Ginny Simms - Indian Summer (1939)

Virginia Ellen Simms (May 25, 1913 – April 4, 1994) was an American popular singer and film actress. Simms sang with big bands and labeled with Dinah Shore, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Jo Stafford, and others. She also worked as an MGM and Universal film actress and appeared in 11 movies from 1939 to 1951, when she retired. Born in San Antonio, Texas, Simms' family then moved to California, where she attended Fresno High School[5] and Fresno State Teachers College, where she studied piano. While there, she began performing in campus productions, singing with sorority sisters and even forming a popular campus vocal trio. Shortly afterward, she struck out on her own to establish a solo singing career, and by 1932 she had her own program on a local radio station In 1932, she became band vocalist for the Tom Gerun band in San Francisco, working together with other vocalists, including a young Tony Martin and Woody Herman. In 1934, she joined the Kay Kyser Orchestra, where she received her first national exposure, appearing on radio shows with Kyser. She made three movies with Kyser: That's Right—You're Wrong (1939) with Lucille Ball; You'll Find Out (1940) with Peter Lorre, Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff; and Playmates (1941) with John Barrymore and Lupe Vélez. On April 6, 1941, Simms and Kyser also co-starred in Niagara to Reno (described as "an original comedy") on CBS radio's Silver Theater. She nearly married Kyser but left his orchestra in September 1941 to do her own radio show. She starred in several more movies, including: Here We Go Again (1942) as Jean Gildersleeve, with Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy, and Jim Jordan & Marian Jordan (from Fibber McGee & Molly); Hit the Ice (1943) as Marcia Manning, with Abbott & Costello; Broadway Rhythm (1944) as Helen Hoyt, with George Murphy; and the sanitized Cole Porter biopic Night and Day (1946) as Carole Hill, with Cary Grant and Alexis Smith. In 1951, Simms hosted a local television show on KTTV, channel 11, in Los Angeles which featured dance bands and talent from army, navy, marine, and air force bases around Southern California. Humanitarian work Like many stars, Simms was active in entertaining troops during World War II. After the war ended, she continued to help servicemen. In 1947, a radio station's newsletter noted: "[N]ow she is helping provide new homes for them. Ginny is sponsoring the construction of 450 homes for vets in Los On June 5, 1993, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to her. Simms was married three times, first (July 28, 1945 to March 1951) to Hyatt Hotels founder Hyatt von Dehn, with whom she had two sons: David (born in July 1946)[12] and Conrad (born December 27, 1949). Her second marriage (June 27, 1951 to June, 1953) was to Bob Calhoun, and her third was to Republican former attorney general of Washington State, Don Eastvold, from June 22, 1962 until her death in 1994. Death She died as the result of a heart attack in Palm Springs on April 4, 1994, aged 80, and is interred in Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California.[13] She was survived by her husband, Donald Eastvold Sr.