Ada Leonard
{{Short description|American bandleader (1915–1997)}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Ada Leonard
| image = Ada Leonard Billboard.jpg
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| birth_date = {{birth date|1915|7|22}}
| birth_place = Lawton, Oklahoma, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1997|11|29|1915|7|22}}
| death_place = Santa Monica, California, U.S.
| occupation = Musician, vaudeville stripper
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| years_active = 1937–1954
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Ada Leonard (July 22, 1915 – November 29, 1997) was an American bandleader.
She was the leader of the All-American Girl Orchestra, the first all-female band to tour with the USO during World War II.McGee, K. A. (2009).
Some liked it hot: Jazz women in film and television, 1928-1959. Middletown, Conn: Wesleyan University Press. [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/276339398]. The big-band leader was a performer with a background in musical performance.
Early life
Leonard was born in Lawton, Oklahoma, on July 22, 1915. Her father was an actor, and her mother a dancer who also played several different musical instruments. Leonard debuted on stage at age 2, singing and dancing in her parents vaudeville act. Later she was billed as Baby Ada. When she was 17, she went to Chicago and began performing in burlesque. She also sang in night clubs in Chicago.{{cite news |last1=Harrison |first1=Paul |title=Hollywood Goes in for the Strip-Tease -- But in a Perfectly Nice Way |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/27081789/arizona_republic/ |accessdate=11 January 2019 |work=Arizona Republic |agency=Every Week Magazine |date=June 20, 1937 |location=Arizona, Phoenix |page=40|via = Newspapers.com}}
Musical career
While Leonard played the cello and the piano, she did not play either instrument professionally.{{cite web|title=Ada Leonard Biography|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ada-leonard-mn0001009129/biography|publisher=AllMusic.com|accessdate=9 February 2014}}
The Ada Leonard Orchestra was the first all-female band officially signed by the USO, and it performed at army camps throughout the United States during World War II.{{cite book|last=Tucker|first=Sherrie|title=Swing Shift: "All-Girl Bands of the 1940s|url=https://archive.org/details/swingshiftallgir0000tuck|url-access=registration|year=2000|publisher=Duke University Press|location=North Carolina|isbn=9780822328179}} From 1952 to 1954, Leonard hosted a variety show on television; Search for Girls, starring Leonard and her orchestra, ran on KTTV in Los Angeles for 30 minutes on Friday nights.{{r|ss|page1=213}} She subsequently went on to realize her ambition of leading an all-male big band.
Film
Leonard portrayed Princess Zarina, a fan dancer, in the film Meet the Missus (1937).{{cite news |title=Meet The Missus ... Orpheum |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/27082405/the_nebraska_state_journal/ |accessdate=11 January 2019 |work=The Nebraska State Journal |date=July 4, 1937 |location=Nebraska, Lincoln |page=33|via = Newspapers.com}} She and her orchestra performed in the film My Dream Is Yours (1949).{{cite book |last1=Pool |first1=Jeannie Gayle |title=Peggy Gilbert & Her All-Girl Band |date=2008 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=9781461737346 |page=[https://archive.org/details/peggygilberthera00pool/page/135 135] |url=https://archive.org/details/peggygilberthera00pool |url-access=registration |accessdate=11 January 2019 |language=en}}
Personal life
Leonard was married, and widowed, twice: first to George L. McCall, who had managed her career; and, subsequently, Dr. Harold Bernstein, one of the founders of the Reiss-Davis Clinic.
Death
References
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== External links==
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxJiusY7OKk VIDEO: (1951) Ada Leonard and her All-Girl Orchestra perform "Indiana" in a music film for TV]
- [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1677642/ The Girls In the Band (2011) IMBDB Page]- Documentary about female jazz and big-band instrumentalists from the 1930s to today.
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYfP2ylrq3A Official Trailer for The Girls in The Band (YouTube)]
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Category:People from Lawton, Oklahoma
Category:20th-century American musicians
Category:American film actresses
Category:20th-century American actresses