June Valli (''née'' Foglia; June 30, 1928 – March 12, 1993) was an American singer and television personality.

Early years

Born in the

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, Valli's father was Italian, and her mother was Austrian. She worked as a bookkeeper after her graduation from Washington Irving High School. Her singing of '' Stormy Weather'' at a friend's wedding reception led to an appearance on ''

Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts ''Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts'' (also known as ''Talent Scouts'') is an American radio and television variety show that ran on CBS from 1946 until 1958. Sponsored by Lipton Tea, it starred Arthur Godfrey, who was also hosting '' Arthur God ...

'', where she won. She subsequently appeared on

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an American singer, actor, and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, from 1943 until 1987 ...

's and

Ed Sullivan Edward Vincent Sullivan (September 28, 1901 – October 13, 1974) was an American television host, impresario, sports and entertainment reporter, and syndicated columnist for the ''New York Daily News'' and the Chicago Tribune New York News ...

's TV shows.

Television

Valli was one of the stars of the 1950s television shows '' Stop the Music'' and ''

Your Hit Parade ''Your Hit Parade'' is an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1953 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During its 24-year r ...

''. She sang on the latter show during its 1952–1953 season. At the start of the 1953–1954 season, she was replaced by singer

Gisele MacKenzie Gisèle MacKenzie (born Gisèle Marie Louise Marguerite LaFlèche; January 10, 1927 – September 5, 2003)
Accessed April 2010 ...

. Donald Swerdlow and his 12-year-old Bronx friends, students at Public School 6 were asked by June's manager to start a fan club for her. They did this and paraded in front of a TV studio carrying "picket signs" promoting her recordings of "Now Now Now" (an American version of the Israeli favorite, Hava Nagila, and the record's flip-side, "Always Always." In 1957, Valli and

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

were co-hosts of ''The Andