Sally Stuart

Photo of Sally Stuart

A native of Columbus, Ohio, husky-voiced brunette Sally Stuart wanted to be a brain surgeon when she was a child. Her mother wanted her to be a concert pianist. Instead, she ended up singing for Sammy Kaye’s orchestra, which she had joined by October 1943. It was Kaye, with his predilection for alliterative names, who gave her the professional moniker of Sally Stuart, having also named his other singers Nancy Norman, Betty Barclay, and Mary Marlow. Stuart appeared regularly on Kaye’s radio program through the end of 1945.

Stuart left Kaye by late October 1945, joining Vaughn Monroe’s orchestra in January 1946, staying only until March. By April, she was appearing on Danny O’Neil’s five-day-a-week CBS radio variety show, remaining there through at least August. Publicity for the show credited her as “Sally Stuart and her sons,” though its unsure who her “sons” were. They were most likely a backing group. By December, Stuart had joined Blue Barron’s band. She disappears from history at that point.

In September 1944, model agent Harry Conover signed Stuart, who was still with Kaye, to do “occasional cover girl assignments.” A newspaper article in late 1943 identified Stuart as nineteen years old. She attended St. Mary’s of the Spring College for Women before joining Kaye.

Sources

  1. Kilgallen, Dorothy. “Dorothy Kilgallen.” The Lowell Sun [Lowell, Massachusetts] 21 Oct. 1943: 27.
  2. “On the Air.” The Circleville Daily World [Circleville, Ohio] 16 Nov. 1943: 7.
  3. “Right out of the Air.” The Santa Rose News [Santa Rosa, New Mexico] 26 Nov. 1943: n.p.
  4. “Vaudeville Reviews: Orpheum, Minneapolis.” Billboard 22 Apr. 1944: 27.
  5. “Music Grapevine.” Billboard 2 Sep. 1944: 15.
  6. “Strictly Ad Lib.” Down Beat 15 Sep. 1944: 5.
  7. “Music Popularity Charts.” Billboard 19 May 1945: 27.
  8. “Vaudeville Reviews: Shea's Buffalo, Buffalo.” Billboard 27 Oct. 1945: 37.
  9. “Vaudeville Reviews: Shea's Buffalo, Buffalo.” Billboard 2 Feb. 1946: 39.
  10. “Music As Written.” Billboard 16 Mar. 1946: 25.
  11. Butterfield, C.E. “Danny O'Neil Show Is Full Of Variety.” The Hagerstown Morning Herald [Hagerstown, Maryland] 30 Apr. 1946: 2.
  12. “Time Table of the Air.” The Hutchinson News-Herald [Hutchinson, Kansas] 26 May 1946: 4.
  13. “Time Table of the Air.” The Hutchinson News-Herald [Hutchinson, Kansas] 1 Aug. 1946: 4.
  14. “Blue Baron (sic) Is First Name Band Here In 2 Years.” Sarasota Herald Tribune 30 Dec. 1946: 3.
  15. “Broadway.” Portland Sunday Telegram and Sunday Herald [Portland, Maine] 21 Dec. 1947: D-11.