Georgia Gibbs

About

Remembered for her stylistic versatility, this twentieth-century jazz, pop, and R&B-influenced vocalist recorded such United States music chart-topping songs as "If I Knew You Were Comin' (I'd've Baked a Cake)," "Kiss of Fire," and "Dance With Me Henry (Wallflower)."

Before Fame

When she was just thirteen years old, she found employment at a vaudeville theater in Boston. Four years later, she entered the big band scene as a member of the Hudson-DeLange Orchestra and went on to perform on numerous popular radio programs.

Trivia

She hosted Georgia Gibbs And Her Million Record Show and appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Family Life

Born to Russian-Jewish parents, Frieda Lipschitz (who later changed her name to Georgia Gibbs) grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts, where she spent nearly a decade of her early life in an orphanage. In her late thirties, she married writer and international affairs expert Frank Gervasi; the union produced one child.

Associated With

In the early 1950s, she provided musical interludes for the touring comedy acts of Sid Caesar and Danny Kaye.