Jill Corey (born Norma Jean Speranza; September 30, 1935 – April 3, 2021) was an American

popular standards The Great American Songbook is the loosely defined canon of significant early-20th-century American jazz standards, popular songs, and show tunes. Definition According to the Great American Songbook Foundation: The "Great American Songbook" is ...

singer. She was discovered and signed on one day when she was 17. She went on to have her own radio shows and to star in a feature film.

Biography

Italian-American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, w ...

, Corey was born in

Avonmore, Pennsylvania Avonmore is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 901 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Geography Avonmore is located at (40.52775 ...

, a coal mining community about forty miles east of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. Her father, Bernard Speranza, was a coal miner, and she was the youngest of five children. Her mother died when she was four years old. She was a 1953 graduate of Bell-Avon High School. Corey began singing as an imitator of

Carmen Miranda Carmen Miranda, (; born Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha, 9 February 1909 – 5 August 1955) was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, dancer, Broadway actress and film star who was active from the late 1920s onwards. Nicknamed "The B ...

at family gatherings, on amateur shows in grade school, and

contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically b ...

in the local church choir. At the age of 13, she began to develop her own style. She won first prize at a talent contest sponsored by the

Lions Club The International Association of Lions Clubs, more commonly known as Lions Clubs International, is an international non-political service organization established originally in 1916 in Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , ...

, which entitled her to sing a song on WAVL in Apollo, Pennsylvania. This got her an offer to have her own program. By the age of 14 she was working seven nights a week, earning $5-$6 a night, with a local orchestra led by Johnny Murphy. By the age of 17 she was a local celebrity talent. At the home of the only owner of a tape recorder in town, with trains going by in the background and no accompaniment, she made a tape recording to demonstrate her singing skills to the outside show business world. The tape came to the attention of Mitch Miller, who headed the artists & repertory section at

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. He normally received over 100 record demos a week, and this one, with a 17-year-old girl and its train background, would not have been likely to gain his attention. He telephoned her in Avonmore, and the next morning she flew to New York to be heard by Miller in a more normal studio setting. Miller had ''

Life Magazine ''Life'' was an American magazine published weekly from 1883 to 1972, as an intermittent "special" until 1978, and as a monthly from 1978 until 2000. During its golden age from 1936 to 1972, ''Life'' was a wide-ranging weekly general-interest ma ...

'' send over reporters and photographers, and had her audition with

Arthur Godfrey Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983) was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer who was sometimes introduced by his nickname The Old Redhead. At the peak of his success, in the early-to-mid 1950s, Godf ...

and Dave Garroway. The ''Life'' photographers reenacted her signing a contract with Columbia, and all this happened in a single day, with her headed back to Avonmore that night. Both Garroway and Godfrey called her, and it was her choice to pick one; she picked Garroway, who took the name Jill Corey out of a

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

book. Within six weeks the ''Life'' article, with a cover picture and seven pages, came out. Jill Corey became the youngest star ever at the Copacabana nightclub, where she was

hit on Flirting or coquetry is a social and sexual behavior involving spoken or written communication, as well as body language. It is either to suggest interest in a deeper relationship with the other person or, if done playfully, for amusement. It ...

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

, and had numerous hit records. Even so, in May 1956,

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

described Corey as a performer who "hasn't made it big" despite the amount of publicity she received. Corey was a regular on the television variety programs ''Robert Q's Matinee'' (1950–1956) '' The Dave Garroway Show'' (1953–1954), and the 1958–1959 version of '' Your Hit Parade''. She was co-host of ''Music on Ice'', a variety program on NBC (1960). She also worked on television with Ed Sullivan. In 1956 she became a regular on

Johnny Carson John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He is best known as the host of ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson received six Pr ...

's CBS-network comedy-variety show from California. In addition, she had her own syndicated

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

and television shows, like ''The Jill Corey Show'' hosted by the

National Guard Bureau The National Guard Bureau is the federal instrument responsible for the administration of the National Guard established by the United States Congress as a joint bureau of the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force. It was cre ...

, the ''Jill Corey Sings'' radio show, and episodes of "Stop the Music" radio show. She also appeared at a Delta Gamma gathering in 1957, where she sang and greeted guests. She is known for her cover of a French song, Let It Be Me, in 1957 for Columbia Records and her 1956 song, ''Egghead'', which focuses on "failed masculinity" of an

egghead In the U.S. English slang, egghead is an epithet used to refer to intellectuals or people considered out-of-touch with ordinary people and lacking in realism, common sense, sexual interests, etc. on account of their intellectual interests. It wa ...

. In 1959 she starred in a feature-length musical film for

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

, entitled ''Senior Prom'', which was co-produced by Moe Howard of The Three Stooges. A two-CD compilation of her complete singles was released in June 2015 by Jasmin Records.

