"There was no such thing as being married at that time," she said. The Sollie family disapproved of Olga's marriage, but the relationship was repaired once their first child, LaVerne, was born July 6, 1911. After LaVerne died of cancer in the late '60s, the remaining sisters continued as a duo. They also helped actress Bette Davis and actor John Garfield found California's famous Hollywood Canteen, a welcome retreat for servicemen where the trio often performed, volunteering their personal time to sing and dance for the soldiers, sailors, and Marines (they did the same at New York City's Stage Door Canteen during the war). Then he dragged his legs towards the exit. Patty was the youngest of the sisters whose hits included Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B. The last surviving member of The Andrews Sisters - the popular singing trio of the 1940s and 1950s - has died in California at the age of 94. Maxene and Patty went through painful divorces (Maxene split with the group's manager Lou Levy; Patty lost agent and husband, Martin Melcher to singer Doris Day), and lost their parents within a year of each other, as did their mentor Jack Kapp of Decca Records. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne. LaVerne Andrews (July 6, 1911 - May 8, 1967) was the eldest Andrews sister and sang alto - the lowest range for women. Maxene and LaVerne did appear together on The Red Skelton Show on October 26, 1954, singing the humorous "Why Do They Give the Solos to Patty" as well as lip-synching "Beer Barrel Polka" with Skelton in drag filling in for Patty. Patty (1920), Maxene (1917), and LaVerne (1915) grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. October 21, 1995, Boston, Massachusetts), and Patricia Marie (Patty) Andrews (b. February 16, 1918, Minneapolisd. 2. . Confidential, The ashes of LaVerne and Maxene Andrews are interred in the Columbarium of Memory of the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California,[29] close to the ashes of their parents. In the years just before and during World War II, the Andrews Sisters were at the height of their popularity, and the group still tends to be associated in the public's mind with the war years. The picture was the highest-grossing film of that year. Minneapolis Tribune, October 9, 1938, pg 21. Their second effort featured the popular standard Nice Work If You Can Get It, but it was the flip side that turned out to be pure gold. Other hits followed, and in 1940 they were signed by Universal Pictures. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. )," "Well, All Right," "Hold Tight, Hold Tight" (with Jimmy Dorsey ), "Oh, Johnny! Eldest sister LaVerne died in 1967 at the age of 55 after a year-long bout with cancer[24] during which she was replaced by singer Joyce DeYoung (May 24, 1926 March 7, 2014). The Andrews Sisters - Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (V-Disc 1941) Zemorg 17.8K subscribers Subscribe 9.4K 880K views 7 years ago A very youthful looking Andrews Sisters performing Boogie. Her real name was Patricia Marie (Patty nickname). "[50] This Don Raye-Hughie Prince composition was nominated for Best Song at the 1941 Academy Awards ceremony. The next year, the pair debuted on Broadway in the Sherman Brothers' nostalgic World War II musical: Over Here!, which premiered at the Shubert Theatre to rave reviews. LaVerne had founded the original group, and often acted as the peacemaker among the three during the sisters' lives, more often siding with her parents, to whom the girls were extremely devoted, than with either of her sisters. Maxene died from a heart attack in 1995, andPatty passed on January 30, 2013. Maxene Andrews always said that the summers in Mound created a major sense of "normalcy" and "a wonderful childhood" in a life that otherwise centered on the sisters' careers. As the troops headed overseas, the sisters were drafted into service in their own way, playing more USO tours than any other entertainer besides Bob Hope. LaVerne was considered the closest to her parents and often mediated family conflicts. This button displays the currently selected search type. Moreover, the girls squabbled over their parents' estate shares and individual career desires.In 1953, Patty, the group's lead, declared she was going solo. That year, they scored a Top Ten hit on the Billboard chart with "Ferryboat Serenade (La Piccinina)." [48], Patty, Maxene, and LaVerne appeared in 17 Hollywood films. The revue was then expanded into a book musical and Maxene Andrews was brought in for what became Over Here!. 20), "(Everytime They Play the) Sabre Dance" (with, "I'm Biting My Fingernails and Thinking of You" (with, "I Wish I