Kathy Barr (born Marilyn Sultana Aboulafia; June 4, 1929 – June 21, 2008) was an American vocalist who performed and recorded popular, jazz, musical theater, and operettas. Her stage name was drawn from the first and married surname of her maternal grandmother, Katie Barr.
Biography
Barr was born on June 4, 1929, in
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
, New York, to Ovadia "Ovid" Aboulafia (1900–1978), who, himself, was born in
Çeşme
Çeşme () is a coastal town and the administrative centre of the district of the same name in Turkey's westernmost end, on a promontory on the tip of the peninsula that also carries the same name and that extends inland to form a whole with the ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
, and Eabeta "Tessie" Barr (1908–1978), a native New Yorker.
Barr flourished from the 1950s through the mid-1960s in musical theater, nightclubs, television, and radio. She was acclaimed for her
coloratura soprano range, three and one-half octaves by at least one account (see Annotations below, "Vocal Range Context"),
and her ability to sing pop, jazz, and classical.
Upon marrying for the second time, in 1965, Barr retired from as a recording artist, although she continued to perform club dates (one-nighters) and regional musical theater productions until around 1968. These later roles included Billy Dawn (
Judy Holliday
Judy Holliday (born Judith Tuvim, June 21, 1921 – June 7, 1965) was an American actress, comedian and singer.Obituary '' Variety'', June 9, 1965, p. 71.
She began her career as part of a nightclub act before working in Broadway plays and mus ...
's role) in ''
Born Yesterday'' (November 25, 1967–January 7, 1968) at the Hamlet Street Theater (now named the
Rauh Theater) in Pittsburgh; and a hymn singer seeking to save men's souls in ''
Guys and Dolls
''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also bo ...
'', starring
Tony Martin, at the Meadowbrook Theater Restaurant in
Cedar Grove, New Jersey
Cedar Grove is a township in north central Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 12,411, reflecting an increase of 111 (+0.9%) from the 12,300 counted in the 2000 Census, w ...
(May 29, 1968–June 30, 1968).
Personal life
Her first marriage was to Milton ("Milt" or "Milty") Leon Schwartz (1901–1992), on June 20, 1954, in
The Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
. Schwartz, who was years older, had been a saxophonist with the
Al Trace Orchestra; he was co-owner with Ralph Mitchell (''né'' Ralph Michelev; 1916–2004) of the acclaimed Chicago jazz club the Preview Lounge, at 7 West
Randolph Street
Randolph Street is a street in Chicago. It runs east–west through the Chicago Loop, carrying westbound traffic west from Michigan Avenue across the Chicago River on the Randolph Street Bridge, interchanging with the Kennedy Expressway (I-90/ I ...
, that ran from about 1945 until the summer of 1960. At the same address, Schwartz and Mitchell also owned the Modern Jazz Room (formerly the Encore Room and formerly Mambo City), upstairs.
Her and Schwartz' marriage was
annulled
Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost ...
in
New York Supreme Court on May 28, 1956, refereed by
Ed Koch
Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was ma ...
(who years later become
Mayor of New York City).
In 1958, news media reported that Aboulafia was officially changing her name to Kathy Barr.
In 1965, in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, under her birth name, "Marilyn Aboulafia," she married Irwin M. Glickman (1930–2011). In 1966, she and Glickman had a daughter — Sylvia Beth Glickman. In 1968, reflecting on her disappointment about her first marriage, Barr confided that she was happy in her second marriage and declared, "This time, I wanted to work at it."
Barr died in
Hollywood, Florida, on June 21, 2008.
Her daughter Sylvia married Jeffrey Zina Johnston in 2005. Sylvia and Jeff had two sons, both born in Hollywood, Florida: John Michael Thunder Johnston, born in 2005, and Lightning James Marshall Hawk Johnston, born in 2008.
Discography
Albums
Singles
: ‡ Audio courtesy of
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
Radio transcription disc
* → via ''Rand's Esoteric OTR,'' a blog of Randy Riddle () at randsesotericotr.podbean.com.
Note: The program, hosted by Lt. Bob Osterberg, USMC (''né'' Robert Pierce Osterberg; 1929–2016), interviewed Kathy Barr and featured tracks from her new album, ''Follow Me.'' The show title, ''Magic in Music'', is titled ''Magic of Music'' on the AFRTS disk label.
Musical theater roles
* ''
Marinka'', as Marinka (leading soprano role)
:
Winter Garden Theatre
The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre at 1634 Broadway in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It opened in 1911 under designs by architect William Albert Swasey. The Winter Garden's current design dates to 1922, when ...
, New York
: Australia touring production
:
Tivoli circuit
The Tivoli Circuit was a successful and popular Australian vaudeville entertainment circuit featuring revue, opera, ballet, dance, singing, musical comedy, old time black and white minstrel and even Shakespeare which flourished from 1893 to th ...
, Melbourne: Opened May 28, 1948, at the Tivoli Theater,
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
: At the age of 19, Barr was elevated to the role of Marinka after being the
understudy
In theater, an understudy, referred to in opera as cover or covering, is a performer who learns the lines and blocking or choreography of a regular actor, actress, or other performer in a play. Should the regular actor or actress be unable to a ...
for
Kathryn Grayson
Kathryn Grayson (born Zelma Kathryn Elisabeth Hedrick; February 9, 1922 – February 17, 2010) was an American actress and coloratura soprano. Ronald Berganbr>Obituary '' London Guardian'', February 19, 2010.
From the age of twelve, Grayson trai ...
* ''
Wizard of Oz'', as Dorothy Gale (leading soprano role)
:
Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera
Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera (Pittsburgh CLO) is a nonprofit professional theater company based in the Cultural District of Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Despite its name, the organization presents musical theatre classics rather t ...
, August 1 thru August 6, 1949
References
Annotations
Citations
Sources
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"Still good friends."
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Barr, Kathy
1929 births
2008 deaths
American people of Turkish descent
Singers from New York (state)
20th-century American singers
20th-century American women singers
21st-century American women musicians