Personal life and death

Corey suspended her careerWhether she suspended her career might be questioned in light of the United Press International story about the wedding, which said, "The newlyweds will honeymoon in Hot Springs, Ark., and Bermuda where Miss Corey has singing engagements." to marry

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

Don Hoak Donald Albert Hoak (February 5, 1928 – October 9, 1969), nicknamed "Tiger", was an American professional baseball third baseman and coach. He played eleven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) (–) for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Cin ...

on December 28, 1961, in Pittsburgh. They had a daughter, Clare. Hoak died of a heart attack at age 41 after they had been married eight years. She then resumed her career in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Following the death of Hoak, she starred in plays on and off Broadway including '' Annie Get Your Gun'', ''

Sweet Charity ''Sweet Charity'' is a musical with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and book by Neil Simon. It was directed and choreographed for Broadway by Bob Fosse starring his wife and muse Gwen Verdon alongside John McMartin. It is based on ...

'', and played to a sold out crowd at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

in 1989. An

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article published in February 1973 pointed out the difficulties that Corey faced in attempting a comeback. "Today I don't know how to audition, how to get people interested in booking me," she said. Determined to succeed, she said, "Somehow, I'm going to find a way to tell people I'm back, and that I want to sing." Corey died on April 3, 2021, from septic shock in Shadyside Hospital,

Shadyside (Pittsburgh) Shadyside is a neighborhood in the East End of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It has three zip codes (15206, 15213, and 15232) and representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 8 (East Central Neighborhoo ...

, Pennsylvania, at age 85.

Discography

Singles

*Robe of Calvary *Minneapolis *Cleo and Meo (with the Four Lads) *Do You Know What Lips Are For? (with the Four Lads) *A Good Night Kiss Is a Good Night's Work (with

Percy Faith Percy Faith (April 7, 1908 – February 9, 1976) was a Canadian-American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of pop and Christmas standards. He is often credited with popularizing the "easy listenin ...

) *One God *He Is a Man (with

) *Where Are You? (with

) *Number One Boy . . *I'm Not at All in Love *Edward *That's All I Need *Come to Me for Everything *Look Look (with

Ray Conniff Joseph Raymond Conniff (November 6, 1916 – October 12, 2002) was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s. Biography Conniff was born November 6, 1916 in Attleboro, Massachusetts, United St ...

) *Ching-Ching-a-Ling *Nobody's Heart (with

) * Cry Me a River ''(bigger hit for

Julie London Julie London (née Peck; September 26, 1926 – October 18, 2000) was an American singer and actress whose career spanned more than 40 years. A torch singer noted for her sultry, languid contralto vocals, London recorded over thirty albums ...

)'' *First Love (with Buddy Cole) *Wait for Tomorrow (with Buddy Cole) *Summer Night *Your Prayers Are Always Answered *Let Him Know *What Am I to Do? *I Love My Baby (My Baby Loves Me) (US #28, 1957) *Egghead * Let It Be Me (US #57, 1957) *Make Like a Bunny, Honey (US #95, 1957) *

Love Me to Pieces "Love Me to Pieces" is a popular and country song. It was written by Melvin Endsley and was published in 1957. The song was recorded by a number of country music singers, including Janis Martin, Kitty Wells and Rusty & Doug. Their version we ...

''(her biggest hit)'' (US #18, 1957) *Love *I Feel Pretty *How Can I Tell? * Exactly Like You *I Told a Lie to My Darlin' *Give It All You've Got *Uh Huh, Oh Yeah *Sweet Sugar Lips *Loveable *Big Daddy (US #96, 1958) *Wherefore Art Thou, Romeo? *My Reverie 1958 * I Found a New Baby 1958 *Love Will Find Out the Way *Dream Boy . . *

Have I Told You Lately that I Love You? "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?" is a popular song written by Scotty Wiseman for the 1944 musical film, '' Sing, Neighbor, Sing'' and performed by Lulu Belle and Scotty. It was their greatest hit and one of the first country music songs ...

*The President Song * Seems Like Old Times *I Can't Hide a Mountain *

Have You Ever Been Lonely? "Have You Ever Been Lonely? (Have You Ever Been Blue?)" is a popular song with music by Peter De Rose and lyrics by Billy Hill (writing under the name of George Brown), published in 1932. It has been recorded by many singers, becoming a standard. ...

*I Gotta Have My Baby Back *Lonely Life *One Boy *Ten Gallon Hat/Stick 'Em Up, Stuck up!

Notes

References

External links

Jill Corey's biography at her official site
*
Jill Corey Collection at University of Arizona Libraries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corey, Jill 1935 births 2021 deaths People from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania American women pop singers American musical theatre actresses American people of Italian descent Columbia Records artists Traditional pop music singers Singers from Pennsylvania 21st-century American women