Kathryn Grayson
Encyclopedia
Kathryn Grayson was an American actress and opera
tic soprano
singer.
From the age of twelve, Grayson trained as an opera singer. She was under contract to MGM by the early 1940s, soon establishing a career principally through her work in musicals. After several supporting roles, she was a lead performer in such films as Thousands Cheer
(1943), Anchors Aweigh
(1945) with Frank Sinatra
and Gene Kelly
, and Show Boat
(1951) and Kiss Me Kate (1953) (both with Howard Keel
).
When film musical production declined, she worked in theatre, appearing in Camelot
(1962–1964). Later in the decade she performed in several operas, including La bohème
, Madama Butterfly
, Orpheus in the Underworld
and La traviata
.
, the daughter of Charles E. Hedrick and Lillian Grayson Hedrick (1897–1955). Charles was a building contractor-realtor.
The Hedrick family later moved to St. Louis, Missouri
, where she was discovered singing on the empty stage of the St. Louis Municipal Opera House
by a janitor, who introduced her to Frances Marshall of the Chicago Civic Opera, who gave the twelve-year-old girl voice lessons.
Grayson's sister, Frances Raeburn (born Mildred Hedrick) was also an actress and singer, appearing alongside her in the film Seven Sweethearts. She also had two brothers, Clarence "Bud" E. Hedrick, and Harold.
, who left the studio for Universal Pictures
. For the next 18 months, Grayson went through voice lessons, drama coaching, diction, diets and exercise. Within a year, Grayson had her first screen test. However, the studio executives were not satisfied, and she went through a further six months of lessons until she made her first film appearance in 1941's Andy Hardy's Private Secretary
as the character's
secretary Kathryn Land. In the film, she takes part in three musical numbers.
Two further films were planned for Grayson in 1941; White House Girl, which was later made in 1948 with Durbin, and Very Warm for May, from the Jerome Kern
and Oscar Hammerstein
musical of the same name
. Ann Sothern
was also slated to appear, however, this fell through as well. The film eventually was made in 1944 as Broadway Rhythm
.
She appeared in three films in 1942: The Vanishing Virginian, Rio Rita
and Seven Sweethearts. In the first, Grayson plays the teenage daughter, Rebecca, of the eccentric Yancey family from Lynchburg
, Virginia. Set in 1913, the film was based on Rebecca Yancey Williams's own family.
Grayson co-starred in Rio Rita with Abbott and Costello
. Grayson portrayed the title character, Rita Winslow. The film was originally meant to be an adaptation of the 1927 Broadway musical, however, only two songs were retained for the film, the title song, and "The Ranger Song," which was performed by Grayson.
Co-starring Van Heflin
, Seven Sweethearts cast Grayson as the youngest of seven daughters from Holland
, Michigan
, who is hired by reporter-photographer Helfin to serve as a model and secretary while he covers the town's tulip festival
, and with whom he falls in love.
In 1943, Grayson appeared in the film Thousands Cheer
, (originally titled Private Miss Jones), along with Gene Kelly
, Mickey Rooney
, Eleanor Powell
, June Allyson
and others. The film was intended as a morale booster for American troops and their families. Grayson starred as the singing daughter of an Army commander.
It was announced in 1942 that Grayson would appear in An American Symphony with Judy Garland
. Garland was replaced by June Allyson
and the film was retitled Two Sisters from Boston
and released in 1946.
Grayson did not appear in any films for nearly two years (from 1943 to 1945), but instead worked at entertaining troops during the war and performing on radio programs. Her return to films in Anchors Aweigh
, a musical romantic-comedy set in Los Angeles and co-starring Kelly and Frank Sinatra
. Anchors Aweigh was the fifth-highest grossing film of 1945, earning over $4.779 million. This was followed by Two Sisters from Boston and guest appearances in Ziegfeld Follies
and Till the Clouds Roll By
. Grayson's performance in Till the Clouds Roll By was of a song from the musical Show Boat
, which would be remade
five years later, with Grayson in the starring role.
MGM unwisely re-paired Grayson and Sinatra for two movies in 1947 and 1948, It Happened in Brooklyn
and The Kissing Bandit
. Both films performed poorly at the box office, and audiences thought the plots absurd. After the setbacks of Brooklyn and Bandit, Grayson was partnered with tenor Mario Lanza
in That Midnight Kiss
in 1949.
, and performed the Academy-Award-nominated song "Be My Love
".
While shooting the Madama Butterfly
scene in the film, Lanza kept attempting to french kiss
Grayson, which Grayson claimed was made even worse by the fact that Lanza would constantly eat garlic before shooting. Grayson went to costume designer Helen Rose
and she sewed pieces of brass into Grayson's gloves. Any time Lanza attempted to french kiss her after that, she hit him with the brass-filled glove. For the premiere of the film, Grayson traveled to New Orleans, and was a guest at an auction selling the film's costumes.
