Helen Grayco

Helen Grayco (born Helen Greco; September 20, 1924)[1] is an American singer, performer, and actress active from the 1930s to the 1960s. She was most famous for appearances with her husband Spike Jones on The Spike Jones Show in the 1950s and the 1960s. She is also the mother of producer and Emmy recipient, Spike Jones, Jr. and Leslie Ann Jones, a Grammy award-winning recording engineer.[2]

Helen Grayco
Grayco on the cover of Down Beat magazine, 1951
Background information
Birth nameHelen Greco
Born (1924-09-20) September 20, 1924
Tacoma, Washington, U.S.
GenresTraditional pop
Occupation(s)Actress, singer
InstrumentsVocals
Years active1932–1968
Associated actsChuck Cabot, Red Nichols, Stan Kenton, Spike Jones

Early life

Grayco was born Helen Greco on September 20, 1924 in Tacoma, Washington. She was the tenth of eleven children born to parents Battiste and Rosina "Rose" Greco.[3] She had five brothers; John, Ralph, George, Anthony and James, and five sisters; Mary, Carmella, Katherina, Theresa and Elizabeth. Her parents were Italians who emigrated to the United States from Lamezia Terme, Calabria.[4][5] Grayco and her siblings were raised in the Roman Catholic faith.[6] Grayco's father owned a grocery store which went bankrupt during the Great Depression.[7]

Career

Radio

Grayco got her first singing gig when she was eight years old, for a show called The Carnival Hour, a variety show that aired on radio station KHJ in Los Angeles. She was then hired to appear on a local variety program in Seattle, Washington. Bing Crosby and his brothers, who were, like Grayco, all natives of Tacoma,[8] heard her on the program and reportedly Crosby said that "...she sings Hollywood!" Crosby gave her a job in Hollywood and soon her family moved to Los Angeles. She earned a salary of $75 a week.[7]

Film

In 1935, after her collaboration with Crosby ended, Grayco appeared in a non-speaking part in a scene with Allan Jones in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film A Night at the Opera starring the Marx Brothers.[7]

In 1938, Joe Pasternak of Universal Studios signed Grayco, then thirteen, to replace Deanna Durbin as Universal's leading child star. During her stay at Universal, she appeared in a small role in Durbin's film That Certain Age.[7]

Musical career

Before Spike Jones

Before meeting Spike Jones, Grayco worked with the bands of Chuck Cascalas, Chuck Cabot and Red Nichols. Her big break came when she began travelling with Stan Kenton's band. She was attending high school at the time she went with Kenton on a cross-country bus tour. The tour took Grayco from Los Angeles to the Roseland Ballroom in New York City.

With Spike Jones
Grayco with Spike Jones and Bill Dana, 1960

Grayco first met bandleader Spike Jones in 1946 while she was performing at the Hollywood Palladium. After her performance he offered her a gig with him and his band, The City Slickers.[6]

In a 2009 interview, Grayco had this to say about her first meeting with Spike Jones:

He asked to see me after the show and offered me a job. He was already established. A huge star. He was going on tour. I was in direct contrast to what he did. I was terribly insulted when Spike first asked to hire me. He had just done "Cocktails for Two" and all that stuff that he was known for. "I don’t know where I could possibly fit in in your group. I‘m not a comedienne," I told him. He said, "No, you’ll do your own thing. You’ll have your arrangements. You’ll do 15, 20 minutes entirely separate from the show." They needed something to calm people down. And that’s how we always worked from then on.[7]

Grayco also got a spot with Jones's Other Orchestra, which he formed in 1946. The group was known for its legitimately "pretty" music in contrast to the City Slickers, who were known for their crazy way of performing. The one outstanding recording by the Other Orchestra is "Laura", which features a serious first half (played exquisitely by the Other Orchestra) and a manic second half (played hilariously by the City Slickers). Even with the success of "Laura", the public preferred the crazy music of the Slickers to the elegant music of the Other Orchestra. The Other Orchestra broke up in 1947, only a year after its founding.[7]

She appeared with Jones and his City Slickers on The Colgate Comedy Hour and The Red Skelton Show. She also starred with Jones and his band on a series of television shows between 1954 and 1961 on NBC and CBS known as The Spike Jones Show and Club Oasis.

Solo artist

Grayco released her first single in 1949. Her two most memorable albums were After Midnight in 1957 and The Lady in Red in 1958. The latter was the last album she ever released.[7][6][9][10]

Later career

Grayco continued to sing in various venues for about the next ten years. Her last public appearance was in 1968 on an episode of The Dean Martin Show.

Personal life

Grayco married Spike Jones on July 18, 1949.[6] They had three children: producer Spike Jones, Jr., Grammy award-winning recording engineer Leslie Ann Jones, and Gina Jones.[7] Their marriage lasted until Jones's death on May 1, 1965 from emphysema.[11]

In 1968 she married Bill Rosen, who owned a restaurant named Gatsby's in New York City. She moved to New York with him and later moved back to Los Angeles with him when he opened a restaurant called Gatsby's in L.A. Rosen died in 2002.[7]

Filmography

Film

Television
Year Title Role Notes
1951The Colgate Comedy HourHerselfEpisode: "The Spike Jones Show"
Original air date: 2/11/1951
1952Four Star RevueGuest Vocalist1 episode
1954The Spike Jones ShowHerself/Various roles18 episodes
1955The Red Skelton ShowMrs. Spike Jones1 episode
1957The Spike Jones ShowHerself20 episodes
1958Club OasisSinger3 episodes
The Frank Sinatra ShowHerselfEpisode: "Spike Jones and Helen Grayco"
Original air date: 4/4/1958
1960Swinging SpiketacularsHerself2 episodes
Person to PersonHerself1 episode
1961The Spike Jones ShowHerself9 episodes
1968The Dean Martin ShowHerself1 episode
The Pat Boone ShowHerself1 episode

References
  1. Profile of Helen Grayco
  2. Maureen Droney. "Leslie Ann Jones: DOING IT ALL" Mix magazine online, August 1, 1999 Archived February 17, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  3. Okon, May (October 3, 1954). "Spike to the Guns!". New York Sunday News. Archived from the original on May 16, 2015. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
  4. http://www.calabriansmostfamous.com/helen-grayco/
  5. http://www.michelepane.it/?cat=57&lang=en
  6. "Helen Grayco Friendship with Michele Pane". www.michelepane.it. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  7. Reed, Bill (February 28, 2009). "Helen Grayco cont'd". Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  8. Blecha, Peter (August 29, 2005). "the Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History". HistoryLink.org. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  9. "Helen Grayco Discography". www.discogs.com. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  10. Helen Grayco at AllMusic
  11. "IMDb Biography of Spike Jones". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
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