Kitty Kallen
| Kitty Kallen | |
|---|---|
Kallen, c. 1944
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| Born |
Katie Kallen May 25, 1921 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | January 7, 2016 (aged 94) Cuernavaca, Mexico |
| Spouse(s) | Bernard Granoff (1948-1996; his death); 1 child |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1939–1965 |
| Labels |
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Kitty Kallen (born Katie Kallen; May 25, 1921 – January 7, 2016) was an American popular singer whose career spanned from the 1930s to the 1960s, to include the Swing era of the Big Band years, the post-WWII pop scene and the early years of rock 'n roll. Kallen performed with popular big band leaders of the 1940s, including Jimmy Dorsey and Harry James, before establishing a solo career.
She is widely known for her 1954 solo recording '"Little Things Mean a Lot", a song that stayed at the U.S. number one spot for nine consecutive weeks, charted in the U.S. for almost seven months, hit #1 on the UK singles chart, and sold more than two million copies. Voted "most popular female singer" in 1954 in both Billboard and Variety polls, Kallen lost her voice at the London Palladium in 1955 at the top of her career and stopped singing before an audience for four years. After testing her voice under a pseudonym in small town venues, she ultimately returned and went on to achieve 13 top-ten career hits.
Born Katie Kallen (her birth name has been at times erroneously reported as Katherine Kalinsky) on May 25, 1921 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she was one of seven children, to Russian Jewish immigrants Samuel and Rose Kalinsky (later Kallen). As a child, she won an amateur contest by imitating popular singers. When she returned home with her prize, a camera, her father did not believe her, and punished her for stealing the camera. Only when neighbors subsequently visited to congratulate her did Kallen's father realize she had actually won it.
As a young girl, she sang on The Children's Hour, a radio program sponsored by Horn & Hardart, an automat chain. As a preteen, Kallen had a radio program on Philadelphia's WCAU and sang with the big bands of Jan Savitt in 1936, Artie Shaw in 1938, and Jack Teagarden in 1940.
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