Born: 8th November 1927 Kansas City, Missouri, USA.Died: 29th August 2009 Toms River, New Jersey, USA.American jazz vocalist. First major appearance by the end of the 40's with Claude Thornhill's vocal group The Snowflakes. After a stint with Jerry Wald's jazz group, she had major success with Stan Kenton's band in the early 50's before breaking as a solo act by the mid 50's becoming the best-selling artist for the Bethlehem label before signing as the first jazz singer to the Atlantic label.