Helen Grayco

Helen Grayco (née Greco; September 20, 1924 – August 20, 2022) was an American singer and actress active from the 1930s to the 1960s. She was most famous for appearances with her husband Spike Jones on The Spike Jones Show in the 1950s and the 1960s. She is also the mother of producer and Emmy recipient, Spike Jones, Jr. and Leslie Ann Jones, a Grammy award-winning recording engineer.[1]

Helen Grayco
Grayco on the cover of Down Beat magazine, 1951
Grayco on the cover of Down Beat magazine, 1951
Background information
Birth nameHelen Greco
Born(1924-09-20)September 20, 1924
Tacoma, Washington, U.S.
DiedAugust 20, 2022(2022-08-20) (aged 97)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
GenresTraditional pop
Occupation(s)Actress, singer
Instrument(s)Vocals
Years active1932–1968
Spouse(s)Spike Jones

Early life

Grayco was born Helen Greco on September 20, 1924, in Tacoma, Washington,[2] the second youngest of 11 children[3] born to Charles Battiste Greco and his wife, Rosina.[4] She had five brothers; John, Ralph, George, Anthony, and James, and five sisters; Mary, Carmella, Katherina, Theresa and Elizabeth. The siblings were raised in the Roman Catholic faith of their parents,[5] Italians who had emigrated to the United States from Lamezia Terme, Calabria.[6][7] Mr. Greco owned a grocery store which went bankrupt during the Great Depression.[8]

Career

At age 4, Grayco began singing in Tacoma.[3]

Radio

In 1932, at age eight, Grayco sang on The Carnival Hour, a variety show on radio station KHJ in Los Angeles. She was then hired to appear on a local variety program in Seattle, Washington. Bing Crosby and his brothers, who were, like Grayco, all natives of Tacoma,[9] heard her on the program and reportedly Crosby said that "...she sings Hollywood!" Crosby gave her a job in Hollywood and soon her family moved to Los Angeles. She earned a salary of $75 a week.[8]

Film

In 1935, after her collaboration with Crosby ended, Grayco appeared in a non-speaking part in a scene with Allan Jones in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film A Night at the Opera starring the Marx Brothers.[8]

In 1938, Joe Pasternak of Universal Studios signed Grayco, then thirteen, to replace Deanna Durbin as Universal's leading child star. During her stay at Universal, she appeared in a small role in Durbin's film That Certain Age.[8]

Early work

Grayco began her musical career, working with the bands of Chuck Cascalas, Chuck Cabot, and Red Nichols. Her big break came when she began travelling with Stan Kenton's band while still in high school. The tour took Grayco from Los Angeles to the Roseland Ballroom in New York City.

With Spike Jones
Grayco with Spike Jones and Bill Dana, 1960

Grayco first met bandleader Spike Jones in 1946 while she was performing at the Hollywood Palladium. After her performance he offered her a gig with his band, the City Slickers.[5]

In a 2009 interview, Grayco had this to say about her first meeting with Spike Jones:

He asked to see me after the show and offered me a job. He was already established. A huge star. He was going on tour. I was in direct contrast to what he did. I was terribly insulted when Spike first asked to hire me. He had just done "Cocktails for Two" and all that stuff that he was known for. "I don’t know where I could possibly fit in in your group. I‘m not a comedienne," I told him. He said, "No, you’ll do your own thing. You’ll have your arrangements. You’ll do 15, 20 minutes entirely separate from the show." They needed something to calm people down. And that’s how we always worked from then on.[8]

Grayco also got a spot with Jones's Other Orchestra, which he formed in 1946. The group was known for its legitimately "pretty" music in contrast to the City Slickers, who were known for their crazy way of performing. The one outstanding recording by the Other Orchestra is "Laura", which features a serious first half (played exquisitely by the Other Orchestra) and a manic second half (played for laughs by the City Slickers). Even with the success of "Laura", the public preferred the crazy music of the Slickers to the elegant music of the Other Orchestra. The Other Orchestra broke up in 1947, only a year after its founding.[8]

She appeared with Jones and his City Slickers on The Colgate Comedy Hour and The Red Skelton Show. She also starred with Jones and his band on a series of television shows between 1954 and 1961 on NBC and CBS known as The Spike Jones Show[10]: 1004  and Club Oasis.[10]

Solo artist

Grayco released her first single in 1949. Her two most memorable albums were After Midnight in 1957 and The Lady in Red in 1958. The latter was the last album she ever released.[8][5][11]

Later career

Grayco continued to sing in various venues for about the next ten years. Her last public appearance was in 1968 on an episode of The Dean Martin Show.

