What is Kate Smith?

Kathryn Elizabeth Smith (May 1, 1907 – June 17, 1986) was an American singer (born in Washington, D.C.), best known for her rendition of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America". She was one of America's most beloved entertainers, with a radio, TV and recording career that spanned five decades, and which reached its most-remembered zenith in the 1940s.

Her musical career began in earnest when she was discovered in 1930 by Columbia Records vice president Ted Collins, who became her longtime partner and manager and who put her on the radio in 1931. She sang the controversial top twenty song of 1931, "That's Why Darkies Were Born". She starred in the 1932 movie Hello Everybody!, with co-stars Randolph Scott and Sally Blane, and in 1943 she sang "God Bless America" in the wartime picture This is the Army. Irving Berlin had written the song in 1918, and it is considered "the second National Anthem" of the United States. Its popularity and constant airplay led Woody Guthrie to pen the original version of "This Land Is Your Land" in protest at the Berlin tune's unquestioning complacency.

Kate began making records in 1926; among her biggest hits were "River, Stay 'Way From My Door" (1931), "The Woodpecker Song" (1940), "The White Cliffs of Dover" (1941), "Rose O'Day" (1941), "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" (1942), "There Goes That Song Again" (1944), "Seems Like Old Times" (1946), and "Now Is the Hour" (1947). Her theme song was "When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain", the lyrics of which she helped write. She greeted audiences with "Hello, everybody!" and signed off with "Thanks for listenin'."

Radio

Her oversized figure made her an occasional object of derision from fellow performers and managers, however, in her later career, some Philadelphia Flyers hockey fans (see Kate Smith statue below) lovingly said about her performances prior to games, "it ain't BEGUN 'til the fat lady sings!" Smith, who weighed 235 pounds at the age of 30 ^[1] was unfazed, and titled her 1938 autobiography Living in a Great Big Way. She credited Ted Collins, who also gave her the break into the radio business, with helping her overcome her self-consciousness, writing, "Ted Collins was the first man who regarded me as a singer, and didn't even seem to notice that I was a big girl," ^[2] She noted, "I'm big, and I sing, and boy, when I sing, I sing all over!" ^[3]

Despite the occasional ridicule, Smith was a major star of radio, usually backed by Jack Miller's Orchestra. She began in 1931 with her twice-a-week NBC series, Kate Smith Sings (which quickly expanded to six shows a week), followed by a series of shows for CBS: Kate Smith and Her Swanee Music (1931-33), sponsored by La Palina Cigars; The Kate Smith Matinee (1934–35); The Kate Smith New Star Revue (1934–35); Kate Smith's Coffee Time (1935–36), sponsored by A&P; and The Kate Smith A&P Bandwagon (1936–37).

For eight years (1937–45), The Kate Smith Hour was a leading radio variety show, offering comedy, music and drama with appearances by top personalities of films and theater. The nationwide audience was introduced to comedy by the show's resident comics, Abbott and Costello and Henny Youngman, while a series of sketches led to The Aldrich Family as a spin-off in 1940. She continued into the 1950s on the Mutual Broadcasting System, CBS, ABC, and NBC, doing both music and talk shows.

Kate Smith statue

An unusual part of her career began on December 11, 1969, when the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team played her rendition of "God Bless America" before the game. Philadelphia beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-3. The team would begin to play the song before home games every once in a while, and the perception developed that the team was more successful on these occasions, so the tradition grew.

On October 11, 1973, she made a surprise appearance at the Flyers' home opener to perform the song in person prior to another game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and received a tremendous reception. The Flyers won that game by a 2-0 score.

She again performed the song at the Spectrum in front of a capacity crowd of 17,007 excited fans before Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals on May 19, 1974, at which the Flyers clinched their first of two back-to-back Stanley Cups, winning that playoff series against the Boston Bruins 4 games to 2, with Bernie Parent shutting the Bruins out 1-0 in that game. A clip of that 1974 performance may be viewed at this link: [1].

Smith also performed live at these Flyers home games: May 13, 1975, where the Flyers beat the New York Islanders by a score of 4-1 to win Game 7 of the Stanley Cup semi-finals, and on May 16, 1976, before Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals where the Flyers lost to the Montreal Canadiens by a score of 5-3 and were swept by the Canadiens in that series.

Although viewed as a good luck charm to the team, there were a few losses along the way. The Flyers' record when "God Bless America" was either played or sung in person was 69 wins, 19 losses, and 3 ties. Regardless of wins and losses, Ms. Smith and her song remain a special part of Flyers' history. In 1987, the team erected a statue of Smith outside their arena at the time, the Spectrum, in her memory. The Flyers will still show a video of her singing "God Bless America," in lieu of "The Star Spangled Banner", for good luck before important games. Often, the video of her performance is accompanied by Lauren Hart, daughter of the late Hockey Hall of Fame broadcaster, Gene Hart, longtime voice of the Flyers.

In 1982, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan.

Her rendition of God Bless America is also played during the 7th inning stretch of most New York Yankees home games.

Proceeds or money from her performances of God Bless America are donated to the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts.

Death

Kate Smith, who never married, died of diabetes in 1986 at age 79 in Raleigh, North Carolina, several years after converting to Roman Catholicism. She is interred in a private mausoleum at Saint Agnes Cemetery in Lake Placid, Essex County, New York. In 1999, she was posthumously inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.

Listen to

• Command Performance (March 13, 1942) with Kate Smith and Henny Youngman
• Glowing Dial: The Jack Benny Program (March 27, 1938) with Kate Smith
• Radio Memories Network: Music Museum: Kate Smith sings "River Stay Away from My Door" (track five)

References

External links

• Kate Smith Commemorative Society
• Kate Smith at the Internet Movie Database
• Illustrator Stan Drake recalls backstage at The Kate Smith Show