Eileen Wilson
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Eileen Wilson (born Eileen Eshelman; January 15, 1923 – September 9, 2018) was an American
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 an ...
singer, and one of the original stars of the 1950s television show '' Your Hit Parade'' on NBC.Terrace, Vincent (2011). ''Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 1209. She also starred on the Hit Parade radio show.


Early years

Wilson was born in
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. Her parents were Lieutenant Commander and Mrs. W.W. Eshelman of San Diego, California. She went to schools in New York City and in California and received a bachelor's degree in music at the
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
. During her years in college, she sang on a radio station in Los Angeles, California, and changed her name to Eileen Wilson, taking her voice coach's last name.


Career

Wilson was one of the singers featured on ''The Bob Crosby Show'' and the '' Beulah'' program, both on radio.Terrace, Vincent (1999). ''Radio Programs, 1924–1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 218. Prior to starring on the Hit Parade TV show, she had been featured on the show's radio version. From 1948, when she first joined the radio program, until 1949, her co-star was
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 ...
. Wilson sang on the radio show until 1951. Before her Hit Parade years, she was a vocalist with the Skitch Henderson and Les Brown orchestras. Her husband, Ray Kellogg, also sang with the Henderson and Brown orchestras. In 1950, while singing on the Hit Parade radio program, Wilson became one of the original starring vocalists—with
Snooky Lanson Roy Landman (March 27, 1914 – July 2, 1990),DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 159. better known as Snooky Lanson, was an Ame ...
and Dorothy Collins—on the TV version of the show. She sang on the Hit Parade TV show until 1952. In the fall of 1952, Wilson was replaced on the TV program by singer June Valli. Valli sang on the show for one season, and was replaced by singer Gisele MacKenzie. Wilson dubbed many actors, including Ava Gardner in ''
One Touch of Venus ''One Touch of Venus'' is a 1943 musical with music written by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ogden Nash, and book by S. J. Perelman and Nash, based on the 1885 novella ''The Tinted Venus'' by Thomas Anstey Guthrie, and very loosely spoofing the Pygma ...
'' and ''
The Hucksters ''The Hucksters'' is a 1947 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film directed by Jack Conway starring Clark Gable and Deborah Kerr, her debut in an American film. The supporting cast includes Sydney Greenstreet, Adolphe Menjou, Ava Gardner, Keenan Wynn, and ...
'', Jayne Mansfield in ''
The Girl Can't Help It ''The Girl Can't Help It'' is a 1956 American musical comedy film starring Jayne Mansfield in the titular role, Tom Ewell, Edmond O'Brien, Henry Jones, and Julie London. The picture was produced and directed by Frank Tashlin, with a screenplay ...
'', Sheree North in ''
The Best Things in Life Are Free (film) ''The Best Things in Life Are Free'' is a 1956 American musical film directed by Michael Curtiz. The film stars Gordon MacRae, Dan Dailey and Ernest Borgnine as the real-life songwriting team of Buddy DeSylva, Lew Brown and Ray Henderson of the l ...
'', and
Barbara Bel Geddes Barbara Bel Geddes (October 31, 1922 – August 8, 2005) was an American stage and screen actress, artist, and children's author whose career spanned almost five decades. She was best known for her starring role as Miss Ellie Ewing in the t ...
in ''
The Five Pennies ''The Five Pennies'' is a semi-biographical 1959 film starring Danny Kaye as jazz cornet player and bandleader Loring "Red" Nichols. Other cast members include Barbara Bel Geddes, Louis Armstrong, Harry Guardino, Bob Crosby, Bobby Troup, Susan G ...
'', among others. Wilson recorded the song "I'll Plant My Own Tree" for the soundtrack recording of ''Valley of the Dolls'' (1967). In the movie itself, Margaret Whiting's voice was used as a ghost singer for Susan Hayward, but Wilson recorded the song for the official movie soundtrack. Wilson participated in Time-Life's "Swing Era" recording sessions, led by arranger/leader
Billy May Edward William May Jr. (November 10, 1916 – January 22, 2004) was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music for ''The Green Hornet'' (1966), ''The Mod Squad'' (1968), ''Batman'' (with '' Batgirl'' them ...
on a series of recordings that recreated music recorded during the Big Band Era. The series sought to have the original singers re-record their hits in high fidelity stereo—a technology not available during the 1930s and 1940s—but where the original female singer was unavailable, Wilson stood in for the original female vocalist. For those recordings, she sang note-for-note recreations of songs such as "A Sunday Kind of Love" (which had been a hit for vocalist Fran Warren with the Claude Thornhill Orchestra) in the style of the original singer. In 1972, she performed (along with Hit Parade stars Gisele MacKenzie, Snooky Lanson, and
Russell Arms Russell may refer to: People * Russell (given name) * Russell (surname) * Lady Russell (disambiguation) * Lord Russell (disambiguation) Places Australia *Russell, Australian Capital Territory *Russell Island, Queensland (disambiguation) **Ru ...
) on an ABC-TV special, ''Zenith Presents: A Salute to Television's 25th Anniversary''. In 1975, she appeared on an episode of the program ''ABC Late Night''; the episode, which featured former stars of the Hit Parade, commemorated the television show's 25th anniversary.


Personal life and death

Wilson died on September 9, 2018, in Everett,
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
, aged 95.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Eileen 1923 births 2018 deaths American women singers University of California, Los Angeles alumni 21st-century American women