Grayson replaced June Allyson
as the role of Ina Massine in 1951's Grounds for Marriage
. She portrayed an opera singer with laryngitis
, alongside Van Johnson
who played her doctor and love interest. This was also first non-singing role at MGM. Grayson's musical performances do appear in the film, but in the form of recordings.
Grayson was next cast as Magnolia Hawkes in the 1951 remake
of the 1927 Hammerstein
and Kern
musical, Show Boat
, alongside Howard Keel
and Judy Garland
, however, Garland dropped out of production, and the role went to Ava Gardner
. Show Boat was the third-highest grossing film of 1951, earning over $5.533 million.
Grayson teamed again with Keel that year in Technicolor
musical Lovely to Look At
, a remake of the 1935 Astaire
and Rogers
film Roberta
. This would be her last film with MGM, as her contract ended in January 1953. MGM announced her appearance in Rose Marie
and a musical version of Goodbye, Mr. Chips
, but the contract ended before production on either film began.
, Grayson's contract ended, and she went on loan to Warner Bros.
. She quickly got to work, and by May, Grayson's first musical with the studio was released, The Desert Song
alongside Gordon MacRae
. She was asked to perform La bohème
at the Central City Opera House in Central City, Colorado
, but due to her filming obligations for The Desert Song, she had to turn them down. 1952 also saw an enormous fire on the Warner Bros. lot, and Grayson was among the movie stars who assisted in removing equipment while the fire blazed.
Grayson appeared on television occasionally from the 1950s, i.e. guest starring in the General Electric Theater
episode, Shadow on the Heart, with John Ericson. In the 1980s, she guest starred in three episodes of Murder, She Wrote
with Angela Lansbury
.
, Rosalinda, Kiss Me, Kate
, Naughty Marietta
, and The Merry Widow
, for which she was nominated for Chicago's Sarah Siddons Award.
In 1953, Grayson optioned the story It's Greek to Me, written by Helen Deutsch
, to be accompanied by a score from Cole Porter
. The story was a mythical love story about Hercules
and Hippolyte, and Grayson hoped to be reunited with Howard Keel and take the show on the road, however, the project fell apart.
Her casting in The Merry Widow led to her replacing Julie Andrews
in 1962 as Queen Guinevere in Camelot
. She then continued the role for over sixteen months in the national tour of the United States before leaving for health reasons.
Grayson had a lifelong dream of being an opera star, and she appeared in a number of operas in the 1960s, such as La bohème
, Madama Butterfly
, Orpheus in the Underworld
and La traviata
. Her dramatic and comedy stage roles included Night Watch, Noises Off
, Love Letters
and Something's Afoot
as Dottie Otterling.
s.
While appearing in her films roles, Grayson also performed on the radio. Grayson performed on concert tours throughout the 1950s. In May 1951, Grayson had to postpone a concert tour due to being unknowingly cast in Lovely to Look At
. "My concert bookings were all set. So when I read in New York that I was to do this film, I said 'How silly!', then boom! The next day I got my studio telegram asking me to return for the picture!"
In 1952, Grayson was offered more than $10,000 to perform for a week at the Riviera night club in New Jersey
before making The Desert Song. After filming The Desert Song, Grayson created a recording of the musical with Tony Martin
.
Grayson supervised the Voice and Choral Studies Program at Idaho State University
.
, Nevada
, where they were married on July 11, 1941. The two had courted for 18 months, after meeting while making screen tests.
In July 1942, Shelton moved out of their Brentwood
home and into his own apartment. This came after a month of reconciliation after a judge dismissed their divorce suit. Grayson charged Shelton with mental cruelty. They divorced on June 17, 1946.
. On October 7, 1948, Grayson's only child, daughter Patricia "Patty Cake" Kathryn Johnston was born. Grayson and Johnston separated on November 15, 1950. On October 3, 1951, Grayson was given a divorce from Johnston on the grounds of mental cruelty. Johnston's This Time for Keeps
co-star, Esther Williams
, claimed in her 1999 autobiography that while making the film, Johnston would read Grayson's intimate letters aloud to the girls in his fan club, including the "all-too-graphic details concerning what she liked about his love-making."
Though she never married again, Grayson was frequently seen in the late 1950s with Robert Evans.
According to her secretary, Grayson died in her sleep at her home in Los Angeles
, California
on February 17, 2010, aged 88.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
singer.
From the age of twelve, Grayson trained as an opera singer. She was under contract to MGM by the early 1940s, soon establishing a career principally through her work in musicals. After several supporting roles, she was a lead performer in such films as Thousands Cheer
Thousands Cheer
Thousands Cheer is a 1943 American comedy musical film released by MGM. Produced at the height of the Second World War, the film was intended as a morale booster for American troops and their families.-Plot:The film is essentially a two-part program...
(1943), Anchors Aweigh
Anchors Aweigh (film)
Anchors Aweigh is a 1945 American musical comedy film directed by George Sidney in which two sailors go on a four-day shore leave in Hollywood, accompanied by music and song, meet an aspiring young singer and try to help her get an audition at MGM...
