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Anita Bryant
Anita Jane Bryant (March 25, 1940 – December 16, 2024) was an American singer and anti-gay-rights activist. She had three top 20 hits in the United States in the early 1960s. She was the 1958 Miss Oklahoma beauty pageant winner, and a brand ambassador for the Florida Citrus Commission from 1969 to 1980.
From 1977 to 1980, Bryant was an outspoken opponent of gay rights in the United States. In 1977, she ran the Save Our Children campaign to repeal a local ordinance in Miami-Dade County, Florida, that outlawed discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Throughout the country, supporters of gay rights condemned Bryant for her campaign. Assisted by prominent figures in music, film, and television, they retaliated by boycotting the orange juice that she promoted. The campaign ended on June 7, 1977 with a 69% majority vote to repeal the ordinance (which Dade County restored in 1998). Though this was a victory for Bryant, her public image was irreparably damaged and she found herself blacklisted. Her contract with the Florida Citrus Commission was terminated three years later. This, as well as her later divorce from Bob Green, left her financially insolvent and she filed for bankruptcy twice.
Bryant was born in Barnsdall, Oklahoma, on March 25, 1940, the daughter of Lenora Annice Berry and Warren G. Bryant. After her parents divorced, her father went into the U.S. Army and her mother went to work as a clerk for Tinker Air Force Base. She began singing at the age of 2 at the First Baptist church in Barnsdall, with "Jesus Loves Me". She was singing onstage at the age of six,[citation needed] at local fairgrounds in Oklahoma. She sang occasionally on radio and television, and was invited to audition when Arthur Godfrey's talent show came to town, eventually winning the contest. At age 12, she had her television show The Anita Bryant Show, which aired on WKY (now KFOR-TV).
Bryant became Miss Oklahoma in 1958, after graduating from Tulsa's Will Rogers High School, and was second runner-up in the 1959 Miss America pageant in September 1958.
In 1960, Bryant married Bob Green (1931–2012), a Miami disc jockey, with whom she eventually raised four children. They divorced in 1980.
Bryant appeared early in her career on the NBC interview program Here's Hollywood[citation needed] and on the same network's The Ford Show, starring Tennessee Ernie Ford.
Bryant released several albums on the Carlton and Columbia labels.[citation needed] Her first album, Anita Bryant, which was released in 1959, contained "Till There Was You" and songs from other Broadway shows.[citation needed] Her second album, Hear Anita Bryant in Your Home Tonight (1961), contains "Paper Roses" and "Wonderland by Night", as well as several songs that first appeared in her singles.[citation needed] Her third album, In My Little Corner of the World, also in 1961, contains the title song and other songs that have to do with places around the world, including "Canadian Sunset" and "I Love Paris".[citation needed] Bryant's compilation album, Greatest Hits (1963), contains both her original Carlton hits (because Columbia purchased all the masters from Carlton) plus sides from her Columbia recordings, including "Paper Roses" and "Step by Step, Little by Little".[citation needed] In 1964, she released The World of Lonely People, containing, in addition to the title song, "Welcome, Welcome Home" and a new rendition of "Little Things Mean a Lot", arranged by Frank Hunter. Bryant also released several albums of religious music.[citation needed]
Bryant had a moderate pop hit with the song "Till There Was You" (1959, US No. 30), from the Broadway production The Music Man. She also had three hits that reached the Top 20 in the U.S.: "Paper Roses" (1960, US No. 5, and covered by Marie Osmond 13 years later), "In My Little Corner of the World" (1960, US No. 10), and "Wonderland by Night" (1961, US No. 18), originally a hit for Bert Kaempfert. "Paper Roses", "In My Little Corner of the World", and "Till There Was You", each sold over one million copies, and were awarded a gold disc by the RIAA.
Anita Bryant
Anita Jane Bryant (March 25, 1940 – December 16, 2024) was an American singer and anti-gay-rights activist. She had three top 20 hits in the United States in the early 1960s. She was the 1958 Miss Oklahoma beauty pageant winner, and a brand ambassador for the Florida Citrus Commission from 1969 to 1980.
From 1977 to 1980, Bryant was an outspoken opponent of gay rights in the United States. In 1977, she ran the Save Our Children campaign to repeal a local ordinance in Miami-Dade County, Florida, that outlawed discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Throughout the country, supporters of gay rights condemned Bryant for her campaign. Assisted by prominent figures in music, film, and television, they retaliated by boycotting the orange juice that she promoted. The campaign ended on June 7, 1977 with a 69% majority vote to repeal the ordinance (which Dade County restored in 1998). Though this was a victory for Bryant, her public image was irreparably damaged and she found herself blacklisted. Her contract with the Florida Citrus Commission was terminated three years later. This, as well as her later divorce from Bob Green, left her financially insolvent and she filed for bankruptcy twice.
Bryant was born in Barnsdall, Oklahoma, on March 25, 1940, the daughter of Lenora Annice Berry and Warren G. Bryant. After her parents divorced, her father went into the U.S. Army and her mother went to work as a clerk for Tinker Air Force Base. She began singing at the age of 2 at the First Baptist church in Barnsdall, with "Jesus Loves Me". She was singing onstage at the age of six,[citation needed] at local fairgrounds in Oklahoma. She sang occasionally on radio and television, and was invited to audition when Arthur Godfrey's talent show came to town, eventually winning the contest. At age 12, she had her television show The Anita Bryant Show, which aired on WKY (now KFOR-TV).
Bryant became Miss Oklahoma in 1958, after graduating from Tulsa's Will Rogers High School, and was second runner-up in the 1959 Miss America pageant in September 1958.
In 1960, Bryant married Bob Green (1931–2012), a Miami disc jockey, with whom she eventually raised four children. They divorced in 1980.
Bryant appeared early in her career on the NBC interview program Here's Hollywood[citation needed] and on the same network's The Ford Show, starring Tennessee Ernie Ford.
Bryant released several albums on the Carlton and Columbia labels.[citation needed] Her first album, Anita Bryant, which was released in 1959, contained "Till There Was You" and songs from other Broadway shows.[citation needed] Her second album, Hear Anita Bryant in Your Home Tonight (1961), contains "Paper Roses" and "Wonderland by Night", as well as several songs that first appeared in her singles.[citation needed] Her third album, In My Little Corner of the World, also in 1961, contains the title song and other songs that have to do with places around the world, including "Canadian Sunset" and "I Love Paris".[citation needed] Bryant's compilation album, Greatest Hits (1963), contains both her original Carlton hits (because Columbia purchased all the masters from Carlton) plus sides from her Columbia recordings, including "Paper Roses" and "Step by Step, Little by Little".[citation needed] In 1964, she released The World of Lonely People, containing, in addition to the title song, "Welcome, Welcome Home" and a new rendition of "Little Things Mean a Lot", arranged by Frank Hunter. Bryant also released several albums of religious music.[citation needed]
Bryant had a moderate pop hit with the song "Till There Was You" (1959, US No. 30), from the Broadway production The Music Man. She also had three hits that reached the Top 20 in the U.S.: "Paper Roses" (1960, US No. 5, and covered by Marie Osmond 13 years later), "In My Little Corner of the World" (1960, US No. 10), and "Wonderland by Night" (1961, US No. 18), originally a hit for Bert Kaempfert. "Paper Roses", "In My Little Corner of the World", and "Till There Was You", each sold over one million copies, and were awarded a gold disc by the RIAA.
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