Kathryn Elizabeth Smith (May 1, 1907 – June 17, 1986) was an American contralto. Referred to as The First Lady of Radio, Smith became well known for her renditions of "God Bless America" and "When the Moon Comes over the Mountain".
Songbird of the South
She began to use the descriptor The Songbird of the South in the late 1920s, while performing on the stage. This term was also used by other southern vocalists of that era; however, as the Washington D.C. Sunday Star noted, Smith was not really southern—born in Virginia, she had spent nearly all of her life in the D.C. area."Local Stage and Screen," Washington D.C. Sunday Star, June 30, 1929, part 4, p. 3. But as Smith became nationally known, she became more identified with the term. By early 1929, she was being referred to that way on a regular basis: a version of the term, using "from" rather than "of," was seen in newspaper advertisements that promoted her stage performances."New Vaudeville and Films," Louisville Courier-Journal, March 7, 1929, p. 4. "Songbird of the South" was used when she appeared on the NBC Radio Network in April."Headliner on Air," Cincinnati Post, April 8, 1929, p. 14. Then, in the summer of that year, she starred in a Vitaphone short feature titled "Songbird of the South," in which she sang two of her hit songs, "Bless You Sister" and "Carolina Moon.""Photoplays This Week," Washington D.C. Evening Star, June 30, 1929, part 4, p. 1.
Early life Smith was born on May 1, 1907, in Greenville, Virginia, to Charlotte 'Lottie' Yarnell (née Hanby) and William Herman Smith, and she grew up in Washington, D.C. Her father owned the Capitol News Company, distributing newspapers and magazines in the greater D.C. area. Smith was the youngest of three daughters, the middle child dying in infancy. She failed to talk until she was four years old, but a year later she was singing at church social events. By the time she was eight, she was singing for the troops at Army camps in the Washington area during World War I. Smith never had a singing lesson in her life and possessed a range of two and a half octaves. Her earliest performances were during amateur nights at vaudeville theaters in D.C.
Smith's earliest musical influences were her parents. Her father sang in the choir at the Catholic church, and her mother played piano at the Presbyterian church. She attended Business High School in D.C. (now Theodore Roosevelt High School), likely graduating in 1924. Alarmed by his daughter's evident penchant for the stage, her father sent Smith to the George Washington University School for Nursing, where she attended classes for nine months between 1924 and 1925, withdrawing to pursue a career in show business.
Smith got herself on the bill at Keith's Theater in Boston as a singer. Heading the bill was actor and producer Eddie Dowling, who recruited the young singer for a revue he was preparing. It was called Honeymoon Lane, and it opened in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on August 29, 1926. A month later, it moved to Broadway.
An indelicate review in The New York Times on October 31, 1926, under the heading "A Sophie Tucker Rival", said: "A 19-year-old girl, weighing in the immediate neighborhood of 200 pounds, is one of the discoveries of the season for those whose interests run to syncopators and singers of what in the varieties and nightclubs are known as 'hot' songs. Kate Smith is the newcomer's not uncommon name."
When Honeymoon Lane closed, Smith had difficulty finding work in New York, so she returned to Washington, D.C., where she appeared sporadically in vaudeville. Smith joined the road company of Vincent Youmans' Hit the Deck, where she won acclaim singing "Hallelujah!" as a mammy in blackface. Back in New York City, she took the company lead in George White's Flying High. The show opened March 3, 1930, at the whites only Hurtig & Seamon's New Burlesque Theater, which later became the Apollo Theater. It ran for 122 performances. As Pansy Sparks, Smith's role was to be the butt of Bert Lahr's often cruel jibes about her girth. She said later that she often wept with humiliation in her dressing room after the show.
Career
During Honeymoon Lanes run in New York, Smith made her first phonograph recordings, consisting of songs from that show. The first sessions were for Victor, but none were issued. Her first issued recordings, from an October 28, 1926, session, appeared on the Columbia label. She made a few more records for Columbia through May 1927. In 1929 through 1931 she again returned to Columbia's studios, this time appearing for the budget labels Harmony, Diva and Velvet Tone under a pseudonym. These commercially successful records were often sung in the style of Ethel Waters and Ruth Etting, although others were more akin to the early crooning style of Bing Crosby and Russ Columbo.
Her musical career took a huge leap in 1930 when Columbia Records A&R executive Ted Collins took an interest as a result of her Hit the Deck performances. Collins would become her longtime manager in a 50–50 partnership. Smith had become self-conscious regarding her weight, in no small part because of the on- and off-stage mocking she received from co-star Bert Lahr. She later credited Collins with helping her overcome her self-consciousness, writing: "Ted Collins was the first man who regarded me as a singer, and didn't even seem to notice that I was a big girl." She noted, "I'm big, and I sing, and boy, when I sing, I sing all over!"
Collins put Smith on radio in 1931. That year, she performed "Dream a Little Dream of Me". Her biggest hits were "River, Stay 'Way from My Door" (1931), "The Woodpecker Song" (1940), "The White Cliffs of Dover" (1942), "Rose O'Day" (1941), "The Last Time I Saw Paris" (1940), "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" (1942), "There Goes That Song Again" (1944), "Seems Like Old Times" (1946), and "Now Is the Hour" (1947). "Rose O'Day" sold more than one million copies, her first to achieve this feat, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA. Her theme song was "When the Moon Comes over the Mountain"; she had helped write the lyrics. Smith always greeted her audiences with "Hello, everybody!" and signed off with "Thanks for listenin'."
