Kitty Kallen (born Katie Kallen; May , â€" January , ) was an
American popular singer whose career spanned from the s to the s, to
include the Swing era of the Big Band years, the post-WWII pop scene
and the early years of rock 'n roll. Kallen performed with popular big
band leaders of the s, including Jimmy Dorsey and Harry James, before
establishing a solo career.She is widely known for her solo recording
'"Little Things Mean a Lot", a song that stayed at the U.S. number one
spot for nine consecutive weeks, charted in the U.S. for almost seven
months, hit # on the UK singles chart, and sold more than two million
copies. Voted "most popular female singer" in in both Billboard and
Variety polls, Kallen lost her voice at the London Palladium in at
the top of her career and stopped singing before an audience for four
years. After testing her voice under a pseudonym in small town venues,
she ultimately returned and went on to achieve top-ten career
hits.Born Katie Kallen (her birth name has been at times erroneously
reported as Katherine Kalinsky) on May , in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, she was one of seven children, to Russian Jewish
immigrants Samuel and Rose Kalinsky (later Kallen). As a child, she
won an amateur contest by imitating popular singers. When she returned
home with her prize, a camera, her father did not believe her, and
punished her for stealing the camera. Only when neighbors subsequently
visited to congratulate her did Kallen's father realize she had
actually won it.As a young girl, she sang on The Children's Hour, a
radio program sponsored by Horn & Hardart, an automat chain. As a
preteen, Kallen had a radio program on Philadelphia's WCAU and sang
with the big bands of Jan Savitt in , Artie Shaw in , and Jack
Teagarden in .
American popular singer whose career spanned from the s to the s, to
include the Swing era of the Big Band years, the post-WWII pop scene
and the early years of rock 'n roll. Kallen performed with popular big
band leaders of the s, including Jimmy Dorsey and Harry James, before
establishing a solo career.She is widely known for her solo recording
'"Little Things Mean a Lot", a song that stayed at the U.S. number one
spot for nine consecutive weeks, charted in the U.S. for almost seven
months, hit # on the UK singles chart, and sold more than two million
copies. Voted "most popular female singer" in in both Billboard and
Variety polls, Kallen lost her voice at the London Palladium in at
the top of her career and stopped singing before an audience for four
years. After testing her voice under a pseudonym in small town venues,
she ultimately returned and went on to achieve top-ten career
hits.Born Katie Kallen (her birth name has been at times erroneously
reported as Katherine Kalinsky) on May , in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, she was one of seven children, to Russian Jewish
immigrants Samuel and Rose Kalinsky (later Kallen). As a child, she
won an amateur contest by imitating popular singers. When she returned
home with her prize, a camera, her father did not believe her, and
punished her for stealing the camera. Only when neighbors subsequently
visited to congratulate her did Kallen's father realize she had
actually won it.As a young girl, she sang on The Children's Hour, a
radio program sponsored by Horn & Hardart, an automat chain. As a
preteen, Kallen had a radio program on Philadelphia's WCAU and sang
with the big bands of Jan Savitt in , Artie Shaw in , and Jack
Teagarden in .
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