(1945) with Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
and Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
, and Show Boat
Show Boat (1951 film)
Show Boat is a 1951 Technicolor film based on the musical by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II and the novel by Edna Ferber....
(1951) and Kiss Me Kate (1953) (both with Howard Keel
Howard Keel
Harold Clifford Keel , known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer. He starred in many film musicals of the 1950s...
).
When film musical production declined, she worked in theatre, appearing in Camelot
Camelot (musical)
Camelot is a musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe . It is based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T. H. White tetralogy novel The Once and Future King....
(1962–1964). Later in the decade she performed in several operas, including La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
, Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Puccini based his opera in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco...
, Orpheus in the Underworld
Orpheus in the Underworld
Orphée aux enfers is an opéra bouffon , or opéra féerie in its revised version, by Jacques Offenbach. The French text was written by Ludovic Halévy and later revised by Hector-Jonathan Crémieux....
and La traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
.
Early life
She was born Zelma Kathryn Elisabeth Hedrick in Winston-Salem, North CarolinaWinston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to...
, the daughter of Charles E. Hedrick and Lillian Grayson Hedrick (1897–1955). Charles was a building contractor-realtor.
The Hedrick family later moved to St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, where she was discovered singing on the empty stage of the St. Louis Municipal Opera House
The Muny
The Muny, short for The Municipal Theatre Association of St. Louis, is an outdoor musical theatre, located in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri...
by a janitor, who introduced her to Frances Marshall of the Chicago Civic Opera, who gave the twelve-year-old girl voice lessons.
Grayson's sister, Frances Raeburn (born Mildred Hedrick) was also an actress and singer, appearing alongside her in the film Seven Sweethearts. She also had two brothers, Clarence "Bud" E. Hedrick, and Harold.
1940s
In 1940, an MGM talent scout saw Grayson performing at a music festival. Metro hoped to find a replacement for Deanna DurbinDeanna Durbin
Deanna Durbin is a Canadian-born, Southern California-raised retired singer and actress, who appeared in a number of musical films in the 1930s and 1940s singing standards as well as operatic arias....
, who left the studio for Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
. For the next 18 months, Grayson went through voice lessons, drama coaching, diction, diets and exercise. Within a year, Grayson had her first screen test. However, the studio executives were not satisfied, and she went through a further six months of lessons until she made her first film appearance in 1941's Andy Hardy's Private Secretary
Andy Hardy's Private Secretary
Andy Hardy's Private Secretary is a 1941 American family film comedy directed by George B. Seitz. The film stars Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Kathryn Grayson, Ann Rutherford and Fay Holden.-Plot:...
as the character's
Andy Hardy
Andy Hardy was a fictional character played by Mickey Rooney in an MGM film series from 1937 to 1958. Spanning over 20 years, the 16 movies were based on characters in the play Skidding by Aurania Rouverol....
secretary Kathryn Land. In the film, she takes part in three musical numbers.
Two further films were planned for Grayson in 1941; White House Girl, which was later made in 1948 with Durbin, and Very Warm for May, from the Jerome Kern
Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
and Oscar Hammerstein
Oscar Hammerstein
Oscar Hammerstein may refer to:*Oscar Hammerstein I , cigar manufacturer, opera impresario and theatre builder*Oscar Hammerstein II , Broadway lyricist, songwriting partner of Jerome Kern and Richard Rodgers...
musical of the same name
Very Warm for May
Very Warm for May is a musical composed by Jerome Kern, with a libretto by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was the team's final score for Broadway, following their hits Show Boat, Sweet Adeline, and Music in the Air...
. Ann Sothern
Ann Sothern
Ann Sothern was an American film and television actress whose career spanned six decades.-Early life and career:...
was also slated to appear, however, this fell through as well. The film eventually was made in 1944 as Broadway Rhythm
Broadway Rhythm
Broadway Rhythm is an MGM Technicolor musical film. It was produced by Jack Cummings and directed by Roy Del Ruth. The film was originally announced as Broadway Melody of 1944 to follow MGM's Broadway Melody films of 1929, 1936, 1938, and 1940. The movie was originally slated to star Eleanor...
.
She appeared in three films in 1942: The Vanishing Virginian, Rio Rita
Rio Rita (1942 film)
Rio Rita is a 1942 comedy film starring Abbott and Costello. It was based upon the 1927 Flo Ziegfeld Broadway musical, which was previously made into a 1929 film also titled Rio Rita that starred the comedy team of Wheeler & Woolsey.-Plot:...
and Seven Sweethearts. In the first, Grayson plays the teenage daughter, Rebecca, of the eccentric Yancey family from Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Lynchburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 75,568 as of 2010. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the banks of the James River, Lynchburg is known as the "City of Seven Hills" or "The Hill City." Lynchburg was the only major city in...
, Virginia. Set in 1913, the film was based on Rebecca Yancey Williams's own family.
