Sally Starr born 26 January 1923

Sally Starr (January 25, 1923 – January 27, 2013) was a prominent 1950s and 1960s celebrity television personality. Using a cowgirl persona, she appealed to local TV audiences of several generations of children through American radio, Broadway stage, movies and as a recording artist for more than sixty years. Fans remained loyal in the Philadelphia metropolitan area (referred to locally as the Delaware Valley), and embraced her cowgirl personality as part of their own family identity, and sometimes referred to her as "Aunt Sally" or "Our Gal Sal." 

Starr was born as Alleen Mae Beller in Kansas City, Missouri, and legally changed her name to Starr in 1941. She was the second oldest of five girls. Her parents, Charles and Bertha Beller, encouraged her to enter the world of show business, for which she exhibited both talent and ambition. At the age of twelve, she and her sister Mildred, who were billed as the "Little Missouri Maids," made their debut on the CBS radio program "Brush Creek Follies". 

Sally with Jesse Rogers

Starr sang and performed country music throughout her young adult life. By the end of the 1940s, she became the regional voice of the Pepsi-Cola Company and did all their commercial spots, leading to a full-time gig in radio. During the 1940s Starr married Jesse Rogers and the two performed on radio programs such as Hayloft Hoe-Down, which was produced in the old Town Hall in Center City. Sally also formed the band, "The Saddle Buddies," which performed in various clubs in the area. 

Having already mastered radio and the stage, Starr’s next stop was television. On Oct. 3, 1955, Starr became the hostess of Popeye Theater, on WFIL-TV (now WPVI) which eventually became Philadelphia’s highest-rated children’s program. During the show, Starr presented half-hour western TV shows, cartoons, Three Stooges comedies, live acts and special features. She distinguished her character by donning flashy cowgirl regalia, including a cowgirl hat, boots, and gun with holster, often dressing in bright red blouses adorned with fringes and shiny stars. 

                     

Her opening line was, "Hope you feel as good as you look, 'cause you sure look good to your gal Sal." She closed with "May the Good Lord be blessing you and your family. Bye for now!" The theme song of the show was a variation on the theme from Wagon Train by Jerome Moross. Sally also had a country music radio program on Philly’s WJMJ. Public appearances were a staple part of her entertainment promotions. Many of these events also featured her horses "Pal", "Silver", "Cane", and "Rusty". 

Aside from her television and recording career, Starr appeared in the 1965 Three Stooges feature film, The Outlaws Is Coming, as sharpshooter Belle Starr. She had small roles in such films as The In Crowd and Mannequin Two: On the Move.  Aa vocalist, she recorded Our Gal Sal, backed by Bill Haley & His Comets in 1958, selling thousands of records under the Clymax label. Haley also co-wrote "A.B.C. Rock" and "Rocky the Rockin' Rabbit" for Starr, which were released as singles (the former would later be covered by Haley himself; the latter was released in 1959 as a standalone single unconnected with the album). 

Although Our Gal Sal was out of print by the 1960s, in the 1970s and 1980s several of these recordings reappeared on a series of compilation albums put out by the UK-based Rollercoaster Records label entitled Rockaphilly. The first top-rated female disc jockey in the country, she also worked as an announcer, writer and producer while also appearing on stage and in movies. In her later years, Starr operated a pizza/ice cream restaurant in Atco, New Jersey. She was so loved by her fan base that they even helped her financially after her home in Florida was destroyed in a fire in 1987. 

On New Year's Eve in 1992, Starr suffered a severe heart attack. Following medical treatment, she completed her recuperation during early 1993 while residing at the home of her sister, Mary Boyd. Hundreds of her fans reportedly sent get well cards, artwork, and gifts. Starr wrote an autobiography, Me, Thee & TV, which was published in 1994. Starr was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame in 1995. She continued to make public appearances near her home in Waterford Township in southern New Jersey in her senior years.

She also hosted a radio show on WVLT, 92.1 FM in Vineland, New Jersey until retiring in September 2006. Starr died at a Berlin, New Jersey nursing home on January 27, 2013, two days after her 90th birthday, from undisclosed causes. 

