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Dorothy Jacqueline Keely (March 9, 1928[1][note 1][2] – December 16, 2017), professionally known as Keely Smith, was an American jazz and popular music singer, who performed and recorded extensively in the 1950s with then-husband Louis Prima, and throughout the 1960s as a solo artist.[3]

This article is about the singer. For the actress also known as Keely Shaye Brosnan, see Keely Shaye Smith.
Keely Smith
Smith in 1960
Background information
Birth nameDorothy Jacqueline Keely
Born(1928-03-09)March 9, 1928
Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.
DiedDecember 16, 2017(2017-12-16) (aged 89)
Palm Springs, California, U.S.
GenresJazz, pop
Occupation(s)Singer
Years active1949–2017
LabelsCapitol, Dot, Reprise

Smith married Prima in 1953. The couple were stars throughout the entertainment business, including stage, television, motion pictures, hit records, and cabaret acts. They won a Grammy in 1959, its inaugural year, for their smash hit, "That Old Black Magic", which remained on the charts for 18 weeks.[4]


Early years


Smith was born in Norfolk, Virginia; her ancestry was Irish and Cherokee.[5] Jesse Smith, her stepfather, was a carpenter, and her mother took in laundry to earn money to buy gowns for Smith to wear when she performed.[6]


Career


When Smith was 11 years old, she sang regularly as a cast member of The Joe Brown Radio Gang program on a Norfolk station.[6] At age 14, Smith sang with a naval air station band led by Saxie Dowell. At 15, she got her first paying job with the Earl Bennett band. She saw Louis Prima perform in New York City in 1949.[note 2][2] They recorded together in 1949 and married on July 13, 1953.[2][7]

Their songs included Johnny Mercer's and Harold Arlen's "That Old Black Magic", which was a Top 20 hit in the US in 1958. At the 1st Annual Grammy Awards in 1959, Smith and Prima won the first Grammy for Best Performance by a Vocal Group or Chorus for "That Old Black Magic".[8] Her deadpan act was popular with fans. The duo followed up with the minor successes "I've Got You Under My Skin" and "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen", a cover of the 1937 Andrews Sisters hit.

Smith and Prima's act was a mainstay of the Las Vegas lounge scene for much of the 1950s.[1] Though her actual voice was not used, she was caricatured as "Squealy Smith" in Bob Clampett's 1960 Beany and Cecil episode "So What and the Seven Whatnots", a Snow White spoof in a Vegas setting.[9]

Smith appeared with Prima in the movie Hey Boy! Hey Girl!,[1] singing "Fever", and also appeared in and sang on the soundtrack of the previous year's film Thunder Road. Her song in Thunder Road was "Whippoorwill". She also appeared in the film Senior Prom.[1]

Her first big solo hit was "I Wish You Love" in 1957, and it brought her a Grammy award nomination for Best Vocal Performance, Female.[8] Her debut album by that same title achieved gold status[2] In 1961, Smith divorced Prima. She then signed with Reprise Records, where her musical director was Nelson Riddle.[1] In 1965, she had Top 20 hits in the United Kingdom with an album of Beatles compositions, Keely Smith Sings The John Lennon—Paul McCartney Songbook, and a single, "You're Breaking My Heart", which reached No. 14 in April.[10]

She returned to singing in 1985, recording the album I'm in Love Again with Bud Shank and Bill Perkins.[7] Her albums, Swing, Swing, Swing (2000), Keely Sings Sinatra (2001) for which she received a Grammy nomination, and Keely Swings Basie-Style With Strings (2002) won critical and popular acclaim.[7] In 2008 she performed a duet with Kid Rock during the 50th Grammy Awards on "That Old Black Magic".[4]

Smith earned positive reviews for her performances at Feinstein's nightclub in Manhattan in 2005. Said Variety: "Smith’s bold, dark voice took firm hold on a handful of great standard tunes, and she swung hard", and The New Yorker review called her "both legendary and underrated ... She can still sing the stuffing out of a ballad as well as swing any tune into the stratosphere."

According to a news release from her publicist issued upon her death, Smith was "very resolute in being in control of the trajectory of her career".

"Nobody will ever interfere with what I do on stage," Smith once told Theatermania. "Someone might have an opinion of something but, if I disagree with it, I'll go with my own thinking. I'm just a plain person. I sing like I talk — and, when I'm on stage, I talk just like I'm talking to you."

Smith's final performance was on Feb. 13, 2011, at the Cerritos Performing Arts Center in Southern California.[4]


Personal life


Smith first married Matteo Gambardella Jr., September 6, 1947, in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, before divorcing December 1950.[11] Smith married Louis Prima July 13, 1953.[2] in Virginia Beach[12] They had two children, Toni Elizabeth and Luanne Francis.[2] Smith had an affair with Frank Sinatra[13][14] prior to her divorce from Prima in 1961. She also had a relationship with Clint Eastwood.[15] She married Jimmy Bowen in 1965. The couple divorced in 1969.[16] In 1975 Smith married singer Bobby Milano (real name Charles Caci) in Palm Springs. Sinatra gave the bride away.[17]

On December 16, 2017, Smith died of apparent heart failure in Palm Springs, California, at the age of 89.[18] She is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills.[19]


Legacy


In 1998, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to her.[20] She also has a star at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard in the Recording section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was dedicated on September 22, 1998.[21]


Discography



Solo albums


With Louis Prima

With Louis Prima, Sam Butera & The Witnesses


Notes


  1. The reference work The Encyclopedia of Native Music: More Than a Century of Recordings from Wax Cylinder to the Internet gives Smith's date of birth as March 9, 1932.
  2. The Encyclopedia of Native Music: More Than a Century of Recordings from Wax Cylinder to the Internet says, "In 1948, entertainer Louis Prima appeared in her hometown of Norfolk, Virginia, and hired Smith at an audition."

References


  1. Lentz, Harris M., III (2018). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2017. McFarland. ISBN 9781476633183. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  2. Wright-McLeod, Brian (2018). The Encyclopedia of Native Music: More Than a Century of Recordings from Wax Cylinder to the Internet. University of Arizona Press. p. 186. ISBN 9780816538645. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  3. Clavin, Tom (December 17, 2017). That Old Black Magic: Louis Prima, Keely Smith, and the Golden Age of Las Vegas. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 9781569768136. Retrieved December 18, 2017 – via Google Books.
  4. "Iconic vocalist Keely Smith dies from apparent heart failure at 89", Mercury News, December 17, 2017
  5. I Wish You Love album liner notes (1958)
  6. Boulard, Garry (2002). Louis Prima. University of Illinois Press. pp. 87–88. ISBN 9780252070907. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  7. Unterberger, Richie. "Keely Smith | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  8. "("Keely Smith" search results)". Grammy Awards. Recording Academy. Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  9. Beany and Cecil - So What and the Seven Whatnots on YouTube
  10. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London, UK: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 509. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  11. North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.
  12. Virginia Department of Health; Richmond, Virginia; Virginia, Marriages, 1936-2014; Roll: 101167092
  13. "Keely Smith, Fine and Frank".
  14. "Legendary singer and Sinatra crony Keely Smith dies in Palm Springs".
  15. McGilligan, Patrick (2015). Clint: The Life and Legend (updated and revised). New York: OR Books. ISBN 978-1-939293-96-1. p.119
  16. "Keely Smith Granted Default Divorce". The Palm Beach Post. July 30, 1969.
  17. "Keely Smith". Herald Journal. January 25, 1975.
  18. "Iconic vocalist Keely Smith dies from apparent heart failure at 89". Mercurynews.com. 17 December 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  19. "Legendary Jazz Singer Keely Smith Dies At 89". Losangeles.cbslocal.com. 18 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  20. Palm Springs Walk of Stars by date dedicated Archived 2012-10-13 at the Wayback Machine
  21. "Keely Smith". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018.


Wikimedia Commons has media related to Keely Smith.

На других языках

[de] Keely Smith

Keely Smith (* 9. März 1928[1][2] als Dorothy Jacqueline („Dot“) Keely in Norfolk, Virginia; † 16. Dezember 2017[3]) war eine US-amerikanische Jazz- und Pop-Sängerin. Sie erreichte ihre größte Popularität in den 1950er und 1960er Jahren vor allem durch ihre Zusammenarbeit mit Louis Prima und Frank Sinatra.
- [en] Keely Smith

[ru] Смит, Кили

Кили Смит (англ. Keely Smith, урождённая Дороти Жаклин Кили (англ. Dorothy Jacqueline Keely); 9 марта 1928 — 16 декабря 2017[3]) — американская джазовая певица, имевшая большую популярность в 1950-х и 1960-х годах. Её совместная работа с Луи Примой и Фрэнком Синатрой была высоко оценена. Смит любили за её стиль пения и особенно за участие в дуэте с Луи Примой.


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