Grayson co-starred in Rio Rita with Abbott and Costello
Abbott and Costello
William "Bud" Abbott and Lou Costello performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo whose work on stage, radio, film and television made them the most popular comedy team during the 1940s and 1950s...
. Grayson portrayed the title character, Rita Winslow. The film was originally meant to be an adaptation of the 1927 Broadway musical, however, only two songs were retained for the film, the title song, and "The Ranger Song," which was performed by Grayson.
Co-starring Van Heflin
Van Heflin
Emmett Evan "Van" Heflin, Jr. was an American film and theatre actor. He played mostly character parts over the course of his film career, but during the 1940s had a string of roles as a leading man...
, Seven Sweethearts cast Grayson as the youngest of seven daughters from Holland
Holland, Michigan
Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River ....
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, who is hired by reporter-photographer Helfin to serve as a model and secretary while he covers the town's tulip festival
Tulip Festival
Tulip Festivals are held in several cities around the world, including a number in North America — most often cities with Dutch heritage — such as Albany ; Ottawa ; Gatineau ; Montreal ; Holland ; Lehi ; Orange City ; Pella ; Mount Vernon ; and Woodburn , and in other countries such as Australia and...
, and with whom he falls in love.
In 1943, Grayson appeared in the film Thousands Cheer
Thousands Cheer
Thousands Cheer is a 1943 American comedy musical film released by MGM. Produced at the height of the Second World War, the film was intended as a morale booster for American troops and their families.-Plot:The film is essentially a two-part program...
, (originally titled Private Miss Jones), along with Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
, Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
, Eleanor Powell
Eleanor Powell
Eleanor Torrey Powell was an American film actress and dancer of the 1930s and 1940s, known for her exuberant solo tap dancing.-Early life:...
, June Allyson
June Allyson
June Allyson was an American film and television actress, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was a major MGM contract star. Allyson won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her performance in Too Young to Kiss . From 1959–1961, she hosted and occasionally starred in her own CBS anthology...
and others. The film was intended as a morale booster for American troops and their families. Grayson starred as the singing daughter of an Army commander.
It was announced in 1942 that Grayson would appear in An American Symphony with Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
. Garland was replaced by June Allyson
June Allyson
June Allyson was an American film and television actress, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was a major MGM contract star. Allyson won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her performance in Too Young to Kiss . From 1959–1961, she hosted and occasionally starred in her own CBS anthology...
and the film was retitled Two Sisters from Boston
Two Sisters from Boston
Two Sisters from Boston is a 1946 musical comedy film directed by Henry Koster. Starring Kathryn Grayson, June Allyson, Lauritz Melchior, Jimmy Durante and Peter Lawford....
and released in 1946.
Grayson did not appear in any films for nearly two years (from 1943 to 1945), but instead worked at entertaining troops during the war and performing on radio programs. Her return to films in Anchors Aweigh
Anchors Aweigh (film)
Anchors Aweigh is a 1945 American musical comedy film directed by George Sidney in which two sailors go on a four-day shore leave in Hollywood, accompanied by music and song, meet an aspiring young singer and try to help her get an audition at MGM...
, a musical romantic-comedy set in Los Angeles and co-starring Kelly and Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
. Anchors Aweigh was the fifth-highest grossing film of 1945, earning over $4.779 million. This was followed by Two Sisters from Boston and guest appearances in Ziegfeld Follies
Ziegfeld Follies (film)
Ziegfeld Follies is a 1945 Hollywood musical comedy film directed by Lemuel Ayers, Roy Del Ruth, Robert Lewis, Vincente Minnelli, Merrill Pye, George Sidney and Charles Waters...
and Till the Clouds Roll By
Till the Clouds Roll By
Till The Clouds Roll By is a 1946 American musical film made by MGM. The film is a fictionalized biography of composer Jerome Kern, who was originally involved with the production of the film, but died before it was completed...
. Grayson's performance in Till the Clouds Roll By was of a song from the musical Show Boat
Show Boat
Show Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was originally produced in New York in 1927 and in London in 1928, and was based on the 1926 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. The plot chronicles the lives of those living and working...
, which would be remade
Show Boat (1951 film)
Show Boat is a 1951 Technicolor film based on the musical by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II and the novel by Edna Ferber....
five years later, with Grayson in the starring role.
MGM unwisely re-paired Grayson and Sinatra for two movies in 1947 and 1948, It Happened in Brooklyn
It Happened in Brooklyn
It Happened in Brooklyn is a 1947 MGM musical romantic comedy film directed by Richard Whorf and starring Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, Peter Lawford, and Jimmy Durante and featuring Gloria Grahame and Marcy McGuire...
and The Kissing Bandit
The Kissing Bandit (film)
The Kissing Bandit is a 1948 film starring Frank Sinatra and Kathryn Grayson. The supporting cast includes Ricardo Montalban, Ann Miller, and Cyd Charisse. The movie was directed by Laslo Benedek.-Cast:Frank Sinatra ... RicardoKathryn Grayson ......