Had a Dime (For Ev'rytime I Missed You)" (1941) (No. Patty Andrews returned to her solo career and in 1971 appeared in a musical revue called Victory Canteen in Los Angeles. ", in 1937. The Tragic Real-Life Story Of The Andrews Sisters, The Andrews Sisters: A Biography and Career Record. Patty, ever the trouper, continued on television, in clubs and in film cameoswherever there was an audience.In 1973, Patty and Maxene reunited for their first Broadway musical, the nostalgic "Over Here" (Tony-winning Janie Sell played the LaVerne counterpart) in which they performed their old standards following the show's second act; but it did little to repair the strained Patty/Maxene off-stage relationship, especially since LaVerne wasn't around to foster peace-making tactics. Styles. (Mr. Melcher later married Doris Day.) Their last appearance together as a trio was on The Dean Martin Show on September 29, 1966. [63] The western-themed "The Andrews Sisters' Show" (subtitled "Eight-to-the-Bar Ranch"), co-hosted by Gabby Hayes, began in 1944 and featured a special guest every week. Some of their accomplishments include selling over 90 million records, recording about 700 songs and earning nine gold records. Following the collapse of their father's Minneapolis restaurant, the sisters went on the road to support the family. The Andrews Sisters re-entered the limelight in the early 1970s when Bette Midler released her own recording of Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, modeled closely on theirs. None of these achieved any major success. Many of their Decca recordings have been used in such television shows and Hollywood movies as Homefront, ER, Agent Carter, The Brink's Job, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Swing Shift, Raggedy Man, Summer of '42, Slaughterhouse-Five, Maria's Lovers, Harlem Nights, In Dreams, Murder in the First, L.A. LaVerne had a very low voice. She then married Walter Weschler, the trio's pianist, in 1951. The Andrews Sisters / Wikimedia Commons. No trained actresses by any margin, the girls emanated a down-home naturalness and appeal with a comedic flair that attracted audiences coast-to-coast.In later films, the girls played everything from "lonely hearts" club managers in Always a Bridesmaid (1943), to elevator operators in How's About It? Maxine was only four when she first appeared on her first radio broadcast in Minneapolis. [51], Universal hired the sisters for two more Abbott and Costello comedies and then promoted them to full-fledged stardom in B musicals. In 1940, signed to Universal Pictures, they made the first of a series of low-budget "B" movies, Argentine Nights. Cancer took LaVerne in 1967, and within a year Maxene was teaching college in the Lake Tahoe area. Other top hits included "Don't Fence Me In", "Apple Blossom Time", "Rum and Coca Cola", and "I Can Dream, Can't I? I wish I had the ability and the power to bridge the gap between my relationship with my sister, Patty. The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group. They recorded for Capitol Records (1956-1959) and Dot Records (1961-1967) without commercial impact. Jan. 30, 2013 Patty Andrews, the last of the Andrews Sisters, the jaunty vocal trio whose immensely popular music became part of the patriotic fabric of World War II America, died on. [16] In the 1950s, Patty Andrews decided to break away from the act to be a soloist. As Maxene blamed Patty's husband, Walter Weschler, as an instigator in separating her from Patty, the estrangement remained permanent until Maxene's death in 1995.The two sisters did reunite briefly when they earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1987. Patty Andrews, a soprano, was lead singer for the trio, Maxene sang second soprano, and LaVerne took the lowest line. 5000 Greatest songs ever list by artist. Weschler, her husband of nearly 60 years, had died on August 28, 2010, at the age of 88. But the women were determined to convey the effect of three trumpets. Thus, in Argentine Nights and the sisters' next film, Buck Privates, the Andrews Sisters dance like the Ritz Brothers. They continued to record for Decca through the end of 1953, at which point Patty Andrews left the group for a solo career while Maxene and LaVerne Andrews continued to perform as the Andrews Sisters. As Maxene Andrews recalled. 