GetWiki

{{short description|American singer}}{{More footnotes needed|date=August 2012}}

factoids

| birth_place = Reedville, Virginia, U.S.mf=yes9191731}}| death_place = San Jose, California, U.S.| nationality = American| occupation = Singer}}Evelyn Knight (born Evelyn Davis,NEWS,www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/27/AR2007102701264.html, Evelyn Knight; Torch Songstress Began Career in D.C. Clubs, Schudel, Matt, October 28, 2007, The Washington Post, March 18, 2016, December 31, 1917, Reedville, Virginia – September 28, 2007, San Jose, California) was an American singer of the 1940s and 1950s. Damon Runyon, in one of his newspaper columns, described Knight as “a lissome blonde lassie with a gentle little voice and a face mother would not mind having brought home to her.“NEWS, Runyon, Damon, The Brighter Side,www.newspapers.com/clip/4653784/the_indiana_gazette, The Indiana Gazette, January 8, 1946, Indiana, Pennsylvania, 14, Newspapers.com, March 17, 2016, {{Open access}}

Early years

Knight’s father was “head of a geodetic survey for the government”. She sang soprano in the young people’s choir in a church in her hometown of Reedville, Virginia.NEWS, Evelyn Knight’s Switch Hit Nation’s Juke Box Jackpot,www.newspapers.com/clip/4653470/the_austin_american/, The Austin American, February 6, 1949, Austin, Texas, 23, Newspapers.com, March 17, 2016, {{Open access}} After her father’s death, Knight and her mother moved to Arlington County, Virginia, in 1926. When she was 16, she sang in Washington nightclubs billed as Honey Davis. At the age of 18, she married Andrew B. Knight, a war photographer for the Washington Post, and became professionally known as Evelyn Knight.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

Recording

During a seven-year span in the late 1940s and 1950, Knight had two No. 1 hit records and 13 that made the Top 40. Her debut recording was “Dance with a Dolly (With a Hole in Her Stocking)” for Decca Records in 1945. It became a Top 10 hit.In 1948, she recorded the million-seller “A Little Bird Told Me” with The Stardusters, which was number one for seven weeks and stayed on the chart for five months.BOOK, Joseph, Murrells, 1978, The Book of Golden Discs, 2nd, Barrie and Jenkins Ltd, London, 44, 0-214-20512-6, registration,archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/44, Later that year she recorded “Powder Your Face with Sunshine”; which also reached nmuber one and remained on the chart into the following year.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}She had other hits including “Buttons and Bows” in 1948, which Bob Hope also sang in the film The Paleface. A list of some of her hits appears below. In 1950, she released “Candy and Cake”, originally sung by Mindy Carson, and “All Dressed Up to Smile” with the Ray Charles singers. In 1951, she recorded a duet with country singer Red Foley called “My Heart Cries for You”, as well as a pair of titles with Bing Crosby.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

Television

Knight appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Colgate Comedy Hour and a 1951 television appearance with Abbott & Costello.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

Radio

Knight began her career in high school when she would sing at Washington D.C.’s Station WRC as “Honey Davis” twice a week over NBC for $16 a broadcast.NEWS, It’s a Lovely Knight,www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/Archive-Radio-Mirror-IDX/IDX/40s/44/Mirror-1944-10-OCR-Page-0056.pdf, March 17, 2016, Radio Mirror, October 1944, 54, Knight was the female vocalist on the Tony Martin Show, which began March 30, 1947.NEWS, Tony Martin Show Opens Sunday on WHP; Evelyn Knight; Bob Hope Star,www.newspapers.com/clip/4651903/harrisburg_telegraph/, Harrisburg Telegraph, March 29, 1947, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 17, Newspapers.com, March 17, 2016, {{Open access}} In 1948, she co-starred with Gordon MacRae on Star Theater on CBS.NEWS, Gordon MacRae Is Star of WHP ‘Star Theater’,www.newspapers.com/clip/4653566/harrisburg_telegraph, Harrisburg Telegraph, January 3, 1948, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 17, Newspapers.com, March 17, 2016, {{Open access}} She also was featured on Barry Wood’s Million Dollar Band program and starred in a weekly program broadcast over CBS shortwave for Latin America. Knight was also a regular on Club Fifteen,Sies, Luther F. (2014). Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920-1960, 2nd Edition. McFarland & Company, Inc. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-5149-4}}. P. 139. Happy Island,{{r|sies|page1=290}} and The Lanny Ross Show.{{r|sies|page1=384}}

