American jazz singer who worked with many big bands and who was in the film Jazz on a Summer's Day. She was the first Artist to sign and release music with Verve Records.
She traveled the country as a marathon dance contestant.
She did not want to play into a "female stereotype," so when she performed she never wore an evening gown.
She married Don Carter in 1937 and, after their annulment in 1939, she married Carl Hoff on January 18, 1943.
One of her great influences was Ella Fitzgerald.
