Kathryn Elizabeth Smith was an American contralto.
43 Facts About Kate Smith
2.
Kate Smith became known as The Songbird of the South because of her tremendous popularity during World War II.
3.
Kate Smith was born on May 1,1907, in Greenville, Virginia, to Charlotte 'Lottie' Yarnell and William Herman Smith, growing up in Washington, DC Her father owned the Capitol News Company, distributing newspapers and magazines in the greater DC area.
4.
Kate Smith was the youngest of three daughters, the middle child dying in infancy.
5.
Kate Smith failed to talk until she was four years old, but a year later she was singing at church social events.
6.
Kate Smith attended Business High School in DC, likely graduating in 1924.
7.
Kate Smith got herself on the bill at Keith's Theater in Boston as a singer.
8.
When Honeymoon Lane closed, Kate Smith had difficulty finding work in New York, so she returned to Washington, DC where she appeared sporadically in vaudeville.
9.
Kate Smith said later that she often wept with humiliation in her dressing room after the show.
10.
Kate Smith's first issued recordings, from an October 28,1926, session, appeared on the Columbia label.
11.
Kate Smith made a few more records for Columbia through May 1927.
12.
Kate Smith had become self-conscious regarding her weight, in no small part because of the on- and off-stage mocking she received from co-star Bert Lahr.
13.
Kate Smith was a major star of radio, usually backed by Jack Miller's Orchestra.
14.
The Kate Smith Hour was a leading radio variety show, offering comedy, music, and drama with appearances by top personalities of films and theater for eight years.
15.
Kate Smith made a dramatic appearance, starring in "Little Johnny Appleseed" on Silver Theater on May 14,1944.
16.
Kate Smith continued on the Mutual Broadcasting System, CBS, ABC, and NBC, presenting both music and talk shows on radio until 1960.
17.
Kate Smith "stirred patriotic fervor" during World War II and contributed to the sale of over $600 million of war bonds during a series of marathon broadcasts.
18.
Kate Smith continued on the Mutual Broadcasting System, CBS, ABC, and NBC, presenting both music and talk shows on radio until 1960.
19.
From January 25 to July 18,1960, Smith hosted The Kate Smith Show, a variety program on the CBS Television Monday evening schedule.
20.
On October 2,1966, Kate Smith performed on the British television show, Sunday Night at the London Palladium.
21.
Kate Smith recorded dozens of successful albums and songs during the 1930s and 1940s.
22.
Kate Smith recorded sporadically during the 1950s but in 1963 signed a contract with RCA Victor to record a number of successful albums, including several that charted on the Billboard Hot 200 chart alongside the major rock stars of the era, usually with Smith, then well into her fifties, the oldest performer on the charts.
23.
At the Flyers' home opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 11,1973, Kate Smith made a surprise appearance to perform the song in person and received a tremendous reception.
24.
Kate Smith again performed the song at the Spectrum in front of a capacity crowd of 17,007 fans before game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals on May 19,1974, against the Boston Bruins.
25.
Kate Smith performed live at the Flyers' home game on May 13,1975, before Game 7 of the Stanley Cup semifinals against the Islanders.
26.
The video of Kate Smith's performance was later accompanied by Lauren Hart, daughter of the late Hockey Hall of Fame broadcaster, Gene Hart, longtime voice of the Flyers, and anthem singer for the Flyers.
27.
Kate Smith titled her 1938 autobiography Living in a Great Big Way.
28.
Kate Smith was the grand marshal of the 1976 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California and sang "God Bless America" and the National Anthem before the Rose Bowl game, a UCLA victory over Ohio State.
29.
Those against the discontinuation of Kate Smith's recordings have cited the satirical nature of the song "That's Why Darkies Were Born", and the fact that it was popularized by Paul Robeson.
30.
Kate Smith called for racial tolerance in 1945 in an address on CBS Radio, declaring, "Race hatreds, social prejudices, religious bigotry, they are the diseases that eat away the fibers of peace".
31.
Kate Smith went on to state "it is up to us to tolerate one another in order to achieve peace".
32.
Kate Smith had a home in Arlington, Virginia, and kept a summer home on a small island in Lake Placid, New York.
33.
On June 17,1986, Kate Smith died of respiratory arrest at Raleigh Community Hospital in Raleigh at the age of 79.
34.
For over a year following her death, Kate Smith's remains were stored in a vault at St Agnes Cemetery in Lake Placid, while officials of St Agnes Church and the singer's executors engaged in a dispute over Kate Smith's request to be buried in a mausoleum on the cemetery's grounds.
35.
Kate Smith did a command performance for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at the White House on June 8,1939.
36.
Kate Smith received a Drake University medallion for "outstanding contributions to radio and the people".
37.
Kate Smith was inducted posthumously into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1999.
38.
Kate Smith was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2009.
39.
The artwork was based on a photograph of Kate Smith taken in the 1960s.
40.
On October 26,1982, Kate Smith received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor, by US President Ronald Reagan.
41.
The voice of Kate Smith is known and loved by millions of Americans, young and old.
42.
In giving us a magnificent, selfless talent like Kate Smith, God has truly blessed America.
43.
In 1969, in light of Jim Morrison's arrest in Miami for indecent exposure, Kate Smith had performed with The Lettermen, Anita Bryant, and Jackie Gleason in a concert demonstration against indecency, for which President Richard Nixon commended the stars' performances.