(Edited from Wikipedia & NBC Philadelphia)

 

Little Mack Simmons born 25 January 1934

Malcolm "Little Mack" Simmons (January 25, 1933 – October 24, 2000) was an American Chicago blues harmonica player, singer, and songwriter. 

Simmons was born in Twist, Arkansas. In his youth he was a boyhood friend of James Cotton, who apprenticed under blues legend Sonny Boy Williamson II. The boys often traded books for harmonicas, playing hooky so Cotton could teach Simmons the harmonica techniques he was picking up from the master. Simmons later gave up school completely, working farm jobs and on the railroad, until, at the age of 18, he moved to St. Louis. It was in St. Louis that Simmons met up with Robert Nighthawk, debuting on Nighthawk's stage.

Simmons broke into the Chicago scene in 1954, landing a five-year gig at Cadillac Baby's. Backed by a full band, he was a regular at joints like Pepper's Lounge and Sylvio's. Simmons began his recording career in 1959, cutting tracks for Cadillac Baby, Chess Records, Palos, Bea & Baby and New Breed labels often simply billed as Little Mack (or Mac).  Simmons was making tracks in more than the literal sense though. By the late 1960s, he had created a fusion of gospel, funk, country and western, soul and rock, mixed with a heavy dose of his signature blues style. 

                              

But as time rolled on the taste of the black public were no longer in the blues and Little Mack's attempts to become a Soul musician were cut short. He settled for a moment on the Mexican border, lived on drug trafficking and with the money thus earned became the manager of the Chess owned Club Zodiac in Chicago as well as owning a recording studio where he recorded blues, gospel and soul on his own labels, PM Records and Simmons Records. Among his artists were Otis Clay and Sunnyland Slim.  He was rarely heard of until he toured France during which he recorded his first album in 1975 ( Blue lights (Black & Blue ) with a few self-productions and above all an activity as a studio harmonica player. His version of   ‘Rainy Night In Georgia’, was a local hit. 

The following decade saw him embark on a religious "career". He becomes Reverend, records gospel. But his church soon receives a visit from the FBI because Reverend Mack Simmons was using his clergyman outfit to traffic drugs! Sentenced to long years in prison, Mack resumed his harmonica and the blues in the 90s, cutting Come Back To Me Baby on the Wolf label in 1994 and High And Lonesome for St. George Records the following year. But it was his 1997 Electro-Fi release, Little Mack Is Back, that proclaimed the revival of Simmons's career, reaping enthusiastic reviews from around the globe. 

Similarly his last Electro-Fi CD, Somewhere On Down The Line, racked up worldwide acclaim as word spread that Little Mack Simmons is an artist who embodies the best of Chicago blues. In his later years Simmons played every Thursday night at Rosa's Lounge. After a long battle, Simmons died of colon cancer on October 24, 2000, in his adopted hometown of Chicago; he was 67. 

(Edited from Wikipedia, AllMusic, Electro-Fi, Blue Eye & Center Stage Chicago)

Bill Dees born 24 January 1939

William Marvin Dees (January 24, 1939 – October 24, 2012) was an American musician known for his songwriting collaborations with singer Roy Orbison. 

The Five Bops

Bill Dees was born in Electra, Texas in 1939. The family moved to Borger, Texas when he was four and his father ran a sand and gravel plant. His mother taught him ukulele and piano and he would harmonise with his brothers at parties. They appeared on radio in Amarillo and then he sang and played guitar in the Five Bops. In 1957, they had a regional hit with "Jitterbuggin'", recorded at Norman Petty's studio in Clovis, New Mexico. An early song was "Borne On The Wind" about a man who was drowned while trying to save his children: this was later reworked by Roy Orbison for a hit single. 

When he met Orbison, Orbison commented on his hardened hands, which came through working for his father. He said that Dees didn't have to work that hard, that they could write together, and their first success was with the revised "Borne On The Wind" early in 1964. This prompted Dees who was already married with four children to move to Nashville. He took any work he could and was writing all the time. Orbison recorded over 60 of their compositions and he also sang "Sleepy Hollow", one of Dees' songs that didn't require editing. 

