Judy Canova (November 20, 1913 – August 5, 1983),Although one source gives her birth date as November 20, 1916, (DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. , pp. 47–48), census records show an earlier birth date. The 1920 census shows age 7 in January 1920 for Julia Canova
1920 Census.
Starke, Florida. Household of Joe and Retta Canova, indicates 1912. The 1930 census shows age 17 in April 1930 for Juliaett Canova
1930 census
Jacksonville Florida. Line 21. Household of Retta Canova, also indicates 1912.The 1940 census shows age 2
1940 census
Los Angeles, California. Household of Harry Canova (brother). born Juliette Canova (some sources indicate Julietta Canova), was an American comedienne, actress, singer and radio personality who appeared on Broadway and in films. She hosted her own eponymous network radio program, a popular series broadcast from 1943 to 1955.

Biography

Early career

Canova was born in

Starke, Florida Starke is a city in and the county seat of Bradford County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,796 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The origin of the city's name is disputed. Starke may have been named in honor of local la ...

, one of seven siblings, to Joseph Francis Canova, a businessman, and Henrietta E. Canova (née Perry), a singer. Canova claimed that her family originated in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

mountains of Spain, but other sources indicate that the family may have been from the island of

Menorca Menorca or Minorca (from , later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Mallorca. Its capital is Maó, situated on the isl ...

. She began her showbusiness career with a family

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

routine, joining her sister Annie and brother Zeke. Their performances as the Three Georgia Crackers took them from Florida theaters to the Village Barn, a Manhattan club. Canova sang, yodeled and played guitar, and she was typed as a wide-eyed likable country bumpkin, often barefoot and wearing her hair in braids, sometimes topped with a straw hat. She was sometimes introduced as the Ozark Nightingale or the Jenny Lind of the Ozarks.

Stardom: Radio, Broadway, films and recordings

Canova's fame began when as a teenager when bandleader

Rudy Vallée Hubert Prior Vallée (July 28, 1901 – July 3, 1986), known professionally as Rudy Vallée, was an American singer, saxophonist, bandleader, actor, and entertainer. He was the first male singer to rise from local radio broadcasts in New York Ci ...

offered her a guest spot on his radio show '' The Fleischmann Hour''. The Canova family performed on the radio often in the 1930s, and they made their Broadway theater debut in the revue '' Calling All Stars''. Canova signed with

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

and appeared in short subjects and minor features before signing with

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

for one year. After she starred in the 1939 Broadway musical comedy ''Yokel Boy'' with Buddy Ebsen, executives at

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures is currently an acquisition-only label owned by Paramount Pictures. Its history dates back to Republic Pictures Corporation, an American film studio that originally operated from 1935 to 1967, based in Los Angeles, California ...

, with a customer base largely in rural areas, signed Canova in 1940 shortly after the show ended its run. Canova quickly became Republic's leading female star, playing country women who typically blundered into trouble in such titles as '' Scatterbrain'' (1940), '' Sis Hopkins'' (1941) and '' Joan of Ozark'' (1942). However, Canova did not appear in Republic's film adaptation of '' Yokel Boy''; her role was played by

Joan Davis Josephine "Joan" Davis (June 29, 1912 – May 23, 1961) was an American comedic actress whose career spanned vaudeville, film, radio, and television. Remembered best for the 1950s television comedy '' I Married Joan'', Davis had a successful ea ...

. Canova left Republic in 1943 over a salary dispute and signed with

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

for three feature films: ''

Louisiana Hayride ''Louisiana Hayride'' is a radio and later television country music show that was broadcast from the Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana; during its heyday from 1948 to 1960, it helped to launch the careers of some ...

'' (1944), '' Hit the Hay'' (1945) and '' Singin' in the Corn'' (1946). She returned to Republic in 1951 to star in color comedy features, beginning with '' Honeychile'', until 1955. Canova family 1938

Radio and television

In 1943, Canova starred in '' The Judy Canova Show'', which ran for 12 years, first on CBS and then on NBC. Playing herself as a love-starved Ozark bumpkin dividing her time between home and Southern California, Canova was accompanied by a cast that included voice master Mel Blanc (using voices that he later gave to cartoon characters Speedy Gonzales and

Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented a ...

