Jeri Sullavan born November 14, 1918

Jeri Sullavan (November 14, 1918 - June 27, 2003) was an American singer and songwriter who was mainly credited as Jeri Sullivan.

Born Leona McGinty* in Jersey City, Hudson, New jersey, USA. She moved with her family to Bremerton, Washington, when she was a teenager. Her academic classes included shorthand and typing. She took lessons in tap, toe, and ballet dancing as she trained to be a professional dancer, debuting at age 7. In her teenage years her focus shifted to singing, and she took vocal lessons, first in Seattle and later in California and Chicago. She graduated from Bremerton High School in 1936. While there she was a member of the Glee Club, sang in school plays, and wrote the class song for the 1936 graduates.

Sullavan's first professional engagement was singing in a ballroom in Bremerton, earning $1.50 per night. In 1937 she left Bremerton to tour with Peri Maurer and his orchestra, billed as Jeri Powell. A visit to a nightclub in San Francisco led to her working with Bernie Cummins and his orchestra. She later sang with other orchestras, including those of Art Jarrett, Claude Thornhill, Pinky Tomlin, Orrin Tucker, Beasley Smith, and Glen Gray. On September 18, 1941, Sullavan married George Sontag, who was the pianist for Tucker's orchestra when she began singing with that group.

Sullavan's radio career began at WSM in Nashville, where she sang with Smith and his orchestra on the Mr. Smith Goes to Town program. After a network executive heard her singing there, he sent recordings to New York. and within a year she had become a regular singer on CBS. In August 1944, Radio Mirror magazine called her "one of that company's coming stars". Soon after passing her audition with CBS she had her own program, accompanied by Paul Baron and his orchestra, singing on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The show debuted on June 18, 1943, and was expanded to five nights per week in August 1943. It ended on November 17, 1944. The trade publication Variety reviewed Sullavan's performance at the Versailles in New York in June 1944, saying, "She requires schooling in rostrum or floor deportment, but there is no denying her ability at lilting a tune, whether it's a straight rhythm, ballad, or novelty number". The review commented that she focused more on singing into the microphone than on paying attention to the audience but added that she could change her approach.

                                   

She sang briefly with The Mel-Tones (who changed their name after she left to "Mel Torme and The Mel-Tones"). She also sang on the Jack Pepper Show, which was a summer replacement radio program in 1944. In May 1945 she became the featured singer on The Durante-Moore Show on CBS. She joined Bob Crosby as his regular singing partner on his Wednesday night CBS radio program in May 1946. During World War II, Sullavan frequently entertained American military personnel at Army and Navy camps and canteens. The men stationed at the Maritime Naval Training Station at Sheepshead Bay presented her with a scroll in recognition of her having performed there more than any other entertainer. Sullavan was seen and heard in the soundie "Tico Tico" (released January 15, 1945). In behind-the-scenes film work, she was a ghost singer, including dubbing for Jean Peters in Love That Brute and for Virginia Mayo in A Song Is Born.

In 1944 Sullavan was in the cast of At Home, an experimental variety television program that was broadcast on CBS. She was the subject in one part of a CBS test of colour TV in 1946, the first public demonstration of colour TV by CBS that used live talent. Sullavan, Morey Amsterdam, and Paul Baron were credited with authorship of the song "Rum and Coca-Cola", but they lost two lawsuits for copyright infringement of the song's lyrics and music. As a result of the suits, the three retained copyrights but had to pay $150,000 to Mohamed Khan for use of the lyrics and, with regard to the music, had to pay Maurice Baron, who had the copyright to a song with the same tune. After taking time to settle the lawsuits during 1948-1949, she returned to singing on the nightclub circuit and took a handful of television and film jobs. Around this time she recorded a few sides for the Signature and Metro Hollywood labels.

In 1950, she provided the uncredited "ghost singing" vocals (including "You Took Advantage of Me") for actress Jean Peters in the film Love That Brute. On television, she made a guest appearance on CBS's The Steve Allen Show in February 1951. She occasionally dabbled in songwriting during the mid-1950s, notably co-writing the lyric to "He Loves Me" with composer Lou Bedell, which was recorded by The DeJohn Sisters. Much later, a 45 RPM single credited to Jeri Sullivan performing a rendition of Steve Allen's "This Could Be the Start of Something", was issued on George Garabedian's specialty label, Mark56 Records. By the mid-1950s, Sullavan had largely retired from performing and recording. Because she retained her share of the U.S. copyright to "Rum and Coca-Cola" after the 1949 legal settlement, she continued to earn publishing royalties as the song remained a staple on film soundtracks, television programs, and oldies compilations for decades.

Very little was documented about her private life in her later years. She settled in the Coachella Valley and died of natural causes on June 27, 2003, at age 84, in Palm Desert, California.

(Edited from Wikipedia, Ask Gemini & Discogs)*(Please Note that a few sources give birth name of Louise Schlosser)