Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and talk show host. Shore rose to prominence as a recording artist during the Big Band era. She achieved even greater success a decade later in television, mainly as the host of a series of variety programs for the Chevrolet automobile company.
After failing singing auditions for the bands of Benny Goodman, and both Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Shore struck out on her own. She became the first singer of her era to achieve huge solo success. She had a string of eighty charted popular hits, spanning from 1940 to 1957, and after appearing in a handful of feature films, she went on to a four-decade career in American television. She starred in her own music and variety shows from 1951 through 1963 and hosted two talk shows in the 1970s. TV Guide ranked her at number 16 on their list of the top 50 television stars of all time. Stylistically, Shore was compared to two singers who followed her in the mid-to-late 1940s and early 1950s, Jo Stafford and Patti Page.[citation needed]
Early life
Frances "Fanny" Rose Shore was born on February 29, 1916, to Russian-Jewish immigrant shopkeepers, Anna (née Stein) and Solomon Shore, in Winchester, Tennessee.[1][2] She had an elder sister, eight years her senior, Elizabeth, known as "Bessie". When Fanny was eighteen months old, she was stricken with polio (infantile paralysis). The only known treatment was bed rest and sometimes more extreme care if the child was severely compromised. Her mother provided extensive care for her, which included regular therapeutic massage and a strict exercise program.[2] She recovered, but sustained a deformed foot and limp. Fanny loved to sing as a small child; her mother, a contralto with operatic aspirations, encouraged her. Her father often took her to his store, where she would perform impromptu songs for the customers.[3][4]
In 1924, the Shore family moved to McMinnville, Tennessee, where her father had opened a department store. By her fifth-grade year, the family had moved to Nashville, where she completed elementary school. Although shy because of her limp, she became actively involved in sports, was a cheerleader at Nashville's Hume-Fogg High School, and was involved in other activities.[citation needed]
When Shore was 16, her mother died unexpectedly from a heart attack. Pursuing her education, Shore enrolled at Vanderbilt University, where she participated in many events and activities, including the Chi chapter of the Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority. She graduated from the university in 1938 with a degree in sociology.[5] She visited the Grand Ole Opry and made her radio debut on Nashville's WSM radio station.[citation needed]
Shore decided to return to pursuing her career in singing, moving to New York City to audition for orchestras and radio stations. At first she went there on a summer break from Vanderbilt, and after graduation, for good. In many of her auditions, she sang the popular song "Dinah". When disc jockeyMartin Block could not remember her name, he called her the "Dinah girl", and soon after the name stuck, becoming her stage name.[6] She eventually was hired as a vocalist at radio station WNEW, where she sang with Frank Sinatra. She recorded and performed with the Xavier Cugat orchestra, and signed a recording contract with RCA Victor Records in 1940.[citation needed]
In March 1939, Shore debuted on national radio on the Sunday-afternoon CBS Radio program, Ben Bernie's Orchestra. In February 1940, she became a featured vocalist on the NBC Radio program The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street, a showcase for traditional Dixieland and blues songs. With her, the program became so popular, it was moved from 4:30 Sunday afternoon to a 9:00 Monday night time slot in September. In her primetime debut for "the music of the Three Bs, Barrelhouse, Boogie-woogie, and the Blues", she was introduced as "Mademoiselle Dinah 'Diva' Shore, who starts a fire by rubbing two notes together!"[7] She recorded with the two Basin Street bands for RCA Victor; one of her records was the eponymous Dinah's Blues.
Shore's singing came to the attention of Eddie Cantor. He signed her as a regular on his radio show, Time to Smile, in 1940.[8] Shore credits him for teaching her self-confidence, comedic timing, and the ways of connecting with an audience.[9] In 1943, Shore appeared in her first movie, Thank Your Lucky Stars, starring Cantor. In August 1944 she toured the European Theater of Operations hosted by Communications Zone commander Lt. Gen. John C. H. Lee.
Shore continued appearing in radio shows throughout the 1940s, including The Bird's Eye Open House and Ford Radio Show. In early 1946, she moved to a new label, the CBS-owned Columbia Records. At Columbia, Shore enjoyed the greatest commercial success of her recording career, starting with her first Columbia single release, "Shoo-Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy", and peaking with the most popular song of 1948, "Buttons and Bows", (with Henri René & Orchestra), which was number one for ten weeks, and her second million selling record.[12] Other number-one hits at Columbia included "The Gypsy" and "The Anniversary Song".[citation needed] Shore soon became a successful singing star with her own radio show, Call for Music, which was broadcast on CBS from February 13, 1948, to April 16, 1948, and on NBC from April 20, 1948, to June 29, 1948.[13]
In 1950, Shore returned to RCA Victor with a deal to record 100 sides for $1 million (equivalent to $12.7 million in 2023). The hits kept coming, but with less frequency, and were not charting as high as in the 1940s. Shore's biggest hits of this era were "My Heart Cries for You" and "Sweet Violets", both peaking at number three in 1951. Several duets with Tony Martin did well, with "A Penny a Kiss" being the most popular, reaching number eight. "Blue Canary" [ru] was a 1953 hit, and her covers of "Changing Partners" and "If I Give My Heart to You" were popular top-20 hits. "Love and Marriage" and "Whatever Lola Wants" were top-20 hits from 1955.