. Both films performed poorly at the box office, and audiences thought the plots absurd. After the setbacks of Brooklyn and Bandit, Grayson was partnered with tenor Mario Lanza
Mario Lanza
right|thumb|[[MGM]] still, circa 1949Mario Lanza was an American tenor and Hollywood movie star of the late 1940s and the 1950s. The son of Italian emigrants, he began studying to be a professional singer at the age of 16....
in That Midnight Kiss
That Midnight Kiss
That Midnight Kiss was the screen debut of tenor Mario Lanza, also starring Kathryn Grayson, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Among the supporting cast were Ethel Barrymore, conductor/pianist Jose Iturbi , Keenan Wynn, J. Carroll Naish, and Jules Munshin...
in 1949.
1950s
In 1950, Grayson was once again partnered with Lanza, and portrayed an opera singer in The Toast of New OrleansThe Toast of New Orleans
The Toast of New Orleans is a 1950 musical film directed by Norman Taurog and choreographed by Eugene Loring. It starred Mario Lanza, Kathryn Grayson, David Niven, J. Carroll Naish, James Mitchell and a teenaged Rita Moreno...
, and performed the Academy-Award-nominated song "Be My Love
Be My Love
"Be My Love" is a popular song with lyrics bySammy Cahn and music by Nicholas Brodzsky. It was published in 1950 and featured in the 1950 movie The Toast of New Orleans, where it was sung by Kathryn Grayson and Mario Lanza. The Lanza recording of the song was a million-seller and a Billboard #1...
".
While shooting the Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Puccini based his opera in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco...
scene in the film, Lanza kept attempting to french kiss
French kiss
A French kiss is a kiss in which one participant's tongue touches the partner's lips or tongue and usually enters his or her mouth. A French kiss is a slow passionate kiss which is usually considered intimate, romantic, erotic or sexual...
Grayson, which Grayson claimed was made even worse by the fact that Lanza would constantly eat garlic before shooting. Grayson went to costume designer Helen Rose
Helen Rose
Helen Rose was an American costume designer and clothing designer who spent the bulk of her career with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer-Career:...
and she sewed pieces of brass into Grayson's gloves. Any time Lanza attempted to french kiss her after that, she hit him with the brass-filled glove. For the premiere of the film, Grayson traveled to New Orleans, and was a guest at an auction selling the film's costumes.
Grayson replaced June Allyson
June Allyson
June Allyson was an American film and television actress, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was a major MGM contract star. Allyson won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her performance in Too Young to Kiss . From 1959–1961, she hosted and occasionally starred in her own CBS anthology...
as the role of Ina Massine in 1951's Grounds for Marriage
Grounds for Marriage
Grounds for Marriage is a 1951 American romantic comedy film directed by Robert Z. Leonard. Written and produced by Samuel Marx, the film stars Van Johnson and Kathryn Grayson.-Plot:...
. She portrayed an opera singer with laryngitis
Laryngitis
Laryngitis is an inflammation of the larynx. It causes hoarse voice or the complete loss of the voice because of irritation to the vocal folds . Dysphonia is the medical term for a vocal disorder, of which laryngitis is one cause....
, alongside Van Johnson
Van Johnson
Van Johnson was an American film and television actor and dancer who was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios during and after World War II....
who played her doctor and love interest. This was also first non-singing role at MGM. Grayson's musical performances do appear in the film, but in the form of recordings.
Grayson was next cast as Magnolia Hawkes in the 1951 remake
Show Boat (1951 film)
Show Boat is a 1951 Technicolor film based on the musical by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II and the novel by Edna Ferber....
of the 1927 Hammerstein
Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
and Kern
Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
musical, Show Boat
Show Boat
Show Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was originally produced in New York in 1927 and in London in 1928, and was based on the 1926 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. The plot chronicles the lives of those living and working...
, alongside Howard Keel
Howard Keel
Harold Clifford Keel , known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer. He starred in many film musicals of the 1950s...
and Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
, however, Garland dropped out of production, and the role went to Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
. Show Boat was the third-highest grossing film of 1951, earning over $5.533 million.
Grayson teamed again with Keel that year in Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
musical Lovely to Look At
Lovely to Look At
Lovely to Look At, an adaptation of the Broadway musical Roberta, is a 1952 MGM musical film directed by Mervyn LeRoy.-Plot:Tony Naylor, Al Marsh and Jerry Ralby are looking for backers for their new Broadway show. They have just run out of options when Al gets a letter from his Aunt's attorneys...
, a remake of the 1935 Astaire
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
and Rogers
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....
film Roberta
Roberta (1935 film)
Roberta is a 1935 musical film by RKO starring Irene Dunne, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Randolph Scott. It was an adaptation of a 1933 Broadway theatre musical of the same name, which in turn was based on the novel Gowns by Roberta by Alice Duer Miller...
