu songs for the customers.[3][4]
In 1924, the Shore family moved to McMinnville, Tennessee, where her father had opened a department store. By her fifth-grade year, the family had moved to Nashville, where she completed elementary school. Although shy because of her limp, she became actively involved in sports, was a cheerleader at Nashville's Hume-Fogg High School, and was involved in other activities.
When Shore was 16, her mother died unexpectedly from a heart attack. Pursuing her education, Shore enrolled at Vanderbilt University, where she participated in many events and activities, including the Chi chapter of the Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority. She graduated from the university in 1938 with a degree in sociology.[5] She visited the Grand Ole Opry and made her radio debut on Nashville's WSM radio station.
Shore decided to return to pursuing her career in singing, moving to New York City to audition for orchestras and radio stations. At first she went there on a summer break from Vanderbilt, and after graduation, for good. In many of her auditions, she sang the popular song "Dinah". When disc jockey Martin Block could not remember her name, he called her the "Dinah girl", and soon after the name stuck, becoming her stage name.[6] She eventually was hired as a vocalist at radio station WNEW, where she sang with Frank Sinatra. She recorded and performed with the Xavier Cugat orchestra, and signed a recording contract with RCA Victor Records in 1940.
Death[edit]
In the spring of 1993, Shore was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She died of complications from the disease at her home in Beverly Hills, California, on February 24, 1994. Her body was cremated the same day. Some of the ashes were interred in two memorial sites: the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery[27] in Culver City, California, and Forest Lawn Cemetery (Cathedral City). Other ashes went to relatives.[28]
Tributes[edit]
In both Cathedral City and Rancho Mirage, California, streets are named after her. Her hometown of Winchester, Tennessee, honored her with Dinah Shore Boulevard.[29] In 1989, she received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.[30][31][32] In 1991, she was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. In 1996, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to her.[33]