Kathryn Grayson was under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by the early 1940s, soon establishing a career principally through her work in musicals.
34 Facts About Kathryn Grayson
2.
Zelma Kathryn Elisabeth Hedrick was born on February 9,1922, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, one of four children of Charles Hedrick, a building contractor-realtor, and Lillian Hedrick.
3.
The Hedrick family later moved to Kirkwood, Missouri, outside St Louis, where Kathryn Grayson was discovered singing on the empty stage of the St Louis Municipal Opera House by a janitor, who introduced her to Frances Marshall of the Chicago Civic Opera, who gave the twelve-year-old girl voice lessons.
4.
Kathryn Grayson had two brothers, Clarence "Bud" E Hedrick, and Harold.
5.
The family moved to California when Kathryn Grayson was 15 years old.
6.
In 1940, an MGM talent scout saw Kathryn Grayson performing at a music festival.
7.
Kathryn Grayson appeared in three films in 1942: The Vanishing Virginian, Rio Rita and Seven Sweethearts.
8.
Kathryn Grayson starred as the singing daughter of an Army commander.
9.
Kathryn Grayson did not appear in any films for nearly two years, but instead worked at entertaining troops during the war and performing on radio programs.
10.
Kathryn Grayson returned to films in Anchors Aweigh, a musical romantic-comedy set in Los Angeles and co-starring Kelly and Frank Sinatra.
11.
In 1950, Kathryn Grayson was partnered with Lanza, and portrayed an opera singer in The Toast of New Orleans, and performed the Academy-Award-nominated song "Be My Love".
12.
Kathryn Grayson went to costume designer Helen Rose, who sewed pieces of brass into Kathryn Grayson's gloves.
13.
Kathryn Grayson replaced June Allyson in the role of Ina Massine in 1951's Grounds for Marriage.
14.
Kathryn Grayson portrayed an opera singer with laryngitis, alongside Van Johnson who played her doctor and love interest.
15.
Kathryn Grayson was next cast as Magnolia Hawks in the 1951 remake of the 1927 Hammerstein and Kern musical, Show Boat, alongside Howard Keel and Judy Garland who dropped out of production, and the role went to Ava Gardner.
16.
Kathryn Grayson teamed again with Keel in the 1952 Technicolor musical Lovely to Look At, a remake of the 1935 Astaire and Rogers film Roberta.
17.
Kathryn Grayson was released to the Warner Brothers studio in January 1953, with the stipulation that she return to MGM for one more film.
18.
Kathryn Grayson was asked to perform La Boheme at the Central City Opera House in Central City, Colorado, but due to her filming obligations for The Desert Song, she had to turn it down.
19.
Kathryn Grayson appeared on television occasionally, having guest starred in the CBS anthology series, General Electric Theater in the episode, Shadow on the Heart, with John Ericson, and on Playhouse 90 in the title role of the "Lone Woman", with Raymond Burr and Scott Brady in the historical roles of the brothers Charles and William Bent, respectively.
20.
Kathryn Grayson appeared on stage in numerous productions including Show Boat, Rosalinda, Kiss Me, Kate, Naughty Marietta, and The Merry Widow, for which she was nominated for Chicago's Sarah Siddons Award.
21.
In 1953, Kathryn Grayson optioned the story It's Greek to Me, written by Helen Deutsch, to be accompanied by a score from Cole Porter.
22.
The story was a mythical love story about Hercules and Hippolyte, and Kathryn Grayson hoped to be reunited with Howard Keel and take the show on the road.
23.
Kathryn Grayson's casting in The Merry Widow led to her replacing Julie Andrews in 1962 as Queen Guinevere in Camelot.
24.
Kathryn Grayson then continued the role for over sixteen months in the national tour of the United States before leaving for health reasons.
25.
Kathryn Grayson had a lifelong dream of being an opera star, and she appeared in a number of operas in the 1960s, such as La boheme, Madama Butterfly, Orpheus in the Underworld and La traviata.
26.
Kathryn Grayson trained from the age of twelve as an opera singer.
27.
In May 1951, Kathryn Grayson had to postpone a concert tour due to being unknowingly cast in Lovely to Look At.
28.
In 1952, Kathryn Grayson was offered more than $10,000 to perform for a week at the Riviera night club in New Jersey before making The Desert Song.
29.
Kathryn Grayson gave nightclub and concert tours in Australia a few times.
30.
On one of those trips to the Far East, Kathryn Grayson gave a concert in Manila, the Philippines, in 1969, where she performed at the New Frontier theater.
31.
Kathryn Grayson supervised the Voice and Choral Studies Program at Idaho State University.
32.
Shelton and Kathryn Grayson eloped to Las Vegas, where they were married on July 11,1941.
33.
On October 7,1948, Grayson's only child, daughter Patricia "Patty Kate" Kathryn Johnston was born.
34.
On October 3,1951, Kathryn Grayson was granted a divorce from Johnston on the grounds of mental cruelty.