Shannon Bolin (January 1, 1917 – March 25, 2016) was an American actress and singer. A March 10, 1941, article in

The Mason City Globe-Gazette The ''Globe Gazette'', known locally as the ''Globe,'' is a daily morning newspaper published in Mason City, Iowa in the United States. History The Globe Gazette traces its history back to July 17, 1858, and a weekly newspaper called ''The Cerro ...

said that she was "known as 'The Lady with the Dark Blue Voice'".

Early years

Ione Shannon Bolin was born in

Spencer, South Dakota Spencer is a city in McCook County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 136 at the 2020 census. The city was almost destroyed by a violent F4 tornado on May 30, 1998 which killed six people. History Spencer was laid out in 1887 when ...

, on Jan. 1, 1917. Her parents were Gracie Elsie Bolin and Harry Bolin, a hotel owner who raised horses during the Depression. In an interview she said her father named her Ione "because I was born on the first of January, which is 1-1, or 1-one. That's South Dakota humor for you.” At age 20, she headed to the East Coast to pursue a career as a singer. In Washington, D.C., Bolin worked for CBS Radio and during World War II she became the host of her own musical program. She auditioned in 1944 in New York for the New Opera Company and won a place in the ensemble.

Stage

Bolin portrayed Meg Boyd in both the original

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

production and the film version of ''

Damn Yankees ''Damn Yankees'' is a 1955 musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., dur ...

''. Her other stage roles include '' The Golden Apple'' (as Mrs. Juniper), ''Only in America'' (as Kate Golden), ''The Student Gypsy'' (as Zampa Allescu) ''

Take Me Along ''Take Me Along'' is a 1959 musical based on the 1933 Eugene O'Neill play '' Ah, Wilderness'', with music and lyrics by Bob Merrill and book by Joseph Stein and Robert Russell.Mandelbaum, Ke"Ken Mandelbaum's Musicals On Disc: Remembering Bob Me ...

'' (as Lily), ''Xmas in Las Vegas'' (as Eleanor Wellspot), and ''Helen Goes to Troy'', for which she used the pseudonym Anne Bolin. Bolin worked with Marc Blitzstein on Regina the opera based on ''

The Little Foxes ''The Little Foxes'' is a 1939 play by Lillian Hellman, considered a classic of 20th century drama. Its title comes from Chapter 2, Verse 15 of the Song of Solomon in the King James version of the Bible, which reads, "Take us the foxes, the lit ...

''. She played the alternate lead when the work debuted on Broadway.

Film

In addition to the film version of ''Damn Yankees'', Bolin's other film appearances include '' If Ever I See You Again'' (1978) and the low-budget horror film '' The Children'' (1980).

Radio

Bolin did radio work in New York City for the Theatre Guild of the Air production of ''Allegro''. She sang

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

lieder on WQXR for the Stromberg-Carlson series. In the early 1940s, she was a regular singer on the

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 ...

program ''Your Town and Ours''.

Television

Bolin appeared on television in the

NBC Opera Theatre The NBC Opera Theatre (sometimes mistakenly spelled NBC Opera Theater and sometimes referred to as the NBC Opera Company) was an American opera company operated by the National Broadcasting Company from 1949 to 1964. The company was established spec ...

production of ''

Suor Angelica ''Suor Angelica'' (''Sister Angelica'') is an opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an original Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano. It is the second opera of the trio of operas known as ''Il trittico'' (''The Triptych''). It received its wo ...

'', in which she played the Princess, and the ''

Jackie Gleason Show ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' is the name of a series of American network television shows that starred Jackie Gleason, which ran from 1952 to 1970, in various forms. ''Cavalcade of Stars'' Gleason's first variety series, which aired on the DuMon ...

'', a special titled "The Christmas List" as Gleason's wife.

Recording

In 1955, Bolin recorded "an album of seldom-heard songs by top composers" for

Vanguard Records Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a n ...

. She and her husband "dug through thousands of 'long-lost' tunes by top composers like Gershwin, Kern, Rodgers, and came up with 12 which they call ''Rare Wine''".

Personal life and death

Bolin married Milton Kaye (1909–2006), a New York pianist, composer and arranger, in 1946. Kaye and Bolin recorded an album, ''Rare Wine''. In 2002, the couple appeared together in a commercial for DeBeers diamonds. She died at the age of 99 on March 25, 2016.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolin, Shannon 1917 births 2016 deaths American stage actresses American musical theatre actresses American opera singers American radio actresses Actresses from South Dakota People from McCook County, South Dakota Place of death missing 21st-century American women