Ireene Wicker (born Irene Seaton, November 24, 1905 – November 17, 1987) was an American singer and actress, best known to young radio listeners in the 1930s and 1940s as “The Singing Lady”, which was the title of her radio program. She added the second 'e' in her first name on the advice of an astrologer.

Early years

Wicker was born in Quincy, Illinois. After studying music and drama at the University of Illinois, she studied at the Goodman School of the Theater in Chicago

Stage

Wicker appeared in professional roles at the

Goodman Theatre Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago's Loop. A major part of the Chicago theatre scene, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organization. Part of its present theater complex occupies the la ...

in 1929 and 1930.

Radio

Early in Wicker's radio career, she changed the spelling of her first name to Ireene, adding the extra "e" as she was told by a numerologist that one more letter would bring her great success. Her radio show was first sponsored by the

Kellogg Company The Kellogg Company, doing business as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. Kellogg's produces cereal and convenience foods, including crackers and toas ...

, beginning in 1931. Her show was promoted as America’s first radio network program for children. Despite the title of her show, ''The Singing Lady'', most of it involved Wicker telling adaptations of stories for children, ranging from fairy tales by the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...

and Hans Christian Andersen through to

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

’s ''

Just So Stories ''Just So Stories for Little Children'' is a 1902 collection of origin stories by the British author Rudyard Kipling. Considered a classic of children's literature, the book is among Kipling's best known works. Kipling began working on the ...

''. Also in the 1930s and early 1940s, she portrayed Jane Lee on the serial ''Judy and Jane'' on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

-Blue. In the 1940s, Wicker was a regular on '' Deadline Dramas'' on NBC and the Blue Network. In the 1950s, she told stories on ''Big Jon and Sparkie'' on ABC radio.

Television

Wicker came to television at

WJZ-TV WJZ-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is Owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, and ma ...

in 1949 with ''The Ireene Wicker Show'' in which she told fairy tales. She also had a program, '' The Singing Lady,'' on ABC-TV (1948-1950). In 1950, Wicker was one of several broadcasters whose name was included in the book ''

Red Channels ''Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television'' was an anti-Communist document published in the United States at the start of the 1950s. Issued by the right-wing journal ''Counterattack'' on June 22, 1950, the pamphle ...

'', used by many organizations to blacklist anyone who was included as a supposed Communist "sympathizer". The book charged that she had sponsored a re-election committee for

Benjamin J. Davis Benjamin Jefferson Davis Jr. (September 8, 1903 – August 22, 1964), was an African-American lawyer and communist who was elected in 1943 to the New York City Council, representing Harlem. He faced increasing opposition from outside Harlem a ...

, a Communist councilman in New York. Although Wicker denied she had even heard of the man, her listing within ''Red Channels'' was followed – in what she herself described as a "curious coincidence" – by her sponsor, Kellogg, failing to renew her option for the ABC TV show. The charges by the House Un-American Activities Committee were later withdrawn with apologies. Another claim, that she sided with leftists during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

, turned out to refer to her support of a fund-raising drive for Spanish refugee children. Wicker returned to the ABC network in 1953-1954 with ''Little Lady Story Time'', an unusual half-hour series. Here, she told classic fairy tales while a cast of juvenile ballet dancers enacted the storylines. The sponsor was Little Lady toiletries, a line of soaps, powders, and mild cosmetics for young girls. Among the stories produced were "Puss in Boots", "King Midas and the Golden Touch", "Little Red Riding Hood", and "Pinocchio". One episode ("The Green Monkey") of ''The Ireene Wicker Show'' and 15 kinescopes of it are housed at the Library of Congress in the J. Fred and Leslie W. MacDonald Collection.

Personal life

Wicker married Walter Charles Wicker, a radio writer, producer, and actor; they had a son, Walter Charles Jr., who during World War II joined one of the Eagle Squadrons that served with the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

and was killed in action over the English Channel, and a daughter, Nancy. Her first marriage ended in divorce in 1938. In 1941, she became the second wife of businessman Victor J. Hammer.

Recognition

On April 19, 1961, Wicker was recipient of a Peabody Award—Personal Award for Children's Programs for her weekly program, ''The Singing Lady'' on

WNYC WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that ...

radio.

Publication

* Ireene Wicker ''The Singing Lady's Favorite Stories'' (Whitman, 1934) * Ireene Wicker ''Young Music Makers: Boyhoods of Famous Composers'' (The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1961)

References

External links

Streaming audio of ''The Singing Lady''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wicker, Ireene 1905 births 1987 deaths American radio actresses Peabody Award winners University of Illinois alumni DePaul University alumni American television actresses 20th-century American actresses Actors from Quincy, Illinois Actresses from Illinois 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers Hollywood blacklist Ireene