Singer. Born Katie Kallen, her father was a barber, her mother died prior to Katie's tenth birthday. Her passion for singing began during her early youth and she acquired performance experience on the radio program "The Children's Hour," which was sponsored by the Philadelphia-area restaurant Horn and Hardart's. This led to singing engagements during her teenage years with popular big bands including Harry James and Artie Shaw. In 1944, she scored a hit with "Besame Mucho" (a duet with Bob Eberly) as a vocalist with Jimmy Dorsey. With James, she achieved wide success in early 1945 with the hit "I'm Beginning to See the Light" and later that year further success with "It's Been a Long, Long Time," made popular by American military personnel returning home in the months following World War II. During the 1950s, she recorded numerous albums and spawned the hits "In the Chapel in the Moonlight" (1954), "Little Things Mean a Lot" (1954), a collaboration with Georgie Shaw on "Go On With the Wedding" (1956) and "If I Give You My Love" (1959). She experienced an acting role in the film "The Second Greatest Sex" (1955) and performed on the TV programs "Cavalcade of Stars", "The Dinah Shore Show" and "The Ed Sullivan Show." Her final hit single was "My Coloring Book" (1963). She was married to press agent Bud Granoff from 1947 until his death in 1996.
Singer. Born Katie Kallen, her father was a barber, her mother died prior to Katie's tenth birthday. Her passion for singing began during her early youth and she acquired performance experience on the radio program "The Children's Hour," which was sponsored by the Philadelphia-area restaurant Horn and Hardart's. This led to singing engagements during her teenage years with popular big bands including Harry James and Artie Shaw. In 1944, she scored a hit with "Besame Mucho" (a duet with Bob Eberly) as a vocalist with Jimmy Dorsey. With James, she achieved wide success in early 1945 with the hit "I'm Beginning to See the Light" and later that year further success with "It's Been a Long, Long Time," made popular by American military personnel returning home in the months following World War II. During the 1950s, she recorded numerous albums and spawned the hits "In the Chapel in the Moonlight" (1954), "Little Things Mean a Lot" (1954), a collaboration with Georgie Shaw on "Go On With the Wedding" (1956) and "If I Give You My Love" (1959). She experienced an acting role in the film "The Second Greatest Sex" (1955) and performed on the TV programs "Cavalcade of Stars", "The Dinah Shore Show" and "The Ed Sullivan Show." Her final hit single was "My Coloring Book" (1963). She was married to press agent Bud Granoff from 1947 until his death in 1996.
Bio by: C.S.
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