. This would be her last film with MGM, as her contract ended in January 1953. MGM announced her appearance in Rose Marie
Rose Marie (films)
The 1924 Broadway musical Rose-Marie has been the basis of three MGM films of the same title. The best-known film adaptation was released in 1936; however, a silent version was released in 1928 and another film was released in 1954. All three versions are set in the Canadian wilderness...
and a musical version of Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Goodbye, Mr. Chips is a novel by James Hilton, published in the United States in June 1934 by Little, Brown and Company and in the United Kingdom in October of that same year by Hodder & Stoughton...
, but the contract ended before production on either film began.
Warner Bros.
After 11 years with Metro-Goldwyn-MayerMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
, Grayson's contract ended, and she went on loan to Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
. She quickly got to work, and by May, Grayson's first musical with the studio was released, The Desert Song
The Desert Song
The Desert Song is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel. It was inspired by the 1925 uprising of the Riffs, a group of Moroccan fighters, against French colonial rule. It was also inspired by stories of Lawrence of...
alongside Gordon MacRae
Gordon MacRae
Gordon MacRae was an American actor and singer, best known for his appearances in the film versions of two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, Oklahoma! and Carousel and films with Doris Day like Starlift.-Early life:Born Albert Gordon MacRae in East Orange, New Jersey, MacRae graduated from...
. She was asked to perform La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
at the Central City Opera House in Central City, Colorado
Central City, Colorado
Central City is a home rule municipality in Clear Creek and Gilpin counties in the U.S. state of Colorado, and the county seat of Gilpin County. The city population was 515 in the 2000 United States Census...
, but due to her filming obligations for The Desert Song, she had to turn them down. 1952 also saw an enormous fire on the Warner Bros. lot, and Grayson was among the movie stars who assisted in removing equipment while the fire blazed.
Grayson appeared on television occasionally from the 1950s, i.e. guest starring in the General Electric Theater
General Electric Theater
General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald W. Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.-Radio:...
episode, Shadow on the Heart, with John Ericson. In the 1980s, she guest starred in three episodes of Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
with Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury
Angela Brigid Lansbury CBE is an English actress and singer in theatre, television and motion pictures, whose career has spanned eight decades and earned her more performance Tony Awards than any other individual , with five wins...
.
Stage career
Grayson appeared on stage in numerous productions including Show BoatShow Boat
Show Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was originally produced in New York in 1927 and in London in 1928, and was based on the 1926 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. The plot chronicles the lives of those living and working...
, Rosalinda, Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It is structured as a play within a play, where the interior play is a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The original production starred Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang.Kiss...
, Naughty Marietta
Naughty Marietta (operetta)
Naughty Marietta is an operetta in two acts, with libretto by Rida Johnson Young and music by Victor Herbert. Set in New Orleans in 1780, it tells how Captain Richard Warrington is commissioned to unmask and capture a notorious French pirate calling himself "Bras Priqué" – and how he is helped and...
, and The Merry Widow
The Merry Widow
The Merry Widow is an operetta by the Austro–Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband – on an 1861 comedy play,...
, for which she was nominated for Chicago's Sarah Siddons Award.
In 1953, Grayson optioned the story It's Greek to Me, written by Helen Deutsch
Helen Deutsch
Helen Deutsch was an American screenwriter, journalist and songwriter.Deutsch was born in New York City and graduated from Barnard College. She began her career by managing the Provincetown Players...
, to be accompanied by a score from Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
. The story was a mythical love story about Hercules
Hercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
and Hippolyte, and Grayson hoped to be reunited with Howard Keel and take the show on the road, however, the project fell apart.
Her casting in The Merry Widow led to her replacing Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews
Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...
in 1962 as Queen Guinevere in Camelot
Camelot (musical)
Camelot is a musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe . It is based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T. H. White tetralogy novel The Once and Future King....
. She then continued the role for over sixteen months in the national tour of the United States before leaving for health reasons.
Grayson had a lifelong dream of being an opera star, and she appeared in a number of operas in the 1960s, such as La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
, Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Puccini based his opera in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco...
, Orpheus in the Underworld
Orpheus in the Underworld
Orphée aux enfers is an opéra bouffon , or opéra féerie in its revised version, by Jacques Offenbach. The French text was written by Ludovic Halévy and later revised by Hector-Jonathan Crémieux....
and La traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
. Her dramatic and comedy stage roles included Night Watch, Noises Off
Noises Off
Noises Off is a 1982 play by English playwright Michael Frayn. The idea for it was born in 1970, when Frayn was standing in the wings watching a performance of Chinamen, a farce that he had written for Lynn Redgrave...
, Love Letters
Love Letters (play)
Love Letters is a Pulitzer Prize for Drama nominated play by A. R. Gurney. The play centers on just two characters, Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III...
and Something's Afoot
Something's Afoot
Something's Afoot is a murder mystery musical that spoofs detective stories, mainly the works of Agatha Christie, and especially her detective novel And Then There Were None . The book, music, and lyrics were written by James McDonald, David Vos, and Robert Gerlach, with additional music by Ed...
as Dottie Otterling.
