Annette Warren (born July 11, 1922) is an American vocalizer and popular jazz and song stylist best known for dubbing the singing voices of such stars as

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golde ...

in ''

Sorrowful Jones ''Sorrowful Jones'', also known as ''Damon Runyon's Sorrowful Jones'', is a 1949 American comedy-drama film directed by Sidney Lanfield. The film stars Lucille Ball and Bob Hope. ''Sorrowful Jones'' was a remake of a 1934 Shirley Temple film, '' ...

'' (1949) and '' Fancy Pants'' (1950), and

Ava Gardner Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress. She first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew critics' attention in 1946 with her perform ...

in the 1951 film version of ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...

''. She was still actively performing in 2017 at the age of 95.

Early life

Warren was born in Cleveland, Ohio on July 11, 1922. She was discovered in 1945 by vocal coach and arranger Phil Moore, who arranged her first recordings. She made her radio debut October 4, 1946, on Meredith Willson's '' Sparkle Time'' program on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

Career

Warren headlined clubs and theaters in London and across the U.S., including the Bon Soir, the Blue Angel and the St. Regis Hotel Maisonette in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and Ye Little Club in

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

. She co-starred as Mrs. Peachum in the off-Broadway revival of ''The Threepenny Opera'' with

Jerry Orbach Jerome Bernard Orbach (October 20, 1935 – December 28, 2004) was an American actor and singer, described at the time of his death as "one of the last'' bona fide'' leading men of the Broadway musical and global celebrity on television" and a " ...

Ed Asner Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. He is best remembered for portraying Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' a ...

and

Beatrice Arthur Beatrice Arthur (born Bernice Frankel; May 13, 1922 – April 25, 2009) was an American actress and comedian. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, Arthur began her career on stage in 1947, attracting critical acclaim before achieving ...

and was also seen in the musical ''Livin' The Life'' with

Alice Ghostley Alice Margaret Ghostley (August 14, 1923 – September 21, 2007) was a Tony Award-winning American actress and singer on stage, film and television. She was best known for her roles as bumbling witch Esmeralda (1969–70; 1972) on ''Bewitched'' ...

and

Edward Villella Edward Villella (born October 1, 1936) is an American ballet dancer and choreographer. He is frequently cited as America's most celebrated male dancer of ballet at the time. He has won numerous awards, including the Daytime Emmy Award for Out ...

. Warren's television appearances include ''The Tonight Show'', ''The Ed Sullivan Show'', ''The Liberace Show'', and ''The Summer Chevy Show''. She also was seen on screen in the films ''Midnight Frolics'' and ''The Devil's Sleep''. Her first dubbing assignment was for the film ''

Lured ''Lured'' is a 1947 film noir directed by Douglas Sirk and starring George Sanders, Lucille Ball, Charles Coburn, and Boris Karloff. The film is a remake of Robert Siodmak's 1939 French film '' Pièges'' (titled ''Personal Column'' in the U ...

'' in 1947, followed by '' The Paleface'' in 1948, in which she sang for

Iris Adrian Iris Adrian Hostetter (May 29, 1912 – September 17, 1994) was an American stage, film actress and dancer. Life and career Adrian was an only child, born in Los Angeles, California, to Florence (née Van Every) and Adrian Earl Hostetter, who ...

. She dubbed the singing voice for

in ''Sorrowful Jones'' in 1949, and ''Fancy Pants'' in 1950. The following year, she auditioned to sing for

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

's remake of ''

Show Boat (1951 film) ''Show Boat'' is a 1951 American musical romantic drama film, based on the 1927 stage musical of the same name by Jerome Kern (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (script and lyrics), and the 1926 novel by Edna Ferber. It was made by MGM, adapt ...

'' and won the job over such other applicants as

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during ...

and

Lee Wiley Lee Wiley (October 9, 1908 – December 11, 1975) was an American jazz singer during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. Biography Wiley was born in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. At fifteen, she left home to pursue a singing career, singing on New York ...

. She also provided all of the female voices for

John Hubley John Kirkham Hubley (May 21, 1914 – February 21, 1977) was an American animation director, art director, producer and writer known for his work with the United Productions of America (UPA) and his own independent studio, Storyboard, Inc. (late ...

's UPA short '' Rooty Toot Toot'', which was voted No. 41 of the "50 Greatest Cartoons" of all time and was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for "Best Animated Short Film". Warren recorded for such labels as Capitol Records,

Verve Records Verve Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simon ...

, ABC Paramount Records, and Outstanding Records, and was married for 54 years to jazz musician Paul Smith, with whom she also occasionally performed. She co-starred over a 20-year period with fellow "

ghost singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not ap ...

India Adams India Adams (March 5, 1927 – April 25, 2020) was an American singer, known as the ghost singer who dubbed the singing voices of Cyd Charisse and Joan Crawford in the mid-1950s. Career She dubbed the singing voices for Charisse in ''The Band Wa ...

Betty Wand Betty Wand was an American singer and author, best known as the singing voice dubbed in for various actresses in musical films, including Leslie Caron in '' Gigi'' and some of Rita Moreno's part in ''West Side Story''.Crosby Day. "Showtime will a ...

and

Jo Ann Greer Katherine Joan Greer (April 3, 1927 – May 24, 2001), known professionally as Jo Ann Greer, was an American singer. Career Her career spanned nearly 50 years, and she primarily worked in the fields of movie dubbing and band-singing. She init ...

in the musical revue ''Hollywood's Secret Singing Stars''. A two-CD retrospective of her recordings entitled "There's a Man in My Life" was released in 2016 by Fresh Sound Records. In January 2016, Warren sang at the La Cicada Club in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

at a party held to celebrate the release of Lyn Stanley's album ''Interlude''. Warren had been instrumental in encouraging Stanley to embark on her jazz-singing career in 2012. On April 24, 2016 (at the age of 93), Warren debuted a brand-new one-woman show entitled "I Ain't Done Yet" at the

Warner Grand Theatre The Warner Grand Theatre is a historic movie palace that opened on January 20, 1931. It is located in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, at 478 West 6th Street. The design of the Warner Grand Theatre was a collaboration by architect B. Marcus ...

in San Pedro, CA. She is managed by

Alan Eichler Alan Eichler (born July 17, 1944) is an American theatrical producer, talent manager and press agent who has represented several stage productions, produced Grammy-winning record albums and managed singers including Anita O'Day, Hadda Brooks, Nel ...

. On March 30, 2017, Warren returned to New York for the first time in nearly 60 years to headline at

Feinstein's/54 Below 54 Below is a cabaret and restaurant in the basement of Studio 54 in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Owned by Broadway producers Steve Baruch, Richard Frankel, Marc Routh and Tom Viertel, 54 Below has hosted shows by such performers as Patt ...

at the age of 94, to critical acclaim, and continues to perform regularly at such clubs as the

Catalina Jazz Club Catalina Bar & Grill, popularly referred to as Catalina Jazz Club, is a prominent jazz club and restaurant on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, USA, located to the east of Hollywood High School and to the west of the Blessed Sacrament C ...

in Hollywood.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Annette 1922 births 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers American centenarians American jazz singers Living people Playback singers Singers from Ohio Women centenarians