), Ruth Perrott, Ruby Dandridge, Joseph Kearns and Sharon Douglas.

Gale Gordon Gale Gordon (born Charles Thomas Aldrich Jr., February 20, 1906 – June 30, 1995) was an American character actor who was Lucille Ball's longtime television foil, particularly as cantankerously combustible, tightfisted bank executive Theodore J ...

, Sheldon Leonard, Gerald Mohr and Hans Conried also appeared sporadically. Canova's radio and film careers ended in 1955. Although she made a smooth transition to television, her radio show was not made into a television series. She made frequent guest appearances on television shows such as ''

The Colgate Comedy Hour ''The Colgate Comedy Hour'' is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show featured many notable comedians and entertainers of the era as guest stars. Many of the scripts of the serie ...

'', '' The Steve Allen Show'', '' Matinee Theatre'', ''

Alfred Hitchcock Presents ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 ...

'', ''

The Mickey Mouse Club ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and briefly returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first te ...

'', '' The Danny Thomas Show''. She appeared as a mystery guest on the show '' What's My Line'' on July 18, 1954. Canova appeared in two failed television series pilots. In 1967, she portrayed Mammy Yokum in an NBC adaptation of

Al Capp Alfred Gerald Caplin (September 28, 1909 – November 5, 1979), better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist best known for the satirical comic strip ''Li'l Abner'', which he created in 1934 and continued writing and (w ...

's ''

Li'l Abner ''Li'l Abner'' was a satirical American comic strip that appeared in multiple newspapers in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It featured a fictional clan of hillbillies living in the impoverished fictional mountain village of Dogpatch, ...

''. She also starred in ''The Murdocks and the McClays'', a retelling of ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' set in the Virginia hills, which aired on ABC in August 1970 as the final installment in a three-part showcase of pilots titled ''Comedy Preview''.

Singing

Canova recorded for the

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

label. She also worked on Broadway and in Las Vegas nightclubs through the early 1970s, touring with the revival of '' No, No Nanette'' in 1971.

Business

In 1954, Canova and her husband obtained controlling interest in the Los Angeles–based company Camera Vision Productions, Inc, which developed an automated camera that was reported to reduce television and film production costs by as much as 50%.

Legacy

Conova is honored with two stars on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

: one for her contributions to the film industry at 6821 Hollywood Boulevard and one for her radio career at 6777 Hollywood Boulevard.

Personal life

Canova's first husband was New York insurance man Robert Burns, who she married in 1936. While still married, she became romantically involved with

Edgar Bergen Edgar John Bergen (né Berggren; February 16, 1903 – September 30, 1978) was an American ventriloquist, comedian, actor, vaudevillian and radio performer. He was best known for his characters Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. Bergen ...

in 1937 but divorced Burns in 1939. Canova was briefly married to James Ripley in 1941. Her third marriage, to Chester B. England in 1943, ended in divorce by 1950. She married her final husband, musician Filberto Rivero, in 1950. The marriage produced daughter Diana Canova, a singer and actress known for her television roles on ''

Soap Soap is a salt (chemistry), salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually u ...

'' and '' I'm a Big Girl Now.'' That marriage ended in 1964. Canova died in 1983 from cancer at age 69. Her ashes were interred in the secluded Columbarium of Everlasting Light section at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

.''Hollywood Death and Scandal Sites''
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Filmography

Features: * '' In Caliente'' (1935) – Specialty Singer * '' Going Highbrow'' (1935) – Annie * '' Broadway Gondolier'' (1935) – Hillbilly Specialty (uncredited) * '' Artists & Models'' (1937) – Toots * '' Thrill of a Lifetime'' (1937) – Herself * '' Scatterbrain'' (1940) – Judy Hull * '' Sis Hopkins'' (1941) – Sis Hopkins * '' Puddin' Head'' (1941) – Judy Goober * '' Sleepytime Gal'' (1942) – Bessie Cobb * '' True to the Army'' (1942) – Daisy Hawkins * '' Joan of Ozark'' (1942) – Judy Hull * '' Chatterbox'' (1943) – Judy Boggs * '' Sleepy Lagoon'' (1943) – Judy Joyner * ''

