Joan Merrill born 2 January 1918

Joan Merrill (January 2, 1918 – May 10, 1992) was an American singer and actress. 

Baltimore born Joan Merrill began her career in the 1930s on radio and later sang at nightclubs across the United States, including at the Copacabana in New York, the Thunderbird Hotel in Las Vegas, the Rio Cabana and Chez Paree in Chicago, the Blue Room in the Hotel Roosevelt in New Orleans, the Golden Shores in Miami Beach, and dozens of others. 

Merrill was also a guest on prime radio shows of the ‘40s. She appeared with Adolpe Menjou on Fred Allen’s show and for a year she was featured vocalist on the Edgar Bergen-Charlie McCarthy radio show. She played in vaudeville in such great theatres as the Paramount in New York and the Chicago Theater in Chicago. In addition to live performances she appeared in movies for 20th Century Fox, Columbia, and RKO-Radio. In 1941 her recording of “Daddy” made it to number 13 on the charts. That same year she played herself in the film Time Out for Rhythm (1941), which featured the Three Stooges, Ann Miller, and Rudy Vallee. 

                             

Following popular themes of American music during World War II, her songs were patriotic and inspired by American involvement in World War II. Joan Merrill was cited as one of the highlights of the film Iceland (1942) by Variety magazine along with Sonja Henie’s skating routines. In the film she sang “There Will Never Be Another You,” “I Like a Military Tune,” and “You Can’t Say No to a Soldier” with Sammy Kaye’s orchestra. 

That same years she appeared in Mayor of 44th Street, starring George Murphy. Merrill sang with the Freddie Martin Orchestra, the Oscar-nominated “When There’s a Breeze on Lake Louise.” The film was one of the New York Times Critic’s Picks that year. 

On TV Merrill has been featured several times on the Ed Sullivan Show and she has appeared as guest artist on many other television shows.  “How Did He Look?” was the only album she recorded on the Westminster label in 1958 with arrangements by Marty Gold and Billy Mure. 

Merrill died from a stroke at her home in Manhattan on May 10, 1992. She was 74 years old. She was married to attorney Israel Seeger (d.2009) and had two sons Bill and Michael. 

(Very scarce information edited from album liner notes & Wikipedia)