Virginia Ellen Simms
[Sleeve notes from ''Ginny Simms – I'd Like To Set You To Music'', Jasmine JASCD 118, 2001.] (May 25, 1913 – April 4, 1994) was an American popular singer and film actress.
Simms sang with
big band
A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...
s and with
Dinah Shore,
Peggy Lee
Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalis ...
,
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...
,
Jo Stafford, among others. She also worked as an
MGM and
Universal
Universal is the adjective for universe.
Universal may also refer to:
Companies
* NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company
** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal
** Universal TV, a t ...
film actress and appeared in 11 movies from 1939 to 1951, when she retired.
Early life
Simms was born in
San Antonio, Texas
("Cradle of Freedom")
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, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, subdivision_ ...
.
Her family moved to California, where she attended
Fresno High School and
Fresno State Teachers College, where she studied piano.
While there, she began performing in campus productions, singing with sorority sisters and forming a popular campus vocal trio.
Shortly afterward, she sought a singing career, and by 1932 she had her own program on a local radio station.
[Sleeve notes from ''Simple & Sweet: The Best Of Ginny Simms'', Collectables COL-CD-7590, 2005.]
Career
Radio
In 1932, Simms became the vocalist for the Tom Gerun band in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
, working together with other vocalists including a young
Tony Martin and
Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading groups called "The Herd", Herman came to prominence in the late 1930s and was active until his dea ...
.
In 1934, she joined the
Kay Kyser Orchestra, with which she received her first national exposure appearing on radio shows with Kyser.
Films
Simms appeared in three films with Kyser: ''
That's Right—You're Wrong'' (
1939
This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history.
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1
** Third Reich
*** Jews are forbidden to ...
), ''
You'll Find Out
''You'll Find Out'' is a 1940 American comedy film directed by David Butler and starring Kay Kyser. In 1940, the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song ("I'd Know You Anywhere") at the 13th Academy Awards. In the film, ...
'' (
1940), and ''
Playmates'' (
1941
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar E ...
).
On April 6, 1941, Simms and Kyser costarred in ''Niagara to Reno'' (described as "an original comedy") on
CBS radio's ''
Silver Theater''. She nearly married Kyser but left his orchestra in September 1941 for her own radio show.
She starred in several more films, including ''
Here We Go Again'' (
1942), ''
Hit the Ice'' (
1943), ''
Broadway Rhythm'' (
1944
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 2 – WWII:
** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in ...
) and the sanitized
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film.
Born to ...
biopic ''
Night and Day'' (
1946
Events January
* January 6 - The first general election ever in Vietnam is held.
* January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into four occupation zones.
* January 10
** The ...
).
[Sleeve notes from ''Night and Day'', Soundtrack Factory SFCD-33529, 1999.]
Television
In 1951, Simms hosted a local television show on
KTTV
KTTV (channel 11) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV ou ...
Channel 11 in Los Angeles that featured dance bands and talent from military bases around Southern California.
Humanitarian work
Simms entertained troops during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, and after the war, she continued to help servicemen. In 1947, a radio station's newsletter noted: "
w she is helping provide new homes for them. Ginny is sponsoring the construction of 450 homes for vets in Los Angeles."
Awards
On June 5, 1993, a Golden Palm Star on the
Palm Springs, California
Walk of Stars was dedicated to Simms.
Personal life
Simms was married three times. Her first marriage (1945-1951) was to
Hyatt Hotels
Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational hospitality company headquartered in the Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchises luxury and business hotels, resorts, and vaca ...
founder Hyatt von Dehn, with whom she had two sons: David (born in July 1946)
[ ] and Conrad (born December 27, 1949).
[ Her second marriage (1951-1953) was to Bob Calhoun, and her third was to Republican former ]attorney general
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
of Washington State
Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a U.S. state, state in the Northwestern United States, Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first President of the United States, U.S. p ...
Don Eastvold from June 22, 1962 until her death in 1994.[Palm Springs Cemetery District, "Interments of Interest"]
/ref>
Death
Simms died after suffering a heart attack in Palm Springs on April 4, 1994[ at the age of 80. Her remains are interred at Desert Memorial Park in ]Cathedral City
Cathedral city is a city status in the United Kingdom.
Cathedral city may also refer to:
* Cathedral City, California, a city in Southern California, United States
* Cathedral City Cheddar, a brand of Cheddar cheese
* Cathedral City High Scho ...
, California.[ She was survived by her husband, Donald Eastvold Sr.][
]
Filmography
Selected discography
Simms recorded extensively—from June 17, 1935 until July 2, 1947, then again in mid-1953 and finally in December 7 & 9, 1960—for several labels, including:
ARA (American Recording Artists),
Brunswick,
Capitol Custom,
Columbia
Columbia may refer to:
* Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America
Places North America Natural features
* Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...
,
Conqueror,
Okeh
Okeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name was spelled "OkeH" from the initials of Ott ...
,
Regal Zonophone
Regal may refer to:
Companies
* Regal Beloit, usually referred to as Regal, an American manufacturer of electric motors
* Regal Cinema (disambiguation), several cinemas of that name
* Regal Cinemas, a major American theater chain
* Regal Cinem ...
,
Royale,
Sonora,[Ginny Simms discography at cduniverse.](_blank)
Retrieved 26 May 2016.
* ''Ginny Simms: Love Is Here to Stay'' (1997)
* ''Ginny Simms: V-Disc Recordings CD'' (1998)
* ''Gorgeous Ginny Simms'' (1999)
* ''Night and Day'' (1999) (Soundtrack of the 1946 film '' Night and Day'')
* ''Ginny Simms: I'd Like to Set You to Music'' (2001)
* ''Simple & Sweet: The Best of Ginny Simms'' (2005)
* ''Ginny Simms: One More Dream'' (2006)
* ''All Right With Me! – 30 Years of Cole Porter Magic with the Girls!'' (2010) – Simms sings two Porter songs: "What Is This Thing Called Love?" and "Easy to Love"
* ''On the Air With Ginny Simms'' (2011)
* ''The Sentimental Stylings of Ginny Simms'' (2012)
Notes
References
External links
Ginny Simms biography
Retrieved 26 May 2016.
Retrieved 26 May 2016.
* Retrieved 11 October 2007.
* Retrieved 28 November 2007.
Ginny Simms discography at cduniverse
Retrieved 26 May 2016.
Ginny Simms discography at discogs
Retrieved 26 May 2016.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simms, Ginny
1913 births
1994 deaths
Singers from Texas
American film actresses
Big band singers
Burials at Desert Memorial Park
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players
People from San Antonio
20th-century American actresses
20th-century American singers
20th-century American women singers