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Shirley Ross

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Other names
  
Bernice Dolan Blum

Name
  
Shirley Ross

Children
  
3


Years active
  
1927–1946

Role
  
Actress

Shirley Ross This Day in WWII 30 April 1940 1945 Ready Room

Full Name
  
Bernice Maude Gaunt

Born
  
January 7, 1913 (
1913-01-07
)

Parent(s)
  
Charles Burr Gaunt and Maude C. (nee Ellis) Gaunt

Died
  
March 9, 1975, Menlo Park, California, United States

Spouse
  
Eddie Blum (m. 1955–1975), Ken Dolan (m. 1938–1951)

Movies
  
The Big Broadcast of 1938, Waikiki Wedding, Thanks for the Memory, San Francisco, Paris Honeymoon

Occupation
  
Singer, actor, pianist

Thanks for the memory shirley ross bob hope the big broadcast of 38


Shirley Ross (January 7, 1913 – March 9, 1975) was an American actress and singer, notable for her duet with Bob Hope, "Thanks for the Memory" from The Big Broadcast of 1938. She appeared in 25 feature films between 1933 and 1945, including singing earlier and wholly different lyrics for the Rodgers and Hart song in Manhattan Melodrama (1934) that later became "Blue Moon."

Contents

Shirley Ross Shirley RossAnnex

Two sleepy people shirley ross bob hope 1938 version from thanks for the memory soundtrack


Early musical career

Shirley Ross Shirley Ross Original Paramount Fashion Portrait 1939 eBay

Ross was born Bernice Maude Gaunt in Omaha, Nebraska, the elder of two daughters of Charles Burr Gaunt and Maude C. (née Ellis) Gaunt. Growing up in California, she attended Hollywood High School and UCLA, training as a classical pianist. By age 14, she was giving radio recitals and made her first vocal recordings at 20 with Gus Arnheims’s band. Here she attracted the notice of the up-and-coming songwriting duo Rodgers and Hart, who selected her to sell their latest offerings to MGM. One song, which was later re-written as "Blue Moon," led to a successful screen test in 1933 and then to a number of small parts in films that included Manhattan Melodrama with Clark Gable and William Powell in which, made up to look black, she sang "The Bad in Every Man," the original version of "Blue Moon," in a Harlem nightclub.

Paramount

Shirley Ross Shirley RossAnnex

In 1936, MGM loaned her to Paramount, and she was paired with Ray Milland in The Big Broadcast of 1937. Although this was officially a leading role, the Big Broadcast format included a busy programme of musical comedy sketches with big-name performers who somewhat overshadowed her. But one press review declared that she had ‘one of the sweetest voices of any actress on the screen’ and predicted a big future for her. Paramount signed her to a five-year contract; meanwhile her introduction to the songwriting team of Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger would prove significant.

Working with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope

Her duet with Bing Crosby in Waikiki Wedding was a Robin-Rainger number titled "Blue Hawaii." Thus began a three-year period during which Ross was cast opposite either Crosby or Bob Hope on five occasions. After a career interruption in the making of This Way Please with Buddy Rogers, when she walked off the job, alleging that Jack Benny's wife, Mary Livingstone, was trying to sabotage her scenes, she was cast opposite Hope in The Big Broadcast of 1938. Their duet, "Thanks for the Memory", became a huge hit and a defining moment for two careers headed in opposite directions – for Hope, a springboard to bigger and better things; for Ross, the pinnacle. It would prove to be her sole enduring claim to fame.

The duet's great success sparked spin-off movies with Bob Hope, Thanks for the Memory (1938) and another called Some Like It Hot (1939; later renamed Rhythm Romance to avoid confusion with the unrelated 1959 feature). Although Thanks for the Memory did produce another hit song, "Two Sleepy People", the films themselves made little impact, apparently reflecting Paramount’s declining interest in musical comedy. Although Ross would have been willing to play straight drama and had performed well in Prison Wife, Paramount relegated her to supporting roles in two minor romantic comedies, which did nothing for her career, even though one of them (Paris Honeymoon) teamed her once more with Crosby. Her extremely promising career suffered a steep decline and never recovered.

Later career and death

Although Ross knew that her understated appeal was better suited to the screen than the stage, she played the lead in Rodgers and Hart’s Broadway musical Higher and Higher (1940), featuring the song "It Never Entered My Mind." The show was a critical failure. After a few forgettable movies and some radio work, Ross increasingly attended to her terminally ill husband Ken Dolan, which became an early retirement.

