Joan Edwards (February 13, 1919 – August 27, 1981) was an American film actress and singer-songwriter in the old-time radio era. She was perhaps best known for her work on the radio version of Your Hit Parade. She also was a vocalist for Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra.
Edwards' father was Ben Edwards, a music publisher and talent agent. Music ran in her family; uncle Gus Edwards was a vaudeville entertainer, uncle Leo Edwards wrote music, and aunt Dorothy Edwards was a vocal teacher.Despite the family's show business background, she was urged to go in a different direction. In fact, Gus Edwards told her, "Stay out of show business."
Edwards was born in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. As a child, she had a heart murmur, and doctors advised her to start playing the piano "to keep her busy outside of school hours." She graduated from George Washington High School in Manhattan, where she directed the glee club. She went on to major in music at Hunter College, planning to be a teacher. However, her interest in singing and playing the piano won out, leading to a career in music. Edwards' first job after finishing College was performing with Rudy Vallee.
Her guest appearance on his radio program was so successful that she toured the United States with Vallee and his orchestra for eight months. She also appeared with bandleader Paul Whiteman and with her uncle, vaudevillian Gus Edwards. A December 6, 1941, newspaper article reported that she had "played the leading vaudeville theaters in the country." In the early 1940s, she also was "appearing at one of Broadway's top night clubs."
Beginning March 3, 1941, Edwards had her own program, Girl About Town, on CBS. The 15-minute show was broadcast Wednesdays and Fridays at 10:30 p.m. Eastern time. Although her singing was featured, she played the piano for one song in each episode. In December 1941, Edwards was selected as the new female soloist on Your Hit Parade. Three years later, an article in Tune In magazine observed, "Joan Edwards sets something of a record, lasting through the regimes of three male singers -- Barry Wood, Frank Sinatra, Lawrence Tibbett -- in a three-year period."In 1942, Edwards performed at the Copley-Plaza hotel in Boston, Massachusetts, with what one newspaper columnist called "the year's most unusual night-club contract." The time off was reserved so that she could fly to New York City to perform on Your Hit Parade on Saturdays.
Sporting a sweater and bobby socks, the versatile and bubbly blond vocalist became a pop figure when Frank Sinatra joined her on the radio program in 1944. The show was a national Saturday night institution, and the pair were idolized by teen-agers. Her tenure on the program eventually reached five years, and the list of male singers' names grew to include Dick Todd and Johnny Mercer. In 1947 she was dropped from Your Hit Parade when the sponsor, American Tobacco Company, changed format, using guest stars rather than regular soloists.
Edwards was also a regular on The Danny Kaye Show and on Songs for Sale. She was also heard on George Jessel's program, Duffy's Tavern, Here's to Romance, and Swing Session. Edwards had her own program, The Joan Edwards Show, on the DuMont Television Network in 1950. The 15-minute program was broadcast on Tuesday and Thursday nights. She also was seen in a TV version of her Girl About Town radio program from 1941 to 1942, which was broadcast by CBS on its New York station WCBW.
Edwards was co-composer of the Broadway musical Tickets, Please! (1950). She also "wrote scores for nightclub revues as well as many successful advertising jingles. Edwards and Lyn Duddy wrote the songs for Arthur Godfrey's songbook Arthur Godfrey's TV Calendar Songs. On March 3, 1952, Edwards began a morning disc jockey program on WCBS-AM in New York City.
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| Joan Edwards & Lynn Duddy |
In later years, Miss Edwards wrote scores for nightclub revues as well as many successful advertising jingles, including ''I Love Bosco.'' Her Tip to Career Women. Once described by Time magazine as ''delectable and show businesslike,'' Miss Edwards offered this tip to career women: ''A girl usually gets along much better if she camouflages her fast-working brain. Then all the shrewd operators underestimate her ability, and she has a fine opportunity to come out two jumps ahead of them.''
She died in her Manhattan apartment in New York, of an apparent heart attack, August 27, 1981. She was 62 years old, and if you have a chance to listen to any of her recordings please do so. She had a wonderful voice that deserves to be remembered. Edwards was married to Julius Schachter, a violinist who died in 1976. They had three daughters and one son.
(Edited from Wikipedia & The New York Times)