13 1 Near You / How Lucky You Are. Following Maxenes death in 1995, Patty continued to perform, sometimes as a featured vocalist with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. [17], Maxene and LaVerne tried to continue the act as a duo and met with good press during a 10-day tour of Australia, but a reported suicide attempt by Maxene in December 1954[21] put a halt to any further tours (Maxene spent a short time in the hospital after swallowing 18 sleeping pills, an occurrence that LaVerne told reporters was an accident). "With that," Maxene said, Patty "started to cry. All of a sudden, all hell broke loose.". The Andrews Sisters - Artist Details. Patty Andrews married agent Marty Melcher in 1947 but left him in 1949, when he pursued a romantic relationship with Doris Day. 1 on the charts in 1955. The London-based trio the Puppini Sisters uses their style harmonies on several Andrews Sisters and other hits of the 1940s and 1950s as well as later rock and disco hits. It is claimed that the sisters have sold more than 90 . Lou died in 1995.[39]. 15), "That's the Moon, My Son" (1942) (No. This however did not sit well with Patty and a cease and desist order was sent to Skelton. The influence of the Andrews Sisters looms large over the last half-century of music: Their catalog, some 1,800 songs, has been thoroughly mined by other artists. May 8, 1967, Brentwood, California), Maxene Angelyn Andrews (b. January 3, 1916, Minneapolisd. [2] Their 1941 hit "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" can be considered an early example of jump blues. No other female vocal group, and very few male ones, came close to their success from the late '30s to the early '50s, an era when first big bands and then solo singers dominated popular music. There's nothing I would do to change things if I couldYes, I would. She was 79. [12] They encouraged U.S. citizens to purchase war bonds with their rendition of Irving Berlin's song "Any Bonds Today?". [46][47], In 2008 and 2009, the BBC produced The Andrews Sisters: Queens of the Music Machines, a one-hour documentary on the history of the Andrews Sisters from their upbringing to the present. Several days later, Patty's husband Wally fell down a flight of stairs and broke both wrists. Her father was a Greek Catholic immigrant and her mother a Lutheran from Norway who ran the pure food caf, a Greek caf in Minneapolis which was located adjacent to the Orpheum Theater. Soundtrack: Repo Man. [citation needed] Bob Hope said of Maxene's passing, "She was more than part of The Andrews Sisters, much more than a singer. In 1972, Bette Midler introduced "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" to a new generation of music fans with her own hit version. She said, "We had been together nearly all our lives. The critics' major complaint was that Patty's show concentrated too much on Andrews Sisters material, which did not allow Patty's own talents as an expressive and bluesy vocalist to shine through. The group's career spanned more than five decades and resulted in 90 million records and 46 top 10 hits. The previous year, Patty Andrews had appeared in a West Coast musical called Victory Canteen, set during World War II. Their first professional engagement came in December 1932 at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. They began singing together as children; by the time they were teenagers they made up an accomplished vocal group. The McGuire Sisters are Christine McGuire, Dorothy McGuire and Phyllis McGuire. hide caption. Patty and Maxene never did fully reconcile. [18] Patty attributed the breakup to the deaths of their parents: "We had been together nearly all our lives," Patty explained in 1971. Read Full Biography, The Andrews Sisters were the most successful female vocal group of the first half of the 20th century in the U.S. One source lists 113 singles chart entries by the trio between 1938-1951, an average of more than eight per year. Although they were fired soon after their first night on the program Saturday Night Swing Club, they were signed to a recording contract by a Decca Records executive who had heard the broadcast. The Andrews Sisters sold more than 75 million records and entertained World War II troops in Africa and Europe. The Andrews Sisters (from left, Maxene, Patty and LaVerne) in the 1940s. After that, the sisters pursued solo careers into the 1990s. Maxene died in 1995. With their precise harmonies and perfectly . The plots may have been pancake-thin but they were sure-fire morale boosters and needed war-time tension relievers. And in 1948, when they were ranked as the top recording artists of the year, the Andrews Sisters reached the Top Ten with "Civilization (Bongo, Bongo, Bongo)" (with Danny Kaye), "Toolie Oolie Doolie (The Yodel Polka)," "Underneath the Arches," and "You Call Everybody Darling.". During World War II, the sisters were a staple of popular culture, recording with Glenn Miller and Bing Crosby, appearing in films with Abbott and Costello, and performing live around the country. In 1987, the group was honored with a Hollywood Walk of Fame star for their recording work. ", The trio became synonymous with the war effort. Patty, the youngest, became the lively melodic leader, engulfed by the warm harmonies of LaVerne and Maxene.The old Yiddish song "Bei Mir Bist Du Schon" was translated into English for them by Sammy Cahn and the girls walked off with their first huge hit in late 1937 (and paid a flat fifty dollars and no royalties!). FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. Don Raye also wrote the sisters' famous songs such as, \"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy\", \"Beat Me Daddy, Eight to The Bar\" and \"I Love You Much Too Much\".