Mary Small
| Mary Small | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Harriette Mary Small May 14, 1922 Baltimore, Maryland |
| Died | February 27, 2007 (aged 84) Harlem, New York City |
| Occupation | Singer, actress, radio personality |
| Years active | 1928–2007 |
| Musical career | |
| Associated acts | Vic Mizzy, Ray Bloch, Milton Berle, Vincent Lopez |
| Website | marysmall |
Mary Small (May 10, 1922 – February 27, 2007) was a prominent singing personality during the Golden Age of Radio and hosted her own broadcasts for 14 consecutive years across all major networks. She headlined or opened at "presentation houses" from the 1930s through the 1950s including the Paramount Theater, Madison Square Garden, the London Palladium, the Copacabana with Sammy Davis, Jr., and the Palace Theater in Chicago. In addition to being an established recording artist, she was a published author and performed on film, television and Broadway during her career. She was the first singer to be widely promoted as The Little Girl With The Big Voice, a moniker likely adopted by her first manager Ed Wolfe that was marketed in the Fleischer Brothers' Love Thy Neighbor, distributed by Paramount Pictures in 1934. The moniker "Little Girl With The Big Voice" was subsequently used to promote female singing prodigies from Judy Garland to Jackie Evancho. She was married for a time to the composer Vic Mizzy with whom she had a widely publicized divorce. Her life is the subject of a documentary by Rafael Moscatel.
Small was born in Baltimore, Maryland to Jack and Fannie Small. Her father was a local vaudevillian and her mother a homemaker. She first performed on Baltimore radio station WBAL at the age of six or seven and at nine won a radio contest hosted by Gus Edwards. She had a younger sister named Gloria. The story of how she was discovered was widely reported in newspapers, cartoon strips and interviews well into her later years She was interviewed by Joe Franklin in 1972.
In 1933, at the age of eleven she was introduced to singing trio the Three X Sisters'' at the Hippodrome Theater on Eutaw Street in Baltimore. The trio arranged for her an audition with their manager Ed Wolfe who then booked her on the Rudy Vallee Hour on NBC affiliate WEAF New York where she received her first big break singing Louisville Lady. Mary’s voice was unique for that of a child, almost freakish to some, and the audience disbelief as to her age captivated America. Within a month she had landed her own show on NBC which led into Frank Sinatra’s hour. Along with a selected stable of stars, they were promoted across the country on matchbooks, bottle caps and subway cars. While a child in New York she attended the Professional Children's School. Her childhood friend was Baby Rose Marie.
...
Wikipedia