During one of their writing sessions in 1964, Roy's wife Claudette was going into town and asked him for some money. Dees joked, "Pretty woman never needs any money" and by the time, she had returned home they had "Oh Pretty Woman". "There is one of my favourite phrases in 'Oh Pretty Woman'," says Dees. "Whenever I saw a pretty woman or had a good meal, I would say 'Mercy', and Roy included that on the record." Dees sang harmony on the single and on the B-side, "Yo Te Amo Maria", Orbison let him sing lead on the chorus as he thought it sounded better. 

At the time Dees was working at a warehouse. Orbison told him to get an electric keyboard and join the band. A few days later, Dees was backing Orbison on "Oh Pretty Woman" on The Ed Sullivan Show, and soon the song was No 1 in over 20 countries. Roy Orbison moved to MGM Records hoping it would lead to movie roles. He was a wooden actor in the western The Fastest Guitar Alive (1967) but the score, all the work of Orbison and Dees, included "There Won't Be Many Coming Home", which had contemporary relevance to Vietnam. "We wrote that for the movie," said Dees, "but the statement was about war in general. We knew that 'If they all come back but one, he was still some mother's son' was a heavy thought. In other words, we are all of the Family of Love and we don't have to kill each other if we don't want to." 

                              

Apparently, many record opportunities came Dees way during his tenure with Orbison, though they were viewed as direct competition and Dees “didn’t want to rock the boat”, so he passed again and again. However, Orbison did produce many sessions with Bill Dees in the lead that tragically never saw the light of day. After arguments, Dees and Orbison drifted apart; Dees wrote with Mark Mathis and Larry Henley of the Newbeats and with Wes Holm. He wrote no hits with them but his songs were recorded by Dinah Shore and Loretta Lynn. "Johnny Cash recorded 'Best Friend'," he said, "but he changed the melody so it sounded like 'Chim-Chim-Cheree'. I've no idea why." 

In 1982 Van Halen revived "Oh Pretty Woman" successfully and Dees began writing with Roy Orbison again. Orbison died in 1988 and their song "Windsurfer" was on his final album, Mystery Girl (1989). The following year, "Oh Pretty Woman" had yet another lease of life when it was used in the film Pretty Woman starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. Dees made UK appearances in 1990, proving to be a bear of a man with a warm, Burl Ives vibe. Every autograph to an attractive female was prefaced with the words, "Oh pretty woman" and I had to stop him bringing one back to our house. 

In 1992 Dees moved to the Ozarks and devoted his time to songwriting and proselytising. He released three CDs in his later years – Saturday Night At The Movies (2002), which included the superb and previously unissued Orbison/Dees ballad "So This Is Love", Castin' My Spell On You (2006) and Where Does The Time Go (2008).

Bill Dees lived in New Boston, Texas, for a number of years. There he continued writing and playing his music. Later he resided near Branson, Missouri. He remarried in 2003 and he wrote many songs with Jack Pribek before dying from a brain tumour on October 24, 2012. He was living at a nursing facility in Mountain Home, Arkansas, at the time of his death. 

(Edited from Spencer Leigh article in The Independent, Aquarium Drunkard & Wikipedia)

Marvin Jackson born 23 January 1936

 Marvin Jackson (January 23, 1936  - March 21, 2022) was an American rockabilly singer and songwriter, best known for his song Dippin' Snuff from the Soundtrack of the video game Grand Theft Auto V. 

Lawrence “Marvin” Jackson grew up in Cadet, Missouri. He has been playing the guitar since he was 14, initially performing as lead guitarist for other singers at school performances and local events. He initially worked full-time at the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, but later spent most of his time as a miner for the St. Joe Minerals Corporation. 

