Kay Lorraine

Kay Lorraine Grimm[1] is an American former singer who later worked with nonprofit agencies and earned a law degree at age 70. Early in her career, she was billed as Lorraine Grimm.

Early years

The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. J. Grimm of Webster Groves, Missouri, Lorraine attended Rosati-Kain High School in St. Louis. Her performing debut occurred as a member of the chorus with the St. Louis Municipal Opera when she was 7 years old.[2]

Career

At age 17 in December 1933, Lorraine (billed as Lorraine Grimm) was performing in the Club Lido in the Abe Lincoln Hotel in Springfield, Illinois. She turned down an offer for an extended stay because she had committed to sing with Art Lund and his orchestra for a New Year's Eve show in St. Louis. Their songs included "I Love You More Each Day", for which Lorraine wrote words and music.[3] In January 1935, she began singing on radio station KSD in St. Louis,[4] and by June 1935 she was providing "most of the entertainment" in the Hotel Gatesworth's Walnut Room in St. Louis.[5] At that time she also sang (billed as Lorraine King), on St. Louis radio station KWK.[6] In November 1936, Lorraine and Edith Karen joined organist Eddie Dunstedter and others on a weekly program that originated at KMOX.[7] Phillips Poly Follies[8] was carried on more than 30 CBS stations in the southwest and west, making it the most widely distributed network program to originate at KMOX up to that time.[7] Lorraine also had the program Lyrics by Lorraine that originated on KMOX and was carried by a network.[9] In 1939, after a radio programming executive heard her sing on KMOX,[2] Lorraine was hired to perform on Your Hit Parade after executives on the program had rejected 207 vocalists who had auditioned for the job.[10] She also was a featured singer on the network programs The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street[11] and Lavender and New Lace.[11]:389

In 1942, Lorraine sang on an around-the-world broadcast of ceremonies commemorating the unveiling of the Statue of Liberty. She sang the Marsaillaise, while a French vocalist sand The Star Spangled Banner.[2] In November 1945, she was the featured female singer on Songs of Good Cheer on KSD. The program also featured tenor Willard young and Jerry Sears and his orchestra.[12] In 1954, she had her own program, The Kay Lorraine Show, on KSD.[13]

Lorraine was so active on transcribed radio programs that a newspaper columnist labeled her "The Queen of Transcriptions".[1] In 1947, Lorraine starred in The Kay Lorraine Show, a transcribed radio program produced by Harry S. Goodman.[14] It was one of her five transcribed series that were broadcast on 500 radio stations.[1]

Lorraine recorded "Hanging In the Hock Shop Window" backed with "Philomar" in 1944 on the Standard label.[15] On film, she made the soundies "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" (1942) (Program 1063)[16] and "The Kerry Dance" (1942), both with Merle Fitt and His Five Shades of Blue (Program 1066).[17] Her work on films included being a ghost singer for Gloria Grahame on the song "Paradise" in the film A Woman's Secret (1949).[18]

After she left music, Lorraine worked as chief executive officer of a film production company and an executive at a non-profit agency.[19] Groups with which she was involved include Hawaii Women Lawyers,[20] and her efforts at the Innocence Project helped young women who were incarcerated.[19]

She advanced her education by earning an undergraduate degree in public policy at the University of Hawaii and stayed at that institution to achieve a Juris Doctor from its Richardson School of Law.[19] When she received it in 2017 at age 70, she became the oldest law student to graduate from that school.[20]

Harassment case

In 2014, the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission found that Lorraine, as a Jewish woman,[21] had been the victim of religious and sexual discrimination in a hostile work environment at her 2004-2007 workplace, the Research Institute for Hawaii, USA. The commission held the institute and its founder, Christopher Damon Haig, liable and awarded her $843,200.[22] Grounds for the decision included Haig's calling Lorraine a "Jewish seductress enticing him to sign her invoices" and his references to her "subversive Hebrew intent"[23] and her "Hebrew foot shuffling to steal other people's intelligence."[22] The commission considered Haig's conduct pervasive and severe. Despite emotional breakdowns, Lorraine had remained on the job because it provided the bulk of her household's income. The commission noted that she complained about Haig's comments to a member of the institute's board and received the reply "That's just Christopher being Christopher".[23] The compensation included damages and back pay.[21]

Personal life

Lorraine was married to Raymond G. Sweeney, a newspaperman.[2] Lee Meyers, a radio publicist,[1] and Brad Bate, with whom she moved to Hawaii in 2003.[20]

gollark: I'll probably finish it at 18 like everyone else!
gollark: Suuuure.
gollark: State-robbing *does* sound fun. I don't like the state.
gollark: Yes.
gollark: osmarksnotes™

References
  1. O'Brian, Jack (December 12, 1946). "Along Broadway". Evening Times. Maryland, Cumberland. p. 11. Retrieved July 12, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. Treverton, James R. (October 28, 1942). "St. Louis Girl to Be Heard Around the World Today Singing 'Marsaillaise' on 56th Anniversary of Statue of Liberty". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. p. 19. Retrieved July 12, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "'Round the Town with Regan". The St. Louis Star and Times. December 29, 1933. p. 16. Retrieved July 13, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "New KSD Programs, Schedule Changes". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. January 13, 1935. p. 30. Retrieved July 13, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "'Round the Town with Regan". The St. Louis Star and Times. June 6, 1935. p. 22. Retrieved July 13, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Around the Night Clubs". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. June 29, 1935. p. 20. Retrieved July 13, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "In New Spots on the Air". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. November 8, 1936. p. 41. Retrieved July 13, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "(radio listing)". The Minneapolis Star. November 10, 1936. p. 18. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  9. "Kay Lorraine ... Biographical Note ..." The Knoxville News-Sentinel. Tennessee, Knoxville. February 11, 1939. p. 3. Retrieved July 12, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. Vale, Virginia (May 11, 1939). "Star Dust". Indian Valley Record. California, Greenville. Western Newspaper Union. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  11. Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (Revised ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 147–148. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3.
  12. "Kay Lorraine In New KSD Series". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. November 4, 1945. p. 73. Retrieved July 13, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Kay Lorraine Show Being Added by KSD". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. September 12, 1954. p. 112. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  14. "Transcribed Services". Billboard. March 22, 1947. p. 8. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  15. "Music Popularity Chart". Billboard. September 16, 1944. p. 19. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  16. "Movie Machine Reviews". Billboard. April 18, 1942. p. 78. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  17. "Movie machine reviews". Billboard. May 23, 1942. p. 78. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  18. Parkinson, David. "Gloria Grahame: 10 essential films". BFI. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on July 11, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  19. "At 70, Hawaii woman to be oldest grad of UH Richardson School of Law". Hawaii News Now. May 9, 2017. Archived from the original on July 11, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  20. "Oldest student to graduate from UH Law School, 70, will earn her Juris Doctor degree". University of Hawaii. May 9, 2017. Archived from the original on July 11, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  21. "Foundation to pay $843K in bias case". Livingston County Daily Press and Argus. Michigan, Howell. September 5, 2014. p. A 10. Retrieved July 11, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. Hurley, Timothy (September 12, 2014). "Damon heir's conduct proves costly". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. p. A 1. Retrieved July 11, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. "Rights: Damon heir denies harassment, discrimination claims, says fight is not over". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. September 12, 2014. p. A 9. Retrieved July 11, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
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