"Chantez, Chantez" was her last top-20 hit, staying on the charts for over 20 weeks in 1957. Shore remained at RCA Victor until 1958, and during that time, released albums including Bouquet of Blues, Once in a While, and Vivacious, which were collections of singles with different orchestras and conductors such as Frank DeVol and Hugo Winterhalter. The studio albumsHolding Hands at Midnight, from 1955, and Moments Like These, from 1958, recorded in stereo, with orchestra under the musical direction of Harry Zimmerman, who performed the same duties on The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, were the exceptions.[citation needed]
Shore was dropped by Capitol in 1962 and recorded only a handful of albums over the next two decades. She recorded Lower Basin Street Revisited for friend Frank Sinatra's Reprise label in 1965, Songs for Sometime Losers (Project 3, 1967), Country Feelin' (Decca, 1969), Once Upon A Summertime (Stanyan, 1975), and Dinah!, a double LP for Capitol in 1976. She recorded this album at the height of her talk show fame, and it featured her take on contemporary hits such as "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover", "The Hungry Years", and "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)". Her final studio album was released in 1979, Dinah!: I've Got a Song, for the Children's Television Workshop.[citation needed]
Shore starred in seven radio series of her own between 1941 and 1954.[14] She made hundreds of guest appearances in shows including an episode of Suspense ("Frankie and Johnny", May 5, 1952).[15]
Early television career
Soon after Shore arrived in New York in 1937, aged 21, Shore made her first television appearances on experimental broadcasts for NBC over station W2XBS in New York (now WNBC). Twelve years later, in 1949, she made her commercial television debut on The Ed Wynn Show from Los Angeles over CBS and on Easter Sunday 1950, made a guest appearance on Bob Hope's first network television show on NBC. After guest spots on many television shows, she was given her own program, The Dinah Shore Show on NBC on November 27, 1951.[16]Vic Schoen was her musical director from 1951 to 1954, and also arranged music for her on The Colgate Comedy Hour (1954).
In 1956, Shore began hosting a monthly series of one-hour, full-color spectaculars as part of NBC's The Chevy Show series. These proved so popular, the show was renamed The Dinah Shore Chevy Show the following season, with Shore becoming the full-time host, helming three of four weeks in the month. Broadcast live and in NBC's famous "Living Color", this variety show was one of the most popular of the 1950s and early 1960s and featured the television debuts of stars of the era, such as Yves Montand and Maureen O'Hara, and featured Shore in performances alongside Ella Fitzgerald, Mahalia Jackson, Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, and Pearl Bailey. Tennessee Ernie Ford was a featured guest on one show, and she introduced him, tongue-in-cheek, as "Tennessee Ernie CHEVROLET!!" She also appeared as a guest on The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom.
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show ran through the 1960–61 season, after which Chevrolet dropped sponsorship, and Shore hosted a series of monthly broadcasts sponsored by the American Dairy Association and Green Stamps. Simply called The Dinah Shore Show, Shore's guests included Nat "King" Cole, Bing Crosby, Jack Lemmon, Boris Karloff, Betty Hutton, Art Carney, and a young Barbra Streisand. Over twelve seasons, from 1951 to 1963, Shore made 125 hour-long programs and 444 fifteen-minute shows. She always ended her televised programs by throwing an enthusiastic kiss directly to the cameras (and viewers) and exclaiming "MWAH!" to the audience.
Shore also appeared in four specials for ABC (in black-and-white) in the 1964–65 season. They were sponsored by the Purex Corporation.
From 1970 through 1980, Shore hosted two daytime programs, Dinah's Place (1970–1974) on NBC and Dinah! (later Dinah and Friends) in syndication from 1974 through 1980 and a third cable program from 1989 to 1992. Dinah's Place, primarily sponsored by Colgate-Palmolive (which later sponsored her women's golf tournament), was a 30-minute Monday-through-Friday program broadcast at 10:00 am (ET) over NBC, her network home since 1939.[17] Shore described this show as a "Do-Show" as opposed to a chat show because she would have her guests demonstrate an unexpected skill, for example, Frank Sinatra sharing his spaghetti sauce recipe, Vice President Spiro Agnew playing keyboard accompanying Shore on "Sophisticated Lady", or Ginger Rogers showing Shore how to throw a clay pot on a potter's wheel.
Although Dinah's Place featured famous guest stars, Shore often grilled lesser-known lifestyle experts on nutrition, exercise, or homemaking. Despite being one of the more popular programs in NBC's morning lineup, dominating in the timeslot, facing out The Lucy Show reruns on CBS and local programming on ABC, this show left the air in 1974 after NBC sent a telegram to Shore congratulating her on her Emmy win – at the same time informing her the show was being cancelled, because it broke up a "game showprogramming block" and competition from The Joker's Wild on CBS, which started two years earlier. Thus ended the network's 35-year association with Shore. She returned that fall with Dinah!, a syndicated 90-minute daily talk show (also seen in a 60-minute version on some stations) that put the focus on top guest stars and entertainment. This show was seen as competition for Mike Douglas and Merv Griffin, whose shows had been on the air for ten years when Dinah! debuted. Frequent guests included entertainment figures (Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, and Jimmy Stewart), as well as regular contributors including lifestyle guru Dr. Wayne Dyer.