In 1932, Smith appeared in Hello, Everybody!, with co-stars Randolph Scott and Sally Blane, and in the 1943 wartime film This Is the Army, she sang "God Bless America", which became her signature song.
Radio
Smith was a major star of radio, usually backed by Jack Miller's Orchestra. She began with her twice-a-week NBC series, Kate Smith Sings (quickly expanded to six shows a week), followed by a series of shows for CBS: Kate Smith and Her Swanee Music (1931–33), sponsored by La Palina Cigars; The Kate Smith Matinee (1934–35); The Kate Smith New Star Revue (1934–35); Kate Smith's Coffee Time (1935–36), sponsored by A&P; and The Kate Smith A&P Bandwagon (1936–37).
The Kate Smith Hour was a leading radio variety show, offering comedy, music, and drama with appearances by top personalities of films and theater for eight years (1937–1945). The show's resident comics, Abbott and Costello and Henny Youngman, introduced their comedy to a nationwide radio audience aboard her show, while a series of sketches based on the Broadway production of the same name led to The Aldrich Family as a separate hit series in 1940.
Smith also made a dramatic appearance, starring in "Little Johnny Appleseed", on Silver Theater on May 14, 1944. By 1946, she also collaborated with the actor Pat O'Brien on the Viva America program for the CBS radio network in support of America's cultural diplomacy initiatives in South America.Photograph of actor Pat O'Brien and singer Kate Smith on the Viva America program for CBS Radio on Getty Images.com
Smith's figure was not the only target of satire. Her cheery radio sign-on was parodied by comedian Henry Morgan when he launched his own show in 1942: "Good evening, anybody, here's Morgan," which became his sign-on. Morgan recalled in his memoir Here's Morgan, that Smith's sign-on struck him as condescending: "I, on the other hand, was grateful if anybody was listening."
Smith continued on the Mutual Broadcasting System, CBS, ABC, and NBC, presenting both music and talk shows on radio until 1960.
World War II Smith "stirred patriotic fervor" during World War II and contributed to the sale of more than $600 million (equivalent to $ in ) of war bonds during a series of marathon broadcasts. No other show business star came near her sales of bonds to finance the United States' war effort.
In 1944, Smith launched a campaign against the film Double Indemnity.Sikov, Ed (1998). On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder. New York: Hyperion. ISBN 978-0-7868-6194-1. 197–213. James M. Cain recalled that "there was a little trouble caused by this fat girl, Kate Smith, who carried on a propaganda asking people to stay away from the picture. Her advertisement probably put a million dollars on its gross."McGilligan, Patrick (1986). Backstory: Interviews with Screenwriters of Hollywood's Golden Age. Los Angeles: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-05689-3. p. 125–8
Television
Smith starred in two concurrent television programs in the early 1950s The Kate Smith Hour on NBC Television from 1950 through 1954, hosting until 1953 in the late afternoon hour of 4:00 pm ET. James Dean and Audrey Hepburn made early acting appearances on the show. Smith also starred in the weekly The Kate Smith Evening Hour, which included a rare US TV appearance by Josephine Baker as well as the only major filmed footage of Hank Williams.
From January 25 to July 18, 1960, Smith hosted The Kate Smith Show, a variety program on the CBS Television Monday evening schedule.McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television. New York City: Penguin Books. 4th ed. pp. 446–447. On October 2, 1966, Smith performed on the British television show, Sunday Night at the London Palladium.
Because of her popularity, her face was a common sight in print advertisements of the day. Over the years, she appeared as a commercial spokeswoman for numerous companies such as Studebaker, Pullman Company, Diamond Crystal Salt, and Jell-O.
Recordings Smith recorded dozens of successful albums and songs during the 1930s and 1940s. She recorded sporadically during the 1950s, but in 1963 signed a contract with RCA Victor to record a number of successful albums, including several that charted on the Billboard Hot 200 chart alongside the major rock stars of the era, usually with Smith, then well into her fifties, the oldest performer on the charts. In 1967, she had her first new hit record in many years when "Anyone Can Move A Mountain" peaked at #30 on Billboards Easy Listening Hits chart in July 1967. This record was her only 1960s single release to be successful. In 1974, Smith returned to Billboards Easy Listening chart when "Smile, Smile, Smile", a one-shot single release (and her last recording) for Atlantic Records, peaked at #42 in June 1974.
Best-selling singles Title Details Peak chartpositions US US Country "One Sweet Letter from You" Release date: 1927 Label: Columbia Records 14 — "When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain" Release date: 1931 Label: Columbia Records 1 — "I Don't Know Why" Release date: 1931 Label: Columbia Records 15 — "That's Why Darkies Were Born" Release date: 1931 Label: Columbia Records 12 — "River Stay Away from My Door" Release date: 1932 Label: Columbia Records 1 — "Too Late" Release date: 1932 Label: Columbia Records 9 — "Snuggled on Your Shoulder" Release date: 1932 Label: Columbia Records 10 — Medley from Face the Music Release date: 1932 Label: Columbia Records 8 — "My Mom" Release date: 1932 Label: Columbia Records 10 — Kate Smith Presents a Memory Program Release date: 1932 Label: Columbia Records 17 — "Shine on Harvest Moon" Release date: 1933 Label: Columbia Records 19 — "Bei Mir Bist Du Schon (Means That You're Grand)"