Jackson recorded his first three records in 1957, pressed them at Starday Records in Madison, Tennessee and King Records in Cincinnati, Ohio and distributed them through his own label, Crestwood Records. In the summer of 1958, Jackson was drafted into the US Army. He completed his advanced training at Fort Hood, Texas, before eventually being posted to Germany. Jackson was retired from active duty in November 1960 and returned to his home state employment with McDonnell Aircraft Corporation. For the time of the Berlin crisis in 1961, however, he was called back into service. 

                              

Arguably he wrote his best known song “Dippin' Snuff” in 1971 while he was working at the Viburnum lead mine. He was inspired to write this song because it was a new trend to chew his snuff instead of snuffing it. In 1973 he recorded the song in Farmington, Missouri at Ray Elder's studio. However, his song didn't appeal to the record companies. His song Gee Whiz Miss Liz caught the interest of the Dutch rockabilly record label White Label, after which the company released the album Ozark Rockabilly in 1985. 

White Label Records released an LP of Jackson material in 1985, and Collector Records gathered that album, all the independent singles, and several previously unreleased tracks into one package, When You Rock and Roll, which came out in 2004. It was also issued as a digital download “He’s Just a Cool Man” by AMB in 2021. In December 2012, Rockstar Games contacted Jackson after they found his song Dippin' Snuff on YouTube and used it on the soundtrack to the video game Grand Theft Auto V. 

Jackson work up to age 75 laying asphalt then spent his retirement recording his own CDs and singing karaoke. He also played his guitar and sang at the Sayers Senior Center and the local nursing homes for the residents. He loved playing music at his church. In addition to his passion for music was his love for his cats and animals in general. He enjoyed the beauty of nature. Marvin never met a stranger. Once you met him, you had a friend. 

Marvin passed away peacefully at his home in Potosi, Missouri, with his family beside him on Monday, March 21, 2022. He had reached the age of 86 years, 1 month, and 25 days. 

(Edited from Wikipedia & DeClue Funeral Home obit.) 

Harry Parry born 22 January 1912

Harry Owen Parry (22 January 1912 – 18 October 1956) was a Welsh jazz clarinetist and bandleader. 

Parry was born in Caepella, Bangor, Caernarfonshire, Wales. The eldest son of Henry Parry, railway worker, and Emily Jane (née Rowlands). He was educated at Glanadda school and the Central School. He joined the department of physics, University College of North Wales, as an apprentice instrument maker. He showed an early interest in playing musical instruments and when twelve years old joined one of the district's brass bands. He was a member of St. Mary's Church choir, but was intent on playing instruments. 

He soon became adept at playing the tenor horn, flügel horn, cornet, violin as well as drums. He mastered the saxophone and was said to be Wales ' champion player. He was an expert clarinettist - his favourite instrument - and was taught initially by Francis Jones (1904 - 1986) of Port Dinorwic. He yearned to develop a more swinging musical style and experimented in that direction. At 16 Harry was playing with the Harold Dobbs Marina Band, often twice a week, at venues like Palfreymans Hall (Ambassadors Hall)  Jimmy’s” youth club at St James Church now pulled down, Powis Hall at Bangor University and other venues in Caernarfon, Anglesey and North Wales. 

In 1932 Harry gave up his job as a scientific instrument maker to turn professional with Eddie Shaw’s Band for the summer season at Paynes Cafe later moving to the London He played with several dance bands during 1933 to 1939, where he played alto saxophone and scat-sang in bands led by George Colborn, Miff Ferrie, Percival Mackey, Oscar Grasso, Neville Bishop, Paul Lombard and Charles Shadwell. He then led his own six-piece unit. His style was heard by some of the B.B.C.'s leading figures as he had by then joined some of England's main bands. Charles Chilton suggested that he should form his own instrumental group and that he should use the vibraphone instead of the trumpet. 

On 28 September 1940 the sounds of the 'Radio Rhythm' Club sextet which he formed were heard for the first time. Miff Ferrie heard of him and it was from that association that the group ' Jackdauz ' was formed. He held concerts in the Locarno, London, and shared platforms with musicians like Michael Flome, Louis Levy and Charles Shadwell. He joined the blind pianist, George Shearing, and the drummer, Ben Edwards, to form a trio which became very popular. It was his sextet which was the first to make a record in the ' Super Rhythm ' series for the Parlophone company; his association with this company lasted for ten years recording over 100 titles, which included George Shearing and Doreen Villiers as members. 