In 1961, Grayco was the spokesperson for Kahlúa coffee liqueur. Her activities included a 13-week tour promoting the product.[12]

After a period of retirement, Grayco briefly resumed recording for United Artists Records in 1976. Her first single for the label was "If That's Now Nature Made Him". The song received attention from Billboard editors who deemed it one of the first pop songs with a theme of homosexuality, as it is about a woman who falls in love with a gay man.[13]

Personal life and death

Grayco married Spike Jones on July 18, 1949,[5] in Beverly Hills, California.[14] They had three children: producer Spike Jones Jr., Grammy award-winning recording engineer Leslie Ann Jones, and Gina Jones.[8] The marriage lasted until Jones's death on May 1, 1965, from emphysema.

In 1968, she married Bill Rosen, who owned a restaurant named Gatsby's in New York City. She moved to New York with him and later moved back to Los Angeles with him when he opened a restaurant called Gatsby's there. Rosen died in 2002.[8]

Grayco died of cancer in Los Angeles on August 20, 2022, at the age of 97, exactly a month before her 98th birthday.[15][16][17]

Filmography

Film

Television
Year Title Role Notes
1951The Colgate Comedy HourHerselfEpisode: "The Spike Jones Show"
Original air date: November 2, 1951
1952Four Star RevueGuest Vocalist1 episode
1954The Spike Jones ShowHerself/Various roles18 episodes
1955The Red Skelton ShowMrs. Spike Jones1 episode
1957The Spike Jones ShowHerself20 episodes
1958Club OasisSinger3 episodes
The Frank Sinatra ShowHerselfEpisode: "Spike Jones and Helen Grayco"
Original air date: April 4, 1958
1960Swinging SpiketacularsHerself2 episodes
Person to PersonHerself1 episode
1961The Spike Jones ShowHerself9 episodes
1968The Dean Martin ShowHerself1 episode
The Pat Boone ShowHerself1 episode

References
  1. "Maureen Droney. "Leslie Ann Jones: DOING IT ALL" Mix magazine online, August 1, 1999". Archived from the original on February 17, 2012.
  2. "Helen Grayco, R.I.P." New From ME. August 20, 2022. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  3. Harker, Milton (May 4, 1938). "Universal Studio Plans Film Exploitation of Child Players". The Miami News. International News Service. p. 17. Retrieved September 13, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Okon, May (October 3, 1954). "Spike to the Guns!". New York Sunday News. Archived from the original on May 16, 2015. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
  5. "Helen Grayco Friendship with Michele Pane". Michelepane.it. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  6. "Helen Grayco". Calabriansmostfamous.com. March 31, 2015.
  7. "Helen Grayco | Michele Pane". Michelepane.it.
  8. Reed, Bill (February 28, 2009). "Helen Grayco cont'd". Chilledairtext.blogspot.com. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  9. Blecha, Peter (August 29, 2005). "the Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History". HistoryLink.org. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  10. Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 195. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
  11. Helen Grayco at AllMusic
  12. Hoekstra, Dick (March 19, 1961). "Marlin Beach's New Jules Verne Room Fabulous". Fort Lauderdale News. p. 18 C. Retrieved September 13, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. Dave Dexter Jr. (October 30, 1976). "Is 'If That's How Nature Made Him' first gay ballad?". Billboard. p. 3.
  14. "Spike Jones Weds Singer". The New York Times. Associated Press. July 19, 1948. p. 11. ProQuest 108108837. Retrieved September 13, 2020 – via ProQuest.
  15. "Helen Grayco, R.I.P." New From ME. August 20, 2022. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  16. "Helen Grayco". Aveleyman. Retrieved August 22, 2022.
  17. Barnes, Mike (August 23, 2022). "Helen Grayco, Singer and Widow of Madcap Musician Spike Jones, Dies at 97". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
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