13 Facts About Maxine Sullivan

Maxine Sullivan, born Marietta Williams in Homestead, Pennsylvania, United States, was an American jazz vocalist and performer.

Maxine Sullivan is best known for her 1937 recording of a swing version of the Scottish folk song "Loch Lomond".

Maxine Sullivan began her music career singing in her uncle's band, The Red Hot Peppers, in her native Pennsylvania, in which she occasionally played the flugelhorn and the valve trombone, in addition to singing.

Shortly thereafter, Maxine Sullivan became a featured vocalist at the Onyx Club in New York City.

Maxine Sullivan performed at many of New York's hottest jazz spots such as the Ruban Bleu, the Village Vanguard, the Blue Angel, and the Penthouse.

In 1949, Maxine Sullivan appeared on the short-lived CBS Television series Uptown Jubilee, and in 1953 starred in the play, Take a Giant Step.

In 1956, Maxine Sullivan shifted from her earlier style and recorded the album A Tribute to Andy Razaf; originally on the Period record label, the album featured Maxine Sullivan's interpretations of a dozen tunes using Andy Razaf's lyrics.

From 1958, Maxine Sullivan worked as a nurse before resuming her musical career in 1966, performing in jazz festivals alongside her fourth husband Cliff Jackson, who can be heard on the 1966 live recording of Maxine Sullivan's performance at the Manassas Jazz Festival.

Maxine Sullivan continued to perform throughout the 1970s and made a string of recordings during the 1980s, despite being over 70 years old.

Maxine Sullivan was nominated for the 1979 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in My Old Friends, and participated in the film biography Maxine Sullivan: Love to Be in Love, shortly before her death.

Maxine Sullivan married four times; her second husband was the band leader John Kirby, while her fourth husband, whom she married in 1950, was the stride pianist Cliff Jackson, who died in 1970.

Maxine Sullivan died aged 75 in 1987 in New York City after suffering a seizure.

Maxine Sullivan was posthumously inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1998.