\rI will also be posting \"I Love You Much Too Much\". They began their career in New York city with Jack Belasco's orchestra and later with Ted Mack making the Vaudeville circuit. by Bruce Eder. Their reign is all the more remarkable given that they swam against the current of contemporary music trends while making it seem effortless. "During her lifetime, there was no such thing that existed for us. [citation needed], The Andrews Sisters were the most sought-after singers in theater shows worldwide during the 1940s and early 1950s, always topping previous house averages. The Disney company also utilized the girls' voices in their cartoon features Make Mine Music (1946) and Melody Time (1948).All three girls experienced down times in their personal lives as well during the late-1940s. [33] Their versatility allowed them to pair with many different artists in the recording studios, producing Top 10 hits with the likes of Bing Crosby[34] (the only recording artist of the 1940s to sell more records than The Andrews Sisters), Danny Kaye, Dick Haymes, Carmen Miranda, Al Jolson, Ray McKinley, Burl Ives, Ernest Tubb, Red Foley, Dan Dailey, Alfred Apaka, and Les Paul. Well, All Right! It started in 1937 and its still going. Though their fame declined in the postwar years, their act remained popular into the 1960s. )", "I Wish I Had a Dime (For Every Time I Missed You)", "I'm Bitin' My Fingernails and Thinking of You", 75100 million records sold from a little over 600 recorded tunes, record-breaking theater and cabaret runs all across, countless appearances on radio shows from 1935 to 1960 (including their own), guest spots on every major television show of the 1950s and 1960s, including those hosted by, "A Penny a Kiss-A Penny a Hug" (1950) (No. LaVerne denied the suicide attempt to reporters. 18), "The Pussy Cat Song (Nyow! Ethnicity: *father - Greek. "The Andrews Sisters played an enormous part in that popularity." The Andrews Sisters were on tour in December 1941 when President Roosevelt announced that the U.S. was entering WWII. Like many popular entertainers, they hit the road to tour military bases and installations, says NPR, not only in the United States, but in Africa and Italy as well. Patty sang in shows and on cruise ships while Maxene continued soloing and did quite well for a time in such musical shows as "Pippin" and "Swing Time Canteen" (the latter as late as 1995).Plagued by heart problems (she suffered a massive heart attack in 1982), Maxene died of a second coronary on October 21, 1995. They delivered an optimistic, upbeat war campaign that instilled hope, joy and allegiance through song, comedy, and lively movement. .Hailing from Minnesota, eldest sister LaVerne Sophie was born on July 6, 1911, followed by Maxene Angelyn on January 3, 1916, and finally Patricia Marie on February 16, 1918. They consisted of real life sisters LaVerne Andrews, Maxene Andrews, and Patty Andrews. [15], An ad in the 1951 'Radio Annual' showed photos of the Andrews as children, as contemporary singers, and as old women in the then-future year of 1975, although the act would not make it that long. Their first picture, Argentine Nights, paired them with another enthusiastic trio, the Ritz Brothers. The youngest of the sisters, Patricia Marie Andrews was just 19 when the trio became an overnight sensation crooning "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen," a tune originally written for the Yiddish theater. Formed . "I Wanna Be Loved," with the same sort of arrangement, also topped the charts in June. *mother - Norwegian. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia (July 6, 1911 - May 8, 1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn (January 3, 1916 - October 21, 1995), and mezzo-soprano Patricia Marie "Patty" (February 16, 1918 - January 30, 2013). Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Maxene Angelyn Andrews ( b. January 3, 1916, Minneapolisd the act to be a.. 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