Musical career
Having trained from the age of twelve, as an opera singer, Grayson sang soprano, in the style of operatic ariaAria
An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...
s.
While appearing in her films roles, Grayson also performed on the radio. Grayson performed on concert tours throughout the 1950s. In May 1951, Grayson had to postpone a concert tour due to being unknowingly cast in Lovely to Look At
Lovely to Look At
Lovely to Look At, an adaptation of the Broadway musical Roberta, is a 1952 MGM musical film directed by Mervyn LeRoy.-Plot:Tony Naylor, Al Marsh and Jerry Ralby are looking for backers for their new Broadway show. They have just run out of options when Al gets a letter from his Aunt's attorneys...
. "My concert bookings were all set. So when I read in New York that I was to do this film, I said 'How silly!', then boom! The next day I got my studio telegram asking me to return for the picture!"
In 1952, Grayson was offered more than $10,000 to perform for a week at the Riviera night club in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
before making The Desert Song. After filming The Desert Song, Grayson created a recording of the musical with Tony Martin
Tony Martin (entertainer)
Tony Martin is an American actor and singer.-Career:Tony Martin was born on Christmas Day, 1913 as Alvin Morris in San Francisco, California to Jewish immigrant parents. He received a saxophone as a gift from his grandmother at the age of ten. In his grammar school glee club, he became an...
.
Grayson supervised the Voice and Choral Studies Program at Idaho State University
Idaho State University
Idaho State University is a public university located in Pocatello, Idaho. It has outreach programs in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Falls, Boise, and Twin Falls....
.
Personal life
Grayson married twice, first to actor John Shelton (born Edward S. Price) and then to the actor/singer Johnnie Johnston.John Shelton
Shelton and Grayson eloped to Las VegasLas Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, where they were married on July 11, 1941. The two had courted for 18 months, after meeting while making screen tests.
In July 1942, Shelton moved out of their Brentwood
Brentwood, California
Brentwood is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population is 51,481 as of 2010....
home and into his own apartment. This came after a month of reconciliation after a judge dismissed their divorce suit. Grayson charged Shelton with mental cruelty. They divorced on June 17, 1946.
Johnnie Johnston
Grayson wed Johnston on August 22, 1947 in Carmel, CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. On October 7, 1948, Grayson's only child, daughter Patricia "Patty Cake" Kathryn Johnston was born. Grayson and Johnston separated on November 15, 1950. On October 3, 1951, Grayson was given a divorce from Johnston on the grounds of mental cruelty. Johnston's This Time for Keeps
This Time for Keeps
This Time for Keeps is an American romantic musical film released in 1947 and produced by MGM. It is about a soldier, returning home from war who does not wish to work for his father's opera company or to continue his relationship with his pre-war lover. It stars Esther Williams, Jimmy Durante,...
co-star, Esther Williams
Esther Williams
Esther Jane Williams is a retired American competitive swimmer and MGM movie star.Williams set multiple national and regional swimming records in her late teens as part of the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team...
, claimed in her 1999 autobiography that while making the film, Johnston would read Grayson's intimate letters aloud to the girls in his fan club, including the "all-too-graphic details concerning what she liked about his love-making."
Though she never married again, Grayson was frequently seen in the late 1950s with Robert Evans.
According to her secretary, Grayson died in her sleep at her home in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
on February 17, 2010, aged 88.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 | Andy Hardy's Private Secretary Andy Hardy's Private Secretary Andy Hardy's Private Secretary is a 1941 American family film comedy directed by George B. Seitz. The film stars Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Kathryn Grayson, Ann Rutherford and Fay Holden.-Plot:... |
Kathryn Land | |
| 1942 | The Vanishing Virginian | Rebecca Yancey | |
| 1942 | Rio Rita Rio Rita (1942 film) Rio Rita is a 1942 comedy film starring Abbott and Costello. It was based upon the 1927 Flo Ziegfeld Broadway musical, which was previously made into a 1929 film also titled Rio Rita that starred the comedy team of Wheeler & Woolsey.-Plot:... |
Rita Winslow | |
| 1942 | Seven Sweethearts | Billie Van Maaster | |
| 1943 | Thousands Cheer Thousands Cheer Thousands Cheer is a 1943 American comedy musical film released by MGM. Produced at the height of the Second World War, the film was intended as a morale booster for American troops and their families.-Plot:The film is essentially a two-part program... |