                             

Many of his plans were shattered by World War II, but he resumed them later and formed a permanent orchestra in the Potomac, London. His compositions ' Parry Opus ', ' Thrust and Parry ', ' Potomac Jump ', ' Blue for Eight ', ' Says You ' and the most popular, perhaps, ' Champagne ' became household names amongst his followers. He appeared in five short films and was described by some critics as ' Britain's jazz king '. According to one of his contemporaries, he was the first from Wales and England to record a voice in instrumental style with the co-operation of his own band. 

The crowds flocked to listen to him in centres such as the Hippodrome, Birmingham; the Empire, Woolwich; and the Empire, Glasgow. He played for the King & Queen at Windsor castle on the 18th June 1948. His popularity waned during his tour of the Middle East and Egypt. After his return he presented the popular programme ' Housewives Choice '; he was also involved in the children's programme ' Crackerjack '. According to some columnists at the time, he died when he was on the brink of regaining his popularity, as he was the first to present 'swing' music to the layman. He was described by an Evening Standard columnist at the time as ' the third best clarinettist in the world '. 

His heroes were Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Benny Carter, Count Basie and Glenn Miller. Towards the end of his life he attempted to adopt a style similar to Miller. He counted Henry Hall, Roy Fox and Geraldo amongst his friends. His first wife was Gwen Davies. After a divorce he married Jessie Bradbury in 1945, a professional singer, but that marriage failed in 1956. They were childless. He thought highly of his home town, but seldom had the opportunity to return there. 

Harry and singer Tessa Sims

His last record to be issued was recorded in 1949, and was his sextet augmented to an octet. The arrangements were by Steve Race, then a trail blazing modernist, with the respected pianist Dill Jones, and trombonist Harry Roche. His last recording session was in 1950 but nothing was issued from the session. He appeared on TV with his group, including childrens shows, and acted in several radio plays but his heyday was over. Harry Parry died from a heart attack on 11 October 1956 at the young age of 44, in his room in Adam's Row, Mayfair, London. His ashes were buried in Golders Green crematorium, London. 

(Edited from Dictionary of Welsh Biography, Wikipedia, The Bangor Aye & Henrybebop)

Edwin Starr born 21 January 1942

Edwin Starr (January 21, 1942 – April 2, 2003), was an American singer and songwriter. Starr was famous for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the number-one hit "War". 

He was born Charles Edwin Hatcher in Nashville, Tennessee. He and his cousins, soul singers Roger and Willie Hatcher, moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where they were raised. In 1957, Hatcher formed a doo-wop group, the Future Tones, and began his singing career. However after just one single, he was called up for military service in the United States Army for three years, where he was posted to Europe, following the end of his service he decided to make music his career, and joined the musical group of Bill Doggett. Hatcher, adopted the name Edwin Starr at the suggestion of Doggett's manager Don Briggs, and made his solo recording debut in 1965 for the Detroit record company Ric-Tic. 

The song that launched his career was "Agent Double-O-Soul" (1965). Other early hits included "Headline News", "Back Street", and "Stop Her on Sight (S.O.S.)". While at Ric-Tic, he wrote the song, "Oh, How Happy", a number 12 Billboard Hot 100 hit in 1966 for The Shades of Blue (he would go on to release a version of the song with Blinky in 1969) and sang lead for the Holidays on their number 12 R&B hit, "I'll Love You Forever". At Motown he recorded a string of singles before enjoying international success with "Twenty-Five Miles", which he co-wrote with producers Johnny Bristol and Harvey Fuqua. It peaked at number 6 in both the Hot 100 and R&B Charts in 1969. 

