Beatrice Kay

Beatrice Kay
Born (1907-04-21)April 21, 1907
New York City, New York, U.S.
Died November 8, 1986(1986-11-08) (aged 79)
North Hollywood, California, U.S.
Resting place Westwood Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation Stage, film, television actress
Years active 1945-1974

Beatrice Kay (April 21, 1907 in New York City – November 8, 1986) was an American singer, vaudevillian, music hall performer, stage and film actress. She died in North Hollywood, California, aged 79.[1]

Background

Born as Hannah Beatrice Kuper, Kay performed as "Honey Kuper" and "Honey Day" for part of her career in vaudeville, radio, motion pictures, sound recordings, night clubs, and television. Her career began at the age of six as "Little Lord Fauntleroy" in stock theater. She went on to becoming a headliner at Billy Rose's famed Diamond Horseshoe Nightclub in New York. She was on The Mercury Theatre on the Air (directed by Orson Welles), and eventually hosted a radio show, The Beatrice Kay Show.

She appeared at top nightclubs including San Francisco's austere Fairmont Hotel Venetian Room, the Moulin Rouge in Paris, Hollywood's famed Ciro's in Los Angeles, and at the El Rancho Hotel in Las Vegas. She also recorded several phonograph albums, and appeared in a 1945 motion picture about the club where she had performed in her earlier years—Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe (the film starred Betty Grable and Dick Haymes).

She appeared with Cliff Robertson in 1961's Underworld U.S.A. and in 1969's A Time for Dying, with Victor Jory and Audie Murphy. In 1974, she had a bit part in the film Ginger in the Morning (which starred Susan Oliver, Sissy Spacek and Monte Markham).

Songs which she helped popularize include "A Bird in a Gilded Cage", "No! No! A Thousand Times No!!", "The Band Played On", "Mention My Name In Sheboygan", and "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay".

Television appearances

Over her career, Kay starred in more than a half-dozen television shows, including:

Kay toured on the road in 1972 with The Big Show Of 1936 (co-starring Ben Blue, Jackie Coogan, the Ink Spots, Virginia O'Brien, Cass Daley, Ray Bolger and the Weire Brothers), which played major concert venues including New York's Madison Square Garden.

She retired to operate a holiday resort dude ranch, but returned to show business following a devastating fire which destroyed her home. She headlined a month-long booking opening Milt Larsen's celebrated Mayfair Music Hall in Santa Monica, California, with Bernard Fox and Larry "Seymour" Vincent.

She died in 1986, aged 79, having been in poor health after suffering a series of strokes.[2]

References

  1. ↑ DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-2834-2. P. 147.
  2. ↑ Obit excerpt in Los Angeles Times online

External links

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