Ross died from cancer in Menlo Park, California, aged 62. As her married name, Bernice Dolan Blum, was not well known, her death was not widely publicized. But Hope, with whom she had an enduring real-life friendship, did not fail to commemorate her death. He and Crosby sent a 5-foot tall cross with white carnations and a spray of red roses to her funeral. According to her daughter, it was mobbed.

Filmography

Actress
1945
A Song for Miss Julie as
Valerie Kimbro
1941
Sailors on Leave as
Linda Hall
1941
Kisses for Breakfast as
Juliet Marsden
1939
Unexpected Father as
Dianna Donovan
1939
Some Like It Hot as
Lily Racquel
1939
Cafe Society as
Bells Browne
1939
Paris Honeymoon as
Barbara Wayne aka Countess De Remi
1938
Thanks for the Memory as
Anne Merrick
1938
Prison Farm as
Jean Forest
1938
The Big Broadcast of 1938 as
Cleo Fielding
1937
Blossoms on Broadway as
Sally Shea
1937
Waikiki Wedding as
Georgia Smith
1936
Hideaway Girl as
Toni Ainsworth
1936
The Big Broadcast of 1937 as
Gwen Holmes
1936
San Francisco as
Trixie
1936
Devil's Squadron as
Eunice
1935
It's in the Air as
Cigar Stand Clerk (uncredited)
1935
I Live My Life as
Vi - drunken party guest dozing in armchair next to piano (uncredited)
1935
Calm Yourself as
Mrs. Ruth Rockwell
1935
Age of Indiscretion as
Dotty
1935
Two Hearts in Wax Time (Short) as
Shirley (uncredited)
1935
Buried Loot (Short) as
Girl in Apartment (uncredited)
1934
The Merry Widow as
Minor Role (uncredited)
1934
Gentlemen of Polish (Short) as
Singer (uncredited)
1934
The Girl from Missouri as
Party Guest (uncredited)
1934
What Price Jazz (Short) as
Singer
1934
Hollywood Party as
Singer of 'Feelin' High' (uncredited)
1934
Manhattan Melodrama as
Singer in Cotton Club
1934
Morocco Nights (Short) as
Singer
1934
Jailbirds of Paradise (Short) as
Shirley Ross
1933
Bombshell as
Singer (uncredited)
Soundtrack
1939
Unexpected Father (performer: "Sweet and Low")
1939
Some Like It Hot (performer: "The Lady's in Love with You", "Some Like It Hot")
1939
Cafe Society (performer: "Kiss Me with your Eyes" - uncredited)
1938
Thanks for the Memory (performer: "Two Sleepy People", "Thanks for the Memory")
1938
Dangerous to Know (performer: "Thanks for the Memory")
1938
The Big Broadcast of 1938 (performer: "Thanks for the Memory", "The Waltz Lives On" - uncredited)
1937
Waikiki Wedding ("Sweet Is the Word for You", "Blue Hawaii", uncredited) / (performer: "In a Little Hula Heaven" - uncredited)
1936
The Big Broadcast of 1937 (performer: "You Came to My Rescue", "I'm Talking Through My Heart" - uncredited)
1936
San Francisco (performer: "Happy New Year" (1936) - uncredited)
1935
Two Hearts in Wax Time (Short) (performer: "Come Join the Dancing", "Just Because I'm in Love with You", "Hi-De-Ho" (uncredited), "Love Needs No Inspiration" (uncredited))
1934
Gentlemen of Polish (Short) (performer: "Feelin' High" (1934) - uncredited)
1934
What Price Jazz (Short) (performer: "I'm Full Of The Devil")
1934
Hollywood Party (performer: "Feelin' High" (1934) - uncredited)
1934
Manhattan Melodrama (performer: "The Bad in Every Man" (1934) - uncredited)
Self
1945
Screen Snapshots Series 25, No. 3: Fashions and Rodeo (Documentary short) as
Self
1941
Picture People No. 4: Stars Day Off (Documentary short) as
Self
1941
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 2 (Documentary short) as
Self - at Mocambo (uncredited)
1941
Meet the Stars #3: Variety Reel #1 (Documentary short) as
Self
1940
Screen Snapshots Series 19, No 6: Hollywood Recreations (Documentary short) as
Self
1938
Dangerous to Know as
Self / Singer on Recording (voice, uncredited)
1935
La Fiesta de Santa Barbara (Short) as
Self
Archive Footage
1978
Bob Hope All Star Christmas Special (TV Special) as
Self
1963
Hollywood and the Stars (TV Series documentary) as
Cleo Fielding (clip from The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938))
- The Fabulous Musicals (1963) - Cleo Fielding (clip from The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)) (uncredited)
1950
Screen Snapshots: Hollywood's Famous Feet (Documentary short) as
Self (uncredited)

References

Shirley Ross Wikipedia