Unexpected rock music performance appearances included Tina Turner, David Bowie, and Iggy Pop. Shore also appeared on the Norman Learcomedy-soap operaMary Hartman, Mary Hartman in April 1976. On the show, Shore interviewed country-singing character Loretta Haggars (played by Mary Kay Place) and included a controversial comment from Haggars during her appearance on a "live" airing of Shore's talk show. Comedian Andy Kaufman in his Tony Clifton guise appeared on her show but did not, as rumored, throw eggs at Shore or pour them on her head.[18]
Shore, with her Dixie drawl and demure manner, was identified with the South, and guests on her shows often commented on it. She spoofed this image by playing Melody in "Went with the Wind!", the famous Gone with the Wind parody for The Carol Burnett Show. In the summer of 1976, Shore hosted Dinah and Her New Best Friends, an eight-week summer replacement series for The Carol Burnett Show which featured a cast of young hopefuls such as Diana Canova and Gary Mule Deer, along with such seasoned guests as Jean Stapleton and Linda Lavin. Shore guest-starred on Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special, calling Pee-wee on his picturephone and singing "The 12 Days of Christmas". Throughout the special, Pee-wee walks past the picturephone, only to hear her going past the original 12 days ("...on the 500th day of Christmas ...").[citation needed]
Shore finished her television career by appearing on "Murder, She Wrote" in 1989, and hosting A Conversation with Dinah (1989–1992) on the cable network TNN (The Nashville Network). This half-hour show consisted of one-on-one interviews with celebrities and comedians (such as Bob Hope), former boyfriends (Burt Reynolds in a special one-hour episode), and political figures (former PresidentGerald Ford and his wife and former First LadyBetty Ford). In a coup, Shore got the first post-White House interview given by former First Lady Nancy Reagan. Around this time, she gained a contract as television spokeswoman for Holly Farms chicken. In the 1980s, Shore sang in Glendale Federal Bank television commercials. Her last television special, Dinah Comes Home (TNN 1991), brought Shore's career full-circle, taking her back to the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, which she first visited some sixty years earlier. Shore won nine Emmys, a Peabody Award, and a Golden Globe Award.[19] Shore's talk shows sometimes included cooking segments, and she wrote cookbooks including Someone's in the Kitchen with Dinah.[20]
Shore was married to actor George Montgomery from 1943 to 1962. She gave birth to daughter Melissa Ann "Missy" Montgomery, in January 1948. Later the couple adopted a son, John David "Jody" Montgomery. Missy Montgomery also became an actress.[citation needed]
George Jacobs, in his memoir Mr. S about Frank Sinatra, for whom he worked as a longtime valet, claimed Shore and Sinatra had a long-standing affair in the 1950s. After her divorce in 1963 from Montgomery, she briefly married professional tennis player Maurice F. Smith.[21] Her romances of the later 1960s involved comedian Dick Martin,[citation needed] singer Eddie Fisher,[citation needed] and actor Rod Taylor.[22]
Starting in 1971, Shore had a six-year public romance with actor Burt Reynolds, who was 20 years her junior.[23][24]
Shore, who played golf,[16] was a longtime supporter of women's professional golf. In 1972, she helped found the Colgate Dinah Shore Golf Tournament, which, in its current identity as the Chevron Championship, remains one of the major golf tournaments on the LPGA Tour. Until 2022, the tournament was held each spring at Mission Hills Country Club, near Shore's former home in Rancho Mirage, California. The event moved to Texas in 2023 at the behest of the new sponsor. Mission Hills’ Dinah Shore Course is currently host of the Galleri Classic, a 78-man, 54-hole no-cut tournament on the PGA Tour Champions for players over 50.
In acknowledgment of her contributions to golf, Shore was elected an honorary member of the LPGA Hall of Fame in 1994.[26] Shore became a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame when it absorbed the LPGA Hall in 1998. She received the 1993 Old Tom Morris Award from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, GCSAA's highest honor.
^Brooks, Patricia; Brooks, Jonathan (2006). "Chapter 8: East L.A. and the Desert". Laid to Rest in California: A Guide to the Cemeteries and Grave Sites of the Rich and Famous. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press. p. 245. ISBN978-0-7627-4101-4. OCLC70284362.
^"Gen. Colin Powell Interview Photo". 1989. Colin and Alma Powell are with Academy of Achievement's Awards Council members Chuck Yeager, famed test pilot and member of the Aviation Hall of Fame, and Dinah Shore, singer and actress who was an inductee of the Television Hall of Fame. They are at a luncheon and symposium aboard the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier during the 1989 American Academy of Achievement Summit program in San Francisco, California. (Photo: Stanley Zax)
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