Born in Paris 14th Jan. 1931, Caterina is the 4th Child of Maria and Giuseppe Valente. Father Giuseppe was one of the most accomplished accordion players and Maria, a virtuoso musician (she played 33 instruments) and gifted ballet dancer is one of Vaudevilles brightest stars in Europe and the Americas.
On January 5th 1936 Caterina joined the family act in Stuttgart, dancing and singing.
After the struggles of the 2nd World War, the Valentes who resided in France, survived deportation to Italy, the Bombing of Breslau and Russian imprisonment to finally return to Paris where Maria Valente and her act got immediately signed to perform at the OLYMPIA.
In the late 40s, although still part of the Family Act, Caterina and her brother Silvio, a jazz clarinetist, started venturing out to do their own thing.
By 1952 Caterina had left the Family act, got married and toured the USO Clubs in Europe and North Africa with her Juggler/Drummer husband – Gerd Scholz 1951-1971 (manager). Second husband was pianist Roy Budd. In 1953 Caterina reluctantly agreed to perform as a Singer/Dancer in the Circus Grock’s Swiss Tour. The show was a hit and she was to do a recording session at Rdio Zurich. Her husband sent the tapes to all the major Radio Stations in Germany which got Caterina an audition at the Radio in Baden Baden for Jazz Band Leader Kurt Edelhagen , who after the audition claimed- he had found the most musical woman in the world.
However, Caterina declined the invitation to become the band’s singer but gladly accepted to collaborate on various projects. Hence her first record: a Jazz/Swing version of Istanbul in English.
Her Second recording was a novelty song in a Latin Style imitation arrangement sung in German called “O mama O mamajo”.
Her third recording, Cole Porter’s “I love Paris” in German (Ganz Paris träumt von der Liebe) becomes a mega hit in German speaking countries, with more than 500’000 copies sold, which for 1954 is unheard of.
At the same time she records Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona’s ‘Malaguena’, again in German with an unsuccessful release in central Europe. But the record gets a successful spin on American radio and low and behold becomes a major hit which opens up a new chapter in her career BUT more of that after we hear those first three recordings.
Her debut as a film actress was in 1954 with a small role as a singer in the thriller “They Were So Young”. This was followed by leading roles in box office musical film hits such as “Liebe, Tanz und 1000 Schlager” (1955) with Peter Alexander and “Casino de Paris “(1957) with Vittorio de Sica and her childhood friend Gilbert Bécaud
The roles she played were mostly wholesome girl-next-door characters, with trivial novelty songs that became big record hits. This image would never leave her for the rest of her career in German speaking countries although in 1962 she decided not to pursue an acting career.
In April 1955 she appeared, for the first time, on American Television, coast to coast, as a guest star on The Colgate Comedy Hour hosted by Gordon MacRae. This was followed by a guest spot on the Jukebox Jury Show to present what would become, as foreseen on that same show by Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Torme, one of her biggest hit records “The Breeze and I”.
By 1956, Caterina had released a number of singles and extended plays in various languages and albums.
In 1957 Caterina played her first US month-long night club date in the Cotillion Room at New York’s Pierre Hotel and hosted the 1st personality TV variety show series on German television called “Bonsoir Kathrin”.
By the end of the decade she had recorded the successful jazz album “Plenty Valente” with arrangements by Sy Oliver, appeared on the Patti Page Show and Walter Winchell Show in the USA, conquered Paris audiences with her 3 week run at the legendary Olympia Theatre, returned to Italy after 20 years of absence as an international star for a guest appearance on the TV show “Il Musichiere” and received a Grammy award nomination as best female vocalist.
The next decade started with a change of record label and she signed with Teldec for international releases in 11 languages. In France she was awarded the Grand Prix du disque for “Bim Bom Bey”, had a no.1 hit in Germany with the German cover of “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini“. In Italy “Till” and Personalita” (that is both the a and b sides singularly) got certified gold, and “Fire and Frenzy”, the first of two Latin albums she recorded with Edmundo Ros, received Brazilian and Italian music awards
The All star festival LP for UNICEF of 1963, was the first charity album ever. It included recordings by such luminaries as Bing Crosby, Louis Armstong, Doris Day, Nat King Cole, Edith Piaf, Nana Mouskouri and Caterina Valente. The album went gold, selling over a million copies.
With the arrival of the Beatles and the British invasion etc., Caterina’s recording career slowed down, which could not be said of her presence on the international concert and TV circuit – massive TV star.
Caterina’s concert and club tours in the 60s took her to the USA, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Italy, France, Germany, Denmark, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Japan and South Africa
In the 70s Caterina toured and played the USA, South Africa, UK, Australia, Japan , France and appeared in TV variety shows and TV personality specials in Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, Sweden, Spain and France. In Brazil, she hosted a 2 part documentary about their music.
Concert appearances, in the 80s, took Caterina to Canada, Australia, Germany, USA, UK, and there were TV appearances in Brazil, Germany, Austria, Italy, United Kingdom, Sweden and Switzerland.
By 1996 Caterina had decided to slowly start retiring from The Business without much fanfare; in fact her last concert took place, that year, at the opera in Leipzig Germany. A few more TV appearances here and there and then in 1999 Caterina Valente recorded her final CD, “Girltalk”, which ended with a new recording of the very first song she had ever sung, “Papa n’a pas voulu”
Caterina passed away in September 2024 at her home in Switzerland.
Appetizers
Ross at Errol Flynn’s birthplace, the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Hobart, Tasmania.
