Dorothy Collins

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For other people named Dorothy Collins, see Dorothy Collins (disambiguation).

Dorothy Collins
Dorothy Collins, 1960s
Born
Marjorie Chandler

(1926-11-18)November 18, 1926
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
DiedJuly 21, 1994(1994-07-21) (aged 67)
Watervliet, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actress, singer
Years active1942–1980
Spouse(s)Raymond Scott (1952–1965; divorce); 2 children
Ron Holgate (1966–1977; divorce); 1 child

Dorothy Collins (born Marjorie Chandler;[1] November 18, 1926 – July 21, 1994) was a Canadian-American singer, actress, and recording artist.

Radio and TV

Collins was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and adopted her stage name in her mid-teens. As a youngster, she sang on radio stations in Windsor and Detroit. In 1940, at age 14, she and her family were introduced to bandleader/composer Raymond Scott in Chicago. Shortly thereafter, she became Scott's protégée. In early 1942, at age 15, she became a featured vocalist with Scott's orchestra, performing on radio and on tour. Scott groomed her for stardom, which included coaching her vocals (pitch, phrasing, and delivery) and mentoring her performance skills. In the late 1940s, she contributed vocals to the revived Raymond Scott Quintette, a sextet that released records on the bandleader's own Master label and served as house band on the radio program Herb Shriner Time. In 1949, after Scott was hired to conduct the orchestra on the popular CBS Radio program, Lucky Strike's Your Hit Parade, Collins was trained by Scott to lead his sextet on tour in his absence.

In 1950, Your Hit Parade moved to

CBS Television ending in April 1959.[2]

Collins often appeared as spokeswoman/vocalist in

CBS Radio Network
show.

Recording and concerts

In 1955, her single "My Boy – Flat Top,[6] " reached No. 16 on the Billboard charts.[7] A follow-up single, "Baciare Baciare (Kissing Kissing)", peaked at No. 43. In 1956, her single "Seven Days" peaked at No. 17. She recorded other singles and albums in the 1950s, with little chart success. In 1958, for the Coral Records label she released Picnic: Dorothy Collins Sings Steve Allen, an album of compositions by the musician/TV host/comedian. Collins sang a collection of educational tunes on an album titled Experiment Songs, one of six LPs in a set called Ballads for the Age of Science, composed and produced by Hy Zaret and Lou Singer around 1960.

During the 1950s and '60s, Collins provided vocals for many TV and radio commercials produced and recorded by Raymond Scott's Jingle Workshop. A number of these performances were issued in 2019 on the double album The Jingle Workshop: Midcentury Musical Miniatures 1951–1965, on the Modern Harmonic label.[8]

In 1979, she performed in concert at Michael's Pub in New York.[9]

Theatre

In the summer of 1957 she played

The Wizard of Oz, alongside Margaret Hamilton reprising her movie role of the Wicked Witch of the West. Collins played the title role in the Saint Paul Civic Opera Association's presentation of The Unsinkable Molly Brown. [citation needed
]

In 1971, Collins made her

Tony Award nomination as Best Actress in a Musical, but lost to co-star, fellow Canadian-born actress Alexis Smith.[12] When the production opened in Los Angeles in 1972, Collins reprised the role of Sally.[10]

At the Melody Top

Milwaukee, Wisconsin she starred in Good News (1975), and she reprised her role in Follies (1977).[13] In 1980 she appeared as Dolly in Hello Dolly at An Evening Dinner Theatre, Elmsford, New York.[14]

Personal life

Collins was married to Raymond Scott from 1952[1] until their divorce in 1965. They had two daughters, Deborah and Elizabeth.

She married actor Ron Holgate in December 1966, whom she met in a touring production of Do I Hear A Waltz.[15] Collins and Holgate had a daughter, Melissa. They separated in 1977, and divorced in 1980.[16]

Death

Dorothy Collins died in July 1994 from asthma and heart disease at her home in Watervliet, New York. She was survived by her three daughters.[1] Her first husband, Raymond Scott, had died just five months earlier.

References

  1. ^ a b c d Sheila Rule, "Dorothy Collins obituary", The New York Times (July 23, 1994), p. 27
  2. ISBN 1-57958-411-X
    , pp. 2619–2620
  3. ^ "Lucky Strike Cigarettes commercial with Dorothy Collins : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive". Archive.org. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  4. ^ "Cigarette TV Ads - Lucky Strike : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive". Archive.org. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  5. ^ "First Use of Videotape on the First of Two Jonathan Winters Shows", at Archive of American Television
  6. ^ "Dorothy Collins - My Boy-Flat Top (1955)". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  7. ISBN 0-8230-8554-6
    , p. 146
  8. ^ The Jingle Workshop at Discogs.com
  9. ^ Klemesrud, Judy. "Dorothy Collins Sings Sondheim: Where They Are Now", The New York Times, October 12, 1979, p. C3
  10. ^ a b "'Follies' Listing" sondheimguide.com. Retrieved June 26, 2011
  11. ^ Gottfried, Martin. "Flipping Over 'Follies' ". The New York Times, April 25, 1971
  12. ^ "Tony Awards, 1972", Broadwayworld.com. Retrieved June 26, 2011
  13. ^ "Memories of Melody Top", Memoriesofmelodytop.com. Retrieved June 26, 2011
  14. ^ Frankel, Haskel. "THEATER: An Uneasy Dolly In a Bright Revival", The New York Times, January 20, 1980, p. AD19
  15. ^ "Dorothy Collins is Rewed", The New York Times, December 22, 1966, p. 40
  16. ^ "1970s & 1980s". Rememberingdorothycollins.com. July 21, 1994. Retrieved March 2, 2020.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dorothy_Collins&oldid=1221468334"