Career[edit]

Born in Rochester, New York, to father Aldridge Ciminelli and mother June Fox,^[2] Simms gave her first public performance on Rochester's WHEC radio aged three, singing "When You Wore a Tulip", which went down well with the audience. She attended Ss. Peter and Paul School, before continuing to Our Lady of Mercy High School. While a teenager, she sang at The Barn, also known as Gannett Youth Club, an alcohol-free venue for young people in Henrietta, every Saturday night. Simms also sold records in the Columbia Music & Appliance Store, where she earned $35 a week.^[5]


When Simms visited relatives in New York City, she got her break, appearing on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. From 1952 to 1955, Simms appeared on radio and television six days a week, at times for a total of eight separate weekly broadcasts, all linked to Godfrey for CBS.^[6] Her television fame was such that a doll was made in her image with her name.^[5]


Simms released a series of highly successful pop 45s on Columbia Records between 1952 and 1957, Jubilee Records between 1957 and 1960 (in addition to her sole LP), and Top Rank Records in 1960.^[7] Her recordings were licensed by such record labels as Philips Records and Coronet Records for release outside the United States.^[8][9] In February 1953, she scored her first and only Billboard chart hit with "Moving Away", which reached No. 30, accompanied by Percy Faith & His Orchestra.^[10][11]


Her stardom was short-lived, lasting only a brief eight years, mainly due to a series of personal tragedies. In October 1955,^[5] Godfrey unexpectedly fired her from his program after she gave birth to her first daughter; Simms was simultaneously dropped from her CBS radio and television contract, after serving only three of the seven years contracted. Simms nevertheless remained signed to the CBS subsidiary Columbia Records, honoring the full duration of her separate five-year recording contract.^[12][13] Simms' first husband, Loring Buzzell, then became her manager and secured for her a three-year recording contract at Jubilee Records. Buzzell, however, died from a sudden heart attack in 1959, a mere three months before the birth of their second daughter, a hardship from which Simms never fully recovered.^[14][15]


Though Simms never retired, she was only sporadically active afterwards, with each of her appearances perceived by the press and fans as a series of come-backs. In late 1959, Simms began managing her late husband Buzzell's music publishing estate, which included the firms Calyork Music, Inc., Colby Music, Ltd. and Hecht-Lancaster & Buzzell Music, Inc., the last of which she initially renamed Hecht & Buzzell Music, Inc. (after the departure of partner Burt Lancaster), and then later, in 1965, Colby Music, Inc.^[16]


Through her father, Al Simms, general manager of American International Records, the record label division of film production company American International Pictures, Simms became affiliated with the beach party film craze of the mid-1960s.^[17] She was commissioned to record several tunes intended for soundtracks of beach party flicks for American International Pictures, but her tracks were often re-recorded by the stars of the films. Some of the music she recorded was ultimately released on 45s by Vee-Jay Records and Wand Records, and appeared on some of the films' soundtrack LPs.^[18] In the 1970s, she worked as assistant to songwriter and record producer Bob Crewe at Far Out Productions, contributing backing vocals to a handful of folk and disco music concept albums.^[19]