'' (1944) – Judy Crocker * '' Hit the Hay'' (1945) – Judy Stevens / Helen Rand * '' Singin' in the Corn'' (1946) – Judy McCoy * '' Honeychile'' (1951) – Herself * '' Oklahoma Annie'' (1952) – Herself * '' The WAC from Walla Walla'' (1952) – Herself * '' Untamed Heiress'' (1954) – Herself * '' Carolina Cannonball'' (1955) – Herself * '' Lay That Rifle Down'' (1955) – Herself * ''

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' is a picaresque novel by American author Mark Twain that was first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. Commonly named among the Great American Novels, th ...

'' (1960) – Sheriff's Wife * '' Cannonball!'' (1976) – Sharma Capri Short subjects: * ''The Song of Fame'' (1934) – Herself * ''Husband's Holiday'' (1935) * ''Meet the Stars #7: Meet Roy Rogers'' (1941) – Herself * ''Meet the Stars #8: Stars Past and Present'' (1941) – Herself * ''Screen Snapshots: Radio Shows'' (1945) – Herself * ''Screen Snapshots: Fashions and Rodeo'' (1945) – Herself * ''Screen Snapshots: The Judy Canova Show'' (1946) – Herself * ''Screen Snapshots: Famous Hollywood Mothers'' (1947) – Herself Television: * '' NBC Matinee Theater'' (1955) (Season 1 Episode 12: "She's the One with the Funny Face") * ''

The Red Skelton Show ''The Red Skelton Show'' is an American television comedy/variety show that aired from 1951 to 1971. In the decade prior to hosting the show, Richard "Red" Skelton had a successful career as a radio and motion pictures star. Although his tele ...

'' (1956) (Season 5 Episode 24: "Clem's Feud") * '' The Steve Allen Show'' (1957) (Season 3 Episode 6) as Country Girl * '' The Danny Thomas Show'' (1958) (Season 5 Episode 24: "The Country Girl") as Elsie Hooper * ''

'' (1960) (Season 5 Episode 33: "Party Line") as Helen Parch * '' Vacation Playhouse'' (1965) (Season 3 Episode 11: "Cap'n Ahab") as Tillie Meeks * '' Pistols 'n' Petticoats'' (1967) ** (Season 1 Episode 17: "Daisy and the Gambler") as Daisy Frogg ** (Season 1 Episode 22: "The Golden Fleece") as Sadie * ''Lil Abner'' (1967) (TV movie) as Mammy Yokum * ''The Murdocks and the McClays'' (1970) (TV movie) as Ira Murdock * ''

Love, American Style ''Love, American Style'' is an American anthology comedy television series that aired on ABC from September 29, 1969, to January 11, 1974. The series was produced by Paramount Television. During the 1971–72 and 1972–73 seasons, it was a pa ...

'' (1973) (Season 5 Episode 8: segment "Love and the Eat's Cafe") as Mrs. Hankins * '' Police Woman'' (1974) (Season 1 Episode 2: "The Beautiful Die Young") as Arkie Lady * ''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Wilford Lloyd Baumes that originally aired on ABC from September 24, 1977, to May 24, 1986. In addition, three TV movies aired before the regular series pre ...

'' (1977) (Season 1 Episode 9: "The Captain's Captain / Romance Roulette / Hounded") as P.J. Muldoon

Listen to

OTR Network Library: ''The Judy Canova Show''
(10 episodes), otr.net; accessed December 12, 2014.

Bibliography

* Ohmart, Ben. ''Judy Canova: Singin' in the Corn'', BearManor Media, 2010.

References

External links

* *

* Kevin Lause
"Judy Canova"
in ''St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture''
Judy Canova Yahoo Group

"Tex and Judy"
video clip. {{DEFAULTSORT:Canova, Judy 1913 births 1983 deaths 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers Actresses from Palm Springs, California American film actresses American radio actresses American television actresses Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Deaths from cancer in California People from Starke, Florida American vaudeville performers American women comedians Comedians from Florida American yodelers RCA Victor artists