OPEN POST: Manor Music Monday With The Irresistible Ilene Woods!
Confused? You won't be if you swing by "Rumpy-Pumpy Wowza-Powza," the Manor's newest after-hours club and sausage-sizzle eatery, where DJ Li'l Scratch will be playing this gal's sweet-as-syrup and twice-as-nice LP that just might make you feel all kinds of gentle and good. "It was another time," as they say, and gentle and good was allowed.
Look! Singer Ilene Woods was so pretty she just popped to life. "Wait," you ask. "Ilene whoooooo?" Was she a club singer? A movie star? A bar chippy? All of the above? I'll give you a hint. Here she is looking at storyboards for a character she'll portray in a movie:
And - voila! - here's her character:
Ilene, as she tells it, long dreamed of becoming a teacher throughout her childhood, but her mother, perhaps after scrutinizing her daughter's pretty-pretty face and seeing bank, strong-armed kicked pushed her into acting - starting at age two. And guess what? Ilene possessed a wonderful singing voice. As a youngster, she even had her own singing radio show in her New Hampshire hometown; by the late 1940s, she became a singing regular on "The Jack Parr Show" radio show; and later, had her own ABC radio show, "The Ilene Woods Show." Mind you, this was all before she turned eighteen.
Whether that was enough for her hard-driving mother, who'd long toiled on the fringes of showbiz, we'll never know, but she had to have been pleased when Ilene was cast by none other than Walt Disney to voice and sing the leading role in the 1950's animated hit "Cinderella." Ilene had just turned eighteen. Her career continued thereafter, and during her lifetime, she sang for two different U.S. presidents: President Franklin D. Roosevelt at his home in Hyde Park, and for President Harry Truman at the White House. She also toured several times with the USO during WWII.
Fun fact: the singing voice of Prince Charming was Mike Douglas, later famed for his afternoon talk show which ran for 21 years. Another fun fact: after singer/composer Peggy Lee won a landmark lawsuit against the Disney Studios - given their refusal to pay out residuals due for "Lady and the Tramp" - Ilene filed her own "Cinderella" residuals lawsuit in 1990. And she won, too. Though her acting career never quite took off, she was always a welcome singing guest on radio and TV variety shows. She recorded just one LP, 1957's "It's Late." Her voice is every bit as warm and beguiling as you'd expect. Just listen to her on "What a Difference a Day Makes." Her charm is effortless.
Whether that was enough for her hard-driving mother, who'd long toiled on the fringes of showbiz, we'll never know, but she had to have been pleased when Ilene was cast by none other than Walt Disney to voice and sing the leading role in the 1950's animated hit "Cinderella." Ilene had just turned eighteen. Her career continued thereafter, and during her lifetime, she sang for two different U.S. presidents: President Franklin D. Roosevelt at his home in Hyde Park, and for President Harry Truman at the White House. She also toured several times with the USO during WWII.
Fun fact: the singing voice of Prince Charming was Mike Douglas, later famed for his afternoon talk show which ran for 21 years. Another fun fact: after singer/composer Peggy Lee won a landmark lawsuit against the Disney Studios - given their refusal to pay out residuals due for "Lady and the Tramp" - Ilene filed her own "Cinderella" residuals lawsuit in 1990. And she won, too. Though her acting career never quite took off, she was always a welcome singing guest on radio and TV variety shows. She recorded just one LP, 1957's "It's Late." Her voice is every bit as warm and beguiling as you'd expect. Just listen to her on "What a Difference a Day Makes." Her charm is effortless.
Want more Ilene? Of course you do!
What are you listening to this week? DJ Li'l Scratch wants to know.
Till next time...purr, bitches, purr! 🐾
Till next time...purr, bitches, purr! 🐾
Photo Credits: Getty Images, Walt Disney Enterprises
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