Kathryn Jones | |
| 1945 | Anchors Aweigh Anchors Aweigh (film) Anchors Aweigh is a 1945 American musical comedy film directed by George Sidney in which two sailors go on a four-day shore leave in Hollywood, accompanied by music and song, meet an aspiring young singer and try to help her get an audition at MGM... |
Susan Abbott | |
| 1946 | Ziegfeld Follies Ziegfeld Follies (film) Ziegfeld Follies is a 1945 Hollywood musical comedy film directed by Lemuel Ayers, Roy Del Ruth, Robert Lewis, Vincente Minnelli, Merrill Pye, George Sidney and Charles Waters... |
Herself | in "There's Beauty Everywhere" |
| 1946 | Two Sisters from Boston Two Sisters from Boston Two Sisters from Boston is a 1946 musical comedy film directed by Henry Koster. Starring Kathryn Grayson, June Allyson, Lauritz Melchior, Jimmy Durante and Peter Lawford.... |
Abigail Chandler | |
| 1946 | Till the Clouds Roll By Till the Clouds Roll By Till The Clouds Roll By is a 1946 American musical film made by MGM. The film is a fictionalized biography of composer Jerome Kern, who was originally involved with the production of the film, but died before it was completed... |
Magnolia in 'Show Boat' / Specialty | |
| 1947 | It Happened in Brooklyn It Happened in Brooklyn It Happened in Brooklyn is a 1947 MGM musical romantic comedy film directed by Richard Whorf and starring Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, Peter Lawford, and Jimmy Durante and featuring Gloria Grahame and Marcy McGuire... |
Anne Fielding | |
| 1948 | The Kissing Bandit The Kissing Bandit (film) The Kissing Bandit is a 1948 film starring Frank Sinatra and Kathryn Grayson. The supporting cast includes Ricardo Montalban, Ann Miller, and Cyd Charisse. The movie was directed by Laslo Benedek.-Cast:Frank Sinatra ... RicardoKathryn Grayson ...... |
Teresa | |
| 1949 | That Midnight Kiss That Midnight Kiss That Midnight Kiss was the screen debut of tenor Mario Lanza, also starring Kathryn Grayson, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Among the supporting cast were Ethel Barrymore, conductor/pianist Jose Iturbi , Keenan Wynn, J. Carroll Naish, and Jules Munshin... |
Prudence Budell | |
| 1949 | Some of the Best | Herself | uncredited |
| 1950 | The Toast of New Orleans The Toast of New Orleans The Toast of New Orleans is a 1950 musical film directed by Norman Taurog and choreographed by Eugene Loring. It starred Mario Lanza, Kathryn Grayson, David Niven, J. Carroll Naish, James Mitchell and a teenaged Rita Moreno... |
Suzette Micheline | |
| 1951 | Grounds for Marriage Grounds for Marriage Grounds for Marriage is a 1951 American romantic comedy film directed by Robert Z. Leonard. Written and produced by Samuel Marx, the film stars Van Johnson and Kathryn Grayson.-Plot:... |
Ina Massine | |
| 1951 | Show Boat Show Boat (1951 film) Show Boat is a 1951 Technicolor film based on the musical by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II and the novel by Edna Ferber.... |
Magnolia Hawks | |
| 1952 | Lovely to Look At Lovely to Look At Lovely to Look At, an adaptation of the Broadway musical Roberta, is a 1952 MGM musical film directed by Mervyn LeRoy.-Plot:Tony Naylor, Al Marsh and Jerry Ralby are looking for backers for their new Broadway show. They have just run out of options when Al gets a letter from his Aunt's attorneys... |
Stephanie | |
| 1953 | The Desert Song The Desert Song (1953 film) The Desert Song is a 1953 film version in Technicolor of Sigmund Romberg's operetta. It is the third film version of the operetta, the third made by Warner Brothers, and the second in full three-strip Technicolor... |
Margot Birabeau | |
| 1953 | So This Is Love | Grace Moore Grace Moore Grace Moore was an American operatic soprano and actress in musical theatre and film. She was nicknamed the "Tennessee Nightingale." Her films helped to popularize opera by bringing it to a larger audience.-Early life:... |
aka The Grace Moore Story |
| 1953 | Kiss Me Kate | Lilli Vanessi / "Katharina" | |
| 1956 | The Vagabond King The Vagabond King (1956 film) The Vagabond King is a 1956 musical film remake of the 1925 operetta The Vagabond King by Rudolf Friml. It starred Kathryn Grayson and Oreste Kirkop , with early roles for Rita Moreno and Leslie Nielsen. Sir Cedric Hardwicke played a notable supporting role. It was Walter Hampden's last movie.... |
Catherine de Vaucelles | |
| 1977 | The Amazing World of Psychic Phenomena | Herself | documentary |
| 1994 | A Century of Cinema A Century of Cinema A Century of Cinema is a 1994 documentary directed by Caroline Thomas about the art of filmmaking , containing numerous interviews with some of the most influential film personalities of the 20th century.... |
Herself | documentary |
| 2003 | Cole Porter in Hollywood: Too Darn Hot | Herself, Kate/Lilli in Kiss Me Kate | |
| 2004 | The Masters Behind the Musicals | Herself |
External links
- Kathryn Grayson photographs and literature
- Kathryn Grayson – The Daily TelegraphThe Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
obituary - Kathryn Grayson Fansite