Nightclubs

One of Knight’s early bookings was in the King Cole Room in Washington, D.C. An initial two-week contract eventually turned into a five-year stay. Near the end of that span, a Billboard reviewer wrote, “For five years she has held down the entertainment assignment in this spot and in that five years she has grown into a local tradition ... Cool and with plenty of glamour, this girl delivers her stuff in a sophisticated manner”.MAGAZINE, Stinnett, Caskie, Reviews: Evelyn Knight,www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/40s/1943/Billboard%201943-06-26-OCR-Page-0020.pdf, March 18, 2016, Billboard (magazine), Billboard, June 26, 1943, 20, Knight moved to New York City, where she began headlining at Manhattan nightclubs the Blue Angel and the Plaza Hotel’s Persian Room.NEWS, Heimer, Mel, My New York,www.newspapers.com/clip/4653618/the_daily_notes/, The Daily Notes, April 21, 1950, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, 2, Newspapers.com, March 17, 2016, {{Open access}} She launched her recording career in 1945 by signing with Decca records, and moved to Los Angeles in the late 1940s where she headlined at Ciro’s and Coconut Grove.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

Recognition

File:Evelyn Knight’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.jpg|thumb|Star on Hollywood Walk of FameHollywood Walk of FameKnight was among the original 1,500 stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her star, dedicated February 8, 1960, is at 6136 Hollywood Boulevard, in the “Recording” section.WEB, Evelyn Knight,www.walkoffame.com/evelyn-knight, Hollywood Walk of Fame, 17 March 2016, A 1947 newspaper article reported, “She has given three ‘command performances’ for President Truman.“In 2011, one of Knight’s number 1 hits, “A Little Bird Told Me” was featured as a song on the radio in the game, L.A. Noire by Rockstar Games. The song was one of many (appropriate for that era) that would randomly play throughout the game.A 2018 television advertisement entitled Lucky Guy featured Knight’s version of the song “Lucky Lucky Lucky Me”. The advertisement promotes the South-Korean automobile manufacturer Hyundai’s Tucson car.WEB,www.thedrum.com/news/2018/08/14/uk-top-shazamed-ads-samsung-heineken-and-hyundai, UK Top Shazamed ads: Samsung, Heineken and Hyundai, 14 August 2018, 5 September 2019, Danielle Gibson, The Drum, WEB, Hyundai Tucson Advert Song 2018 - Lucky Guy,tvadvideos.com/video-hyundai-tucson/, TV Ad Videos / TV & Internet Commercials, 10 February 2019, 12 February 2019,web.archive.org/web/20190212011529/https://tvadvideos.com/video-hyundai-tucson/, dead,

Family

Divorced from Knight, she married Johnny Lehmann, a songwriter, in 1951. Her son, Andrew Knight Jr. became a concert tour lighting technician.WEB,www.montereyherald.com/general-news/20071029/torch-singer-evelyn-knight-dies, Torch singer Evelyn Knight dies, 2007-10-29, Monterey Herald, en-US, 2019-06-28, Her second child, Fran, worked in California radio.WEB,www.sfgate.com/living/article/Free-to-be-Fran-After-years-of-leading-a-secret-2634970.php, Free to be Fran: After years of leading a secret life, it was time to make the most important decision of her life, McManis, Sam, 2003-02-09, SFGate, 2019-06-28,

Last years

Knight’s obituary in The Washington Post reported, “she abruptly retired from show business in her 30s, never to return to the spotlight.” She and her family moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1969 where she lived until 2007. Following a decline in health in 2007, she moved to San Jose, California to live with her daughter. She died on September 28, 2007, aged 89, from lung cancer.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

Charted singles{|class“wikitable”

!Year!Single!USChartBOOK, Pop Memories: 1890-1954,archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit, registration, Whitburn, Joel, 1986, Record Research, 9780898200836, |1944|“Dance with a Dolly (With a Hole in Her Stocking)”6|1945|“Chickery Chick”101948|“A Little Bird Told Me”1|“Brush Those Tears from Your Eyes”9|“Buttons and Bows”14Powder Your Face with Sunshine>Powder Your Face with Sunshine (Smile! Smile! Smile!)”11949|“You’re So Understanding”21|“It’s Too Late Now”22I’m in Love with a Wonderful Guy>A Wonderful Guy”22|“Be Goody Good Good to Me”291950|“Candy and Cake”20|“All Dressed Up to Smile”25|1951|“My Heart Cries for You”28

References

{{reflist}}

External links

• Evelyn Knight and Johnny Lehmann
• Evelyn Knight recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
• Washington Post feature following death
• www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,797916,00.html" title="web.archive.org/web/20120203104347www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,797916,00.html">“Radio: Evelyn’s Costly Consonants”. Time. April 14, 1947
• {{IMDb name|1739707}}

{{Evelyn Knight}}{{Authority control}}