Jane Pickens
Jane Pickens Hoving (10 August 1907 – 21 February 1992)[1] was an American singer on Broadway, radio and television for 20 years and later an organizer in numerous philanthropic and society events. She was the musical leader of the Pickens Sisters, a trio born on a Georgia plantation that reached national stardom in the 1930s with its own radio show, concert tours, and records.
Pickens Sisters
The daughters of Mr. and Mrs. P.M. Pickens,[2] the Pickens sisters, Grace, Jane, Helen (1910–1984), and Patti (1914–1995), were born in Macon, Georgia, and grew up there and in Atlanta. Beginning when the girls were ages 4, 6 and 8,[3] their parents taught them to harmonize. Their father, a cotton broker, played the piano and their mother sang.[4]
At first the sisters sang for friends, then at churches and schools. The family moved to
Signed to
The Pickens group earned $1 million in five years but dissolved when two sisters left to get married and a fourth, Grace, who was the group's manager, also departed. Grace married U.S. District Attorney John T. Cahill.[5] Patti married radio actor Bob Simmons.
Education
Of the sisters Jane Pickens, who arranged the group's numbers, was the most serious about music. She studied at the
Career
She sang in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 in a cast that included Fanny Brice and Gypsy Rose Lee. In 1940 she played opposite Ed Wynn in Boys and Girls Together on Broadway. Brooks Atkinson's review said she had "a most attractive voice."[6]
Pickens' other Broadway credits included Music in the Air (1951).[7]
Pickens pursued her music career alone and had wide-ranging success, from musical comedy to opera and nightclub engagements. She had the American Melody Hour on
In 1954, Pickens appeared in a 15-minute ABC television musical series, The Jane Pickens Show, which was replaced in the spring by The Martha Wright Show.[8]
She frequently performed benefits for charitable causes, including events for orphans, hospitals, youths, veterans and the disabled. When her career tapered off in the late 1950s, she turned to running hundreds of
Personal
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Zion_Episcopal_Church_%28Jane_Pickens_Theater%29%2C_1834%2C_architect_Russell_Warren_-_Newport%2C_Rhode_Island_-_DSC04010.jpg/220px-Zion_Episcopal_Church_%28Jane_Pickens_Theater%29%2C_1834%2C_architect_Russell_Warren_-_Newport%2C_Rhode_Island_-_DSC04010.jpg)
On June 6, 1928, at the age of 20, Pickens married Russell A. Clark[9] (or Clarke).[10] The marriage ended in divorce.
She became a noted figure at balls and other society events in New York City,
In 1972 she ran as the
Pickens also painted. Flowers were her favorite subject, roses in particular. She exhibited in galleries and sold dozens of paintings for charity.[citation needed]
She was 84 years old when she died of heart failure in Newport, Rhode Island, on February 21, 1992. She also had a home on Park Avenue in Manhattan. She was survived by her daughter, Marcella Clark McCormack of Newport and Manhattan, and a sister, Patti Shreve of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.[citation needed]
The Jane Pickens Theater, a one-screen arthouse cinema that is the only remaining movie theater in Newport, was renamed after her in 1974. Pickens and her sister Patti performed at the dedication ceremony.[11]
References
- ISBN 978-0-7864-2834-2. P. 216-217.
- ^
- ^
- ISBN 9781878592422. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
- ^ Gaver, Jack (April 29, 1953). "For Jane Pickens On Radio". Lubbock Evening Journal. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
Grace is married to John T. Cahill of New York, a former U. S. District Attorney, and they have four children
- ^ Juilliard Archives Anna E. Schoen-René Scrapbook
- ^ "Jane Pickens". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on 23 July 2018. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
- ^ Earle Marsh and Tim Brooks, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Programs, 1946-Present, p. 744.
- ^ "Jane Pickens Theater & Event Center | About the JPT". janepickens.com. Retrieved 20 November 2017.