Marian Montgomery was born Maude Runnels, 17 November 1934, Natchez, Mississippi, USA, d. 22 July 2002, Bray, Berkshire, England. Montgomery quit school to sing on television in Atlanta, Georgia. After working in advertising and publishing, performing in plays and singing in strip joints and jazz clubs, she became an established cabaret performer. Montgomery was signed to Capitol Records after Peggy Lee heard her demo tape, and she recorded three albums for the label. She moved to the UK in 1965 to sing at a new London club, the Cool Elephant, with John Dankworth’s band. That same year she married composer and musical director Laurie Holloway and began to establish herself on the London club scene, equally at home at Ronnie Scott’s jazz club as she was on the less demanding cabaret circuit.Read more

One of the more diverse American lyricists of the 20th century, Sammy Cahn wrote his first hit by the age of 21 and followed it with over five decades of successful and award-winning compositions. Working most frequently with Jule Styne during the '40s and Jimmy Van Heusen during the '50s (though he also composed with Axel Stordahl and Paul Weston), Cahn had a way with lovesick ballads ("I'll Walk Alone," "Only the Lonely") as well as bouncy uptempo songs ("Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!," "Saturday Night Is the Loneliest Night of the Week").Read more

Janet Blair was barely an adult when she gave up a career as a big band singer and signed a contract with Columbia Studios. Her career started promisingly, with big roles the 1942 films "Broadway" and "My Sister Eileen," in which she played Eileen Sherwood to Rosalind Russell's Ruth Sherwood. But the quality of her roles dipped by the middle of the decade. In 1950 she left Hollywood and joined a touring production of South Pacific, playing lead Nellie Forbush. It was highly successful, running more than 1,200 performances over three years. She also starred in a national tour of Mame (with Elaine Stritch supporting as Vera Charles), and starred in productions of Bells Are Ringing and Follies. She headlined a single Broadway play, a 1953 comedy called You Never Can Tell.Read more