Eugenie Baird

Early years

Baird was from Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Eugene Baird. Her father's obituary described him as a construction foreman, but another source said that she came "from a theatrical family." She sang in choral groups in grammar school.

Radio

Baird's early experiences in radio included a thrice-weekly program of her own on KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She gained that spot via audition as a high school student.

For a year, Baird was Bing Crosby's singing partner on Kraft Music Hall on NBC. She had her own weekly program, Eugenie Baird Sings, on ABC in 1946, and she "was selected from more than 50 girls to sing the top tunes of all time." on Paul Whiteman's Forever Tops weekly program (also on ABC) that same year The job necessitated her relocation from New York to Hollywood. The show debuted January 21, 1946, and continued into 1947. She also sang on The Jack Smith Show on NBC.

Her other work on old-time radio included singing on The Alec Templeton Show (1947-1948), and Don McNeill's Breakfast Club. Beginning February 12, 1949, she became the "featured female singer" on Sing It Again. Also in 1949, she was one of a group of female vocalists who participated in a 13-disk series of electrical transcriptions that featured Eddy Duchin promoting the United States Navy Reserve.

Baird signed with Lang–Worth Feature Programs, Inc. in 1950 and was part of that company's Remember When series of electrical transcriptions. In 1954, she sang with Earl Wrightson in the weekly hour-long Musicland U.S.A. on CBS.

Big bands

In a 1944 review, jazz writer George T. Simon described Baird as "the prettiest girl I've ever seen in front of a band, and, in addition, the possessor of one of the prettiest voices I've ever heard in back of a microphone."

Baird "got her start ... with Maurice Spitalny and Benny Burton" and sang with Jan Savitt before joining Tony Pastor for 1942-1943. In 1943, she became the Casa Loma Orchestra's first female vocalist. The November 6, 1948, issue of the trade publication Billboard reported, "Eugenie Baird is with the Paul Whiteman concert tour as featured vocalist."

Vaudeville and night clubs

In 1947, Baird was the featured vocalist with Henny Youngman's Vaudeville show, "making her N.Y. vaude[ville] debut." She also appeared with Ray Eberle at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in August and September 1947. In September 1948, she was the headliner at the Copa nightclub in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Stage and film

Baird had the ingenue role in the Broadway production Angel in the Wings (1947-1948).

She was seen, along with Pee Wee Hunt and The Pied Pipers, in a Universal Studios short subject, Smoke Rings, that featured the Casa Loma Orchestra. Released July 28, 1943, the film included the songs Can't Get Stuff in Your Cuff, That's My Affair, and Little Man with the Hammer.

Jingles and commercial recordings

In 1950, Baird was active in making radio jingles that an article in Billboard magazine described as "songs which entertain." She and others worked for George R. Nelson, Incorporated, to produce both jingles and (in the case of the Pepsi-Cola Company) full-length records that the company could "distribute for home use" on phonographs.

Later years

In October 1981, Baird sang at a jazz festival in New York City. An article in The New York Times reported that Baird, "who sang with Glen Gray's Casa Loma Orchestra and who has been inactive for a number of years, will be making a return appearance."

Partial discography