Classic Movie Travels: Dinah Shore

Classic Movie Travels: Dinah Shore

Frances “Fanny” Rose Shore was born on February 29, 1916, to
Anna and Solomon Shore in Winchester, Tennessee. She had a sister, Elizabeth,
who was eight years older. When Fanny was eighteen months old, she suffered
from polio. After extensive care, an exercise program, and therapeutic
massages, Fanny recovered but coped with a deformed foot and limp.

Fanny enjoyed singing from an early age. Anna, a contralto
who dreamed of working in the opera, encouraged her to sing. Solomon often
brought Fanny along to his store, where she performed for customers.

By 1924, the family relocated to McMinnville, Tennessee,
where Solomon opened a department store. During Fanny’s fifth-grade year, the
family moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where Fanny completed her elementary
education. She participated in sports and was a cheerleader at Hume-Fogg High
School. While attending Hume-Fogg High School, she also participated in music
club and theatrical productions.

When Fanny turned 16, her mother passed away from a heart
attack. Fanny continued her education at Vanderbilt University and graduated in
1938 with a sociology degree. She soon made her radio debut on WSM, a Nashville
radio station.

Fanny decided to pursue her interest in singing and moved to
New York City, where she auditioned for various orchestras and radio stations.
Initially, she traveled there while she was on summer break from Vanderbilt. By
the time she graduated, she intended to live in New York permanently. As part
of her audition repertoire, she performed the song “Dinah.” When Martin Block,
a disk jockey, could not recall her name, he instead introduced her as “The
Dinah Girl.” They name soon became her stage name: Dinah Shore.

Shore was hired on as a vocalist for the WNEW radio station,
singing alongside Frank Sinatra. In addition, she performed with the Xavier
Cugat Orchestra and signed a recording contract with RCA Victor Records.

In 1939, Shore debuted on national radio for CBS Radio’s Ben Bernie’s Orchestra radio program.
During the following year, she was a featured vocalist on NBC Radio, performing
Dixieland and blues songs. The Chamber
Music Society of Lower Basin Street program on which she was performing
became so popular that it was moved to a primetime slot.

Her popularity soon caught Eddie Cantor’s attention and he
signed her as a regular performer on his Time
to Smile radio program. In 1943, she appeared in her first film, Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943), starring
Cantor. Shore went on to the Paul
Whiteman Presents radio program.

Shore married actor George Montgomery in 1943. They had a
daughter named Melissa Montgomery in 1948, who became an actress. The couple
adopted a son, John Montgomery. Shore and Montgomery divorced in 1962.

Shore transitioned to other radio shows and record labels
throughout this period. Her largest commercial success of her recording career
was “Shoo-Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy” for Columbia. She also started her own
radio show, Call for Music, for CBS
and, later, NBC. 

Shore appeared in additional films including Up in Arms (1944), Belle of the Yukon (1944), and Till
the Clouds Roll By (1946). She also provided vocals for two Disney films: Make Mine Music (1946) and Fun and Fancy Free (1947). Her final
starring film role was in Aaron Slik from
Punkin Crick (1952).

In the 1950s, Shore returned to recording with RCA Victor.
BY 1959, she transitioned to Capitol Records until she was dropped by them in
1962.

After numerous radio guest spots over the years, she made
her commercial television show debut on The
Ed Wynn Show in 1949. In 1951, she was the star of her own television show,
The Dinah Shore Show. In 1956, she
hosted one hour-long, full-color productions of The Chevy Show, which was renamed The Dinah Shore Chevy Show. Shore appeared in 125 hour-long
programs across the show’s 12-season run from 1951 through 1963.

In 1963, Shore married tennis player Maurice F. Smith. They
divorced the following year.

In the 1970s, Shore hosed two daytime programs: Dinah’s Place and Dinah! (renamed Dinah and
Friends). During this period, Shore had a six-year romance with actor Burt
Reynolds.

Off-screen, Shore enjoyed playing golf and supported women’s
professional golf steadfastly. She helped found the Colgate Dinah Shore Golf
Tournament in 1972, which is now the Chevron Championship and one of the major
golf tournaments of the LPGA Tour. The tournament was held annually at the
Mission Hills Country Club near Shore’s former Rancho Mirage, California, home
until 2022. The event moved to Texas the following year because of a new
sponsor. Nonetheless, Mission Hills retains the Dinah Shore Course, which now
hosts the Galleri Classic tournament. Shore was posthumously elected an
honorary member of the LPGA Hall of Fame in 1994 due to her contributions to
golf and also became a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1998.

In 1993, Shore was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and passed
away from the illness in her Beverly Hills, California, home on February 24,
1994. Her remains were cremated and divided among niches at Hillside Memorial
Park Cemetery in Culver City, California, and Forest Lawn Cemetery—Cathedral
City in Cathedral City, California. Additional ashes went to her relatives.

Today, there are numerous tributes to Shore, particularly in
the Palm Springs area.

In 1920, Shore and her family resided at 8 9^th
Ave., Winchester, Tennessee. In 1930, they lived at 3106 33^rd Ave.
S., Nashville, Tennessee. These homes have since been razed.

Hume-Fogg High School stands at 700 Broadway, Nashville,
Tennessee.

Both Cathedral City, California, and Rancho Mirage,
California, have streets named after her.

Shore’s hometown, Winchester, Tennessee, also has a Dinah
Shore Boulevard.

In 1940, Shore lived at 111 Britton Ave., Queens, New York,
which no longer stands.

In 1960, Shore lived at 400 Drury Ln., Beverly Hills,
California. This home remains.

In 1964, Shore maintained an estate at 432 Hermosa Pl., Palm
Springs, California, which stands.

In 1996, Shore received a Golden Palm Star on the Palm
Springs Walk of Stars.

Shore has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame,
honoring her work in radio, recording, and television. Her stars are located at
1751 Vine St., 6901 Hollywood Blvd., and 6916 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles,
California, respectively.

Mission Hills Country Club is a private country club located
at 34600 Mission Hills Dr., Rancho Mirage, California. The clubhouse has the
Dinah Shore Board Room, spotlighting information about Shore’s life and career.
On the course, the Dinah Shore Wall of Champions contains a tribute to Shore
with a sculpted golf club protruding from a depiction of Shore. Additionally,
there is a statue of Shore on the course, sculpted by George Montgomery.

Shore’s ashes are interred at Hillside Memorial Park, located at 6001 W. Centinela Ave., Los Angeles, California. Her ashes are also interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery—Cathedral City, located at 69855 Ramon Rd., Cathedral City, California.

…

–Annette Bochenek for Classic Movie Hub

Annette Bochenek pens our monthly Classic Movie Travels column. You can read all of Annette’s Classic Movie Travel articles here.

Annette Bochenek of Chicago, Illinois, is a PhD student at Dominican University and an independent scholar of Hollywood’s Golden Age. She manages the Hometowns to Hollywood blog, in which she writes about her trips exploring the legacies and hometowns of Golden Age stars. Annette also hosts the “Hometowns to Hollywood” film series throughout the Chicago area. She has been featured on Turner Classic Movies and is the president of TCM Backlot’s Chicago chapter. In addition to writing for Classic Movie Hub, she also writes for Silent Film Quarterly, Nostalgia Digest, and Chicago Art Deco SocietyMagazine.