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Kathryn Grayson
Kathryn Grayson (born Zelma Kathryn Elisabeth Hedrick; February 9, 1922 – February 17, 2010) was an American actress and coloratura soprano.
From the age of 12, Grayson trained as an opera singer. She was under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 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.
Grayson also 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.
Zelma Kathryn Elisabeth Hedrick was born on February 9, 1922, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, one of four children of Charles Hedrick, a building contractor-realtor, and Lillian Hedrick (née Grayson).
The Hedrick family later moved to Kirkwood, Missouri, outside St. Louis. At the age of 12, Grayson 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, from whom Grayson received voice lessons. Grayson's sister Frances Raeburn (born Mildred Hedrick; 1924–1976) was also an actress and singer, appearing along with her in the film Seven Sweethearts. Grayson had two brothers, Clarence "Bud" E. Hedrick, and Harold. The family moved to California when she was 15 years old.
In 1940, an MGM talent scout saw Grayson performing at a music festival. MGM hoped to find a replacement for Deanna Durbin, who had left the studio for Universal Pictures. For the next 18 months, Grayson took voice, drama and diction lessons and followed a routine of dieting and exercise. Within a year, she had her first screen test. However, studio executives were not satisfied, and she endured a further six months of lessons until she made her first film appearance in 1941's Andy Hardy's Private Secretary as secretary Kathryn Land, participating in three musical numbers.
Two further films were planned for Grayson in 1941: White House Girl, which was later produced in 1948 with Durbin, and Very Warm for May, from the Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein musical of the same name. The film eventually was produced in 1944 as Broadway Rhythm.[citation needed]
Grayson 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.
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Kathryn Grayson
Kathryn Grayson (born Zelma Kathryn Elisabeth Hedrick; February 9, 1922 – February 17, 2010) was an American actress and coloratura soprano.
From the age of 12, Grayson trained as an opera singer. She was under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 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.
Grayson also 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.
Zelma Kathryn Elisabeth Hedrick was born on February 9, 1922, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, one of four children of Charles Hedrick, a building contractor-realtor, and Lillian Hedrick (née Grayson).
The Hedrick family later moved to Kirkwood, Missouri, outside St. Louis. At the age of 12, Grayson 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, from whom Grayson received voice lessons. Grayson's sister Frances Raeburn (born Mildred Hedrick; 1924–1976) was also an actress and singer, appearing along with her in the film Seven Sweethearts. Grayson had two brothers, Clarence "Bud" E. Hedrick, and Harold. The family moved to California when she was 15 years old.
In 1940, an MGM talent scout saw Grayson performing at a music festival. MGM hoped to find a replacement for Deanna Durbin, who had left the studio for Universal Pictures. For the next 18 months, Grayson took voice, drama and diction lessons and followed a routine of dieting and exercise. Within a year, she had her first screen test. However, studio executives were not satisfied, and she endured a further six months of lessons until she made her first film appearance in 1941's Andy Hardy's Private Secretary as secretary Kathryn Land, participating in three musical numbers.
Two further films were planned for Grayson in 1941: White House Girl, which was later produced in 1948 with Durbin, and Very Warm for May, from the Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein musical of the same name. The film eventually was produced in 1944 as Broadway Rhythm.[citation needed]
Grayson 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.