A native of Peoria, Illinois, blonde vocalist Wendy Bishop sang with Cincinnati bandleader Deke Moffitt in early 1939. Moffitt, long popular as an orchestra leader in local theaters, had just formed his first dance band. By very early 1940 Bishop had joined Dick Stabile. She had also married pianist Arturo Arturos and sang with his seven-piece Latin combo in Atlantic City. She became a part of Les Brown’s band in February 1940, replacing Miriam Shaw. Bishop stayed with Brown for only a short time, leaving in July to return to Atlantic City and her husband’s group. She remained as vocalist with Arturos through at least the end of 1942. Doris Day replaced her in Brown’s band.
Bishop became a staple on the New York nightclub circuit during the 1940s. She made a soundie, Blue Moon, for RCM in early 1946, and another, I Fall in Love With You Every Day, that same year with fellow night club singer Johnny Thompson for Soundies. She was singing in Miami night clubs in 1948. Critics always complimented Bishop’s voice. Sadly, though, she never entered the recording studio, and her soundies appear to have been lost to history. Modern audiences can only guess how she sounded.
A very pretty girl, Bishop was often the subject of pin-up photos in which she bared her legs. Those photos became a favorite of Down Beat magazine during 1940 and 1941. Down Beat twice gave Bishop’s age as 24 in 1940, though she wrote them, and they published, a letter of correction in August of that year. Bishop stated that her true age was 19.