1. Teresa Brewer was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of the 1950s, recording around 600 songs.
17 Facts About Teresa Brewer
1. 2.
Teresa Brewer's father Ludwig Breuer, a German immigrant, was a glass inspector for the Libbey Owens Company, and her mother Helen Breuer, a housewife, was of Polish ancestry.
3.
Teresa Brewer's singing career began almost as soon as she was able to walk and talk.
4.
At the age of 7, Teresa Brewer entered The Major Bowles Amateur Hour and was touring around the country with them.
5.
Teresa Brewer would have graduated from grade 12 in 1948 at age 17, a year early.
6.
Teresa Brewer continued releasing albums throughout the 1960s, but the British Invasion in the mid-1960s quickly eliminated most interest in older singers and her record sales dwindled.
7.
Teresa Brewer appeared as Pat Edmonds in the 1953 film musical Those Redheads from Seattle.
8.
Teresa Brewer had natural brown hair, but had it dyed red for the role.
9.
Teresa Brewer then kept it red for many years for her performances.
10.
Teresa Brewer re-emerged as a jazz vocalist on Bob Thiele's Amsterdam label in the 1970s and 1980s, recording a number of albums including tribute albums to Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller and Irving Berlin.
11.
Teresa Brewer recorded with such jazz greats as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Hines, Svend Asmussen, and Bobby Hackett.
12.
Teresa Brewer sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the 1968 MLB All Star Game.
13.
Teresa Brewer appeared on television as a guest star on such series as Ed Sullivan, Perry Como, Jimmy Dean, The Muppet Show in 1977, Sha Na Na, and The Statler Brothers Show in 1993.
14.
Thiele, whom she had married, died in 1996, and Teresa Brewer never recorded after that.
15.
Teresa Brewer married William "Bill" Monahan in 1949; the couple had four daughters, Kathleen, Susan, Megan and Michelle.
16.
Teresa Brewer died of progressive supranuclear palsy, a neuromuscular disease, at her home in New Rochelle, New York, aged 76.
17.
Teresa Brewer's funeral was held at New Rochelle's Holy Name of Jesus Roman Catholic Church, where she was a member.