Peg LaCentra

Margherita Maria Francesca LaCentra[1] (c. 1910 – June 1, 1996)[2] was an American contralto[3] singer, best known for her work on old-time radio and her singing with Artie Shaw's orchestra. She also performed as Barbara Fulton.

Peg LaCentra
Publicity Photo of Peg LaCentra
Born
Margherita Maria Francesca LaCentra

c.1910
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedJune 1, 1996, age 86
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Other namesBarbara Fulton
Occupation(s)Singer, actress
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1939; died 1986)​
Children1

Early years

Born in Boston, LaCentra studied at the Fenway Academy of Dramatic Art and the New England Conservatory of Music[4] and graduated from Katharine Gibbs College.[5]

Radio

LaCentra worked as an announcer at WNAC[5] and performed on WBZ radio in Boston[6] before moving to New York in 1931 to work on network radio broadcasts.[2] She performed on NBC programs, including Beauty Box Theater, Circus Night in Silvertown, and Lucky Smith.[4]

In 1934, LaCentra was billed as Barbara Fulton when she sang with Leo Reisman's orchestra on radio. Use of the pseudonym was necessary because Reisman's sponsor was a competitor of the one for which she sang on another program.[7] In December 1934, she began singing with Harry Reser and his orchestra on a new weekly program on NBC.[8]

In 1935, a group of five radio stars selected LaCentra and Bob Lawrence to star in a new program, The Radio City Party, on NBC-Blue.[9] Also in 1935, she was the leading lady on Max Baer's radio program.[10] She gained her own program, The Peg LaCentra Show, on NBC in 1938,[11] a year in which she also sang on For Men Only on NBC.[12]

LaCentra was one of the stars of the Gulden's Mustard Serenade, a 15-minute variety show broadcast on NBC twice weekly in 1940.[13] She and singer Jerry Wayne co-starred in a twice-weekly musical program on CBS in 1944.[14] As a dramatic actress, she frequently played supporting roles in Mutual's romantic thriller, The Modern Adventures of Casanova (1952).[12]: 466-467 

In addition to her work on network radio, LaCentra recorded programs for NBC's Thesaurus music service.[15]

Stage and television

LaCentra appeared on Broadway as Mrs. Hamilton in The Patriots (1943).[16] In 1957, she appeared in a production of the romantic comedy Janus at the Pasadena Playhouse.[17]

On television, she played Amanda on the CBS comedy series The Marge and Gower Champion Show (1957).[18]

Orchestras and recordings

In 1932, LaCentra sang with Phil Spitalny and his orchestra.[3] Her first recording was "The Fortune Teller" (1934) with Johnny Green's orchestra on the Columbia label.[2]

In 1936, LaCentra joined Shaw as a singer for his newly formed orchestra. The two had worked together when she sang on The Mell-O-Roll Ice Cream Show, on which he was a member of the orchestra. In their new relationship, they performed in New York at the Paramount Theater and the Lexington Hotel. She recorded with Shaw for Brunswick records for a year.[2] She also sang with Benny Goodman's orchestra[1] and recorded with Jerry Sears' orchestra for Bluebird Records.[2]

Film

LaCentra was a ghost singer in feature films, dubbing vocal performances for stars including Susan Hayward in Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman (1947) and Ida Lupino in The Man I Love (1947).[19] She also appeared in short films,[2] including Broadway Follies, (1937) a series of single-reel musicals from Columbia Pictures,[20] and sang in cafe sequences in Humoresque (1946).[21]

Personal life

LaCentra married actor Paul Stewart in 1939.[2] For years, they had a commuter marriage, as she worked in New York and he made films in Hollywood.[1]

Death

On June 1, 1996, LaCentra died at age 86 of a heart attack at her home in Los Angeles.[2]

References
  1. "Peg LaCentra; Actress and Big Band Vocalist". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. September 12, 1996. Archived from the original on 24 February 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  2. Grimes, William (September 8, 1996). "Peg LaCentra, 86, a Singer With Shaw Orchestra". The New York Times. New York, New York City. Archived from the original on 23 October 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  3. "Air Attractions Tonight". The Boston Globe. Massachusetts, Boston. June 16, 1932. p. 30. Retrieved 24 February 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Pegg, Alice (July 20, 1935). "On the Way Up" (PDF). Radio Guide. IV (39): 4. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  5. "If You Want a Radio Sweetie She's Eligible" (PDF). Radio Stars: 44. June 1934. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  6. "WBZ radio listing". Hartford Courant. Connecticut, Hartford. November 19, 1930. p. 16. Retrieved 24 February 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Steinhauser, S. H. (October 4, 1934). "Pittsburgh Rabbi To Go On Net; Other Ministers Here May Follow". The Pittsburgh Press. Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh. p. 36. Retrieved 24 February 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. Lawrence, Bill (December 9, 1934). "Officials' Speeches to Head the Radio Week". The Nebraska State Journal. Nebraska, Lincoln. p. 23. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  9. Doran, Dorothy (March 11, 1935). "Musicians' Committee Names Peg LaCentra, Bob Lawrence Stars". The Akron Beacon Journal. Ohio, Akron. p. 7. Retrieved 25 February 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. Goodwin, Betty (June 30, 1935). "Orchids and Peanuts: a Radio Star's Story, And Peg LaCentra Enjoys One Just as Much as the Other". Detroit Free Press. Michigan, Detroit. p. 11. Retrieved 25 February 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. Terrace, Vincent (1999). Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 267. ISBN 978-0-7864-4513-4.
  12. Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (Revised ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 282. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3.
  13. "Gulden Show Back". Variety. October 9, 1940. p. 37. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  14. "Jerry Wayne and Peg LaCentra Head New Twice Weekly Musicale on WHP". Harrisburg Telegraph. Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. May 20, 1944. p. 15. Retrieved 25 February 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "(National Broadcasting Company advertisement)". Broadcasting. December 1, 1938. p. 33. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  16. "Peg La Centra (sic)". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on 25 February 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  17. "Husband-Wife Team Star in Pasadena 'Janus' Performance". The San Bernardino County Sun. California, San Bernardino. November 21, 1957. p. 38. Retrieved 25 February 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 655. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
  19. Stanfield, Peter (2005). Body and Soul: Jazz and Blues in American Film, 1927-63. University of Illinois Press. p. 203. ISBN 9780252072352. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  20. "(Columbia Pictures advertisement)". The Film Daily. October 15, 1937. p. 14. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  21. "The Cinema". The Ottawa Journal. Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. July 8, 1947. p. 8. Retrieved 25 February 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
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