                    

It was when Motown's Berry Gordy became frustrated with smaller labels like Ric-Tic stealing some of the success of his company that he bought out the label. Many of Starr's Ric-Tic songs (subsequently owned by Motown) like "Back Street" and "Headline News" became favored northern soul classics. His early Ric-Tic hit "Stop Her on Sight (S.O.S.)", was reissued in Britain (with "Headline News" as its B-side) in 1968, and it performed better than the original release on the UK Chart, surpassing the original number 35 and peaking at number 11. His 1970 song "Time" also helped to establish him as a prominent artist on the northern soul scene. 

The biggest hit of Starr's career, which cemented his reputation, was the Vietnam War protest song "War" (1970). Starr's intense vocals transformed a Temptations album track into a number one chart success, which spent three weeks in the top position on the U.S. Billboard charts, an anthem for the antiwar movement and a cultural milestone that continues to resound in movie soundtracks and hip hop music samples. It sold over three million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. His backing singers during this time were Total Concept Unlimited, who later became Rose Royce. 

Starr continued to record, most notably the song "Hell Up in Harlem" for the 1974 film Hell Up in Harlem, which was the sequel to Black Caesar, an earlier hit with a soundtrack by James Brown. In 1979, Starr reappeared on the charts with a pair of disco hits, "(Eye-to-Eye) Contact" and "H.A.P.P.Y. Radio". "Contact" was the more successful of the two, peaking at number 65 on the US pop chart, number 13 on the R&B chart, number 1 on the dance chart, and number 6 on the UK Singles Chart. "H.A.P.P.Y. Radio" was also a top ten hit in the UK, reaching number 9 on the chart in mid-1979. 

By now, he had joined the well-established disco boom and had further singles on 20th Century Records. Over the years, he released tracks on a variety of labels, including Avatar, Calibre, 10 Records, Motown, Streetwave and Hippodrome (a division of Peter Stringfellow's Hippodrome nightclub). In 1985, Starr released "It Ain't Fair". Despite garnering the attention of many in the soul and dance clubs, it fell short of becoming a major hit (managing number 56 on the UK Chart). Other singles released around the same time, appeared on Starr's Through the Grapevine album, which was not released until 1990. 

In 1989, Starr also joined Ian Levine's Motorcity Records, releasing six singles and the album Where Is the Sound, as well as co-writing several songs for other artists on the label. Starr resurfaced briefly in 2000 to team up with the UK band Utah Saints to record a new version of "Funky Music Sho' 'Nuff Turns Me On". He appeared again in 2002 to record a song with the British musician Jools Holland, singing "Snowflake Boogie" on Holland's compact disc More Friends; and to record another track with Utah Saints, a so-far-unreleased version of his number one hit "War"—his last recording.

Starr remained a hero on England's northern soul circuit and moved to England in 1983, continuing to live there for the remainder of his life. He based himself in the English Midlands, living for many years at Pooley Hall at Polesworth, Warwickshire, before moving to Bramcote in Nottinghamshire.  Starr died on April 2, 2003, from a heart attack at his Nottinghamshire home. He was 61. He is buried at Wilford Hill Cemetery in Nottingham. His gravestone reads “Our Agent 00 Soul.”              

(Edited from Wikipedia)

Edwin Starr performs his most famous song for the very last time here in Stuttgart in 2003. This song was not only the most successful and well-known record of his career, but it's also one of the most popular protest songs ever recorded.

                                    

Dorothy Provine born 20 January 1935

Dorothy Michelle Provine (January 20, 1935 – April 25, 2010) was an American singer, dancer and actress. 

Provine was born in Deadwood in southwestern South Dakota, to William and Irene Provine, but grew up in Seattle, Washington, where her parents ran a nightclub. She attended the University of Washington in Seattle, from which she graduated with a degree in Theater Arts in 1957. While there, she joined the women's fraternity Alpha Gamma Delta. After only a few appearances in amateur productions of musicals, she was spotted by a Hollywood talent scout. 

In Hollywood, she starred in the titular role as the cigar-chomping, machine-gun firing heroine of the 1958 film The Bonnie Parker Story directed by William Witney. That same year, she performed in a credited walk-on part in the NBC Western television series Wagon Train, in the episode "The Marie Dupree Story." In 1959, she was in the cast of The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock, which was Lou Costello's last screen appearance. In that same year she again appeared in Wagon Train in the episode "Matthew Lowry Story", this time having a part that ran the full episode. 

On January 3, 1959, Provine appeared as Laura Winfield in the episode "The Bitter Lesson" of the NBC Western series Cimarron City. Laura Winfield is a newly arrived schoolteacher with false credentials who is plotting with a male companion to rob a stage shipment of gold, but not before Deputy Sheriff Lane Temple (series star John Smith) falls in love with her. Dan Blocker and Gregg Palmer also appear in this episode as interested suitors of the new teacher. A few weeks thereafter, she was cast in a supporting role in the episode "The Giant Killer" of the ABC/Warner Bros. Western series Sugarfoot, with Will Hutchins in the title role. 

In 1959, Provine appeared as Ann Donnelly in the episode "The Confession" of another ABC/WB Western series, Colt .45, starring Wayde Preston. Charles Aidman was cast in this episode as Arthur Sibley; Don C. Harvey as Sheriff Clinter. About this time she was also cast in an episode of the ABC sitcom The Real McCoys starring Walter Brennan. 

Another 1959 appearance was as "Chalmers" in the episode "Blood Money" of the CBS televised Western The Texan starring Rory Calhoun as Bill Longley and Ralph Meeker in the guest cast as Sam Kerrigan. She also guest starred in the syndicated Western series Man Without a Gun starring Rex Reason. 

At the same time, Provine was a regular on TV, gaining her first series, The Alaskans (1959-60), set during the Yukon goldrush of the 1890s, in which she played a saloon owner and singer called Rocky Shaw who has attracted an adventurer, Roger Moore. The onscreen romance reflected the fact that Moore had fallen for Provine in real life, which almost caused a rift between him and his wife, Dorothy Squires. Frank Sinatra then dated her for a while, but there was no question of marriage as the Catholic Provine would not wed an already twice-divorced man. 

                             

In her biggest hit, The Roaring 20s, she delightfully sang at least one vintage number in each episode. Provine recorded an album of songs from the show, and had two hit singles in the UK Singles Chart — "Don't Bring Lulu" (number 17 in 1961) and "Crazy Words, Crazy Tune" (number 45 in 1962). Provine was cast as the cool wife of the put-upon Milton Berle in Stanley Kramer's mammoth homage to slapstick comedy, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), in which she is the only one of the avaricious group hunting the $350,000 of stolen cash who wants no part of the fought-over money. 

Provine then played what could be called "a good sport" in half a dozen comedy films, the sort that Ethan Coen felt "had a very weird, wooden aesthetic that nobody's interested in any more", but which he loved as a child. These included the tame but entertaining sex farce Good Neighbour Sam (1964), in which she co-starred with Jack Lemmon as his suburban wife; That Darn Cat! (1965), a Walt Disney movie in which she and the cleancut Dean Jones were upstaged by the feline of the title; Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die (1966), a contrived James Bond pastiche with Provine as an English spy; Who's Minding the Mint? (1967), as the girlfriend of Jim Hutton's US mint employee; and the riskily titled Never a Dull Moment (1968), opposite Dick Van Dyke. In between, she made a terrific cameo appearance in The Great Race (1965), singing, in a saloon again, He Shouldn't-a, Hadn't-a, Oughtn't-a Swang On Me! 

It was while making Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die in Brazil that she met the English-born director Robert Day, who was shooting Tarzan and the Great River there. Despite her previous qualms about divorced men – Day gained a divorce on the grounds of adultery with Provine – the couple married in 1968, and she retired from show business, appearing in only three TV shows in the 1970s. They moved to Bainbridge Island, Washington, about 1990, where they resided with their son. Provine was reclusive in retirement and indulged her love of reading and movies and occasionally drove around the island with her husband. 

Dorothy Provine died of emphysema on April 25, 2010 in Bremerton, Washington. 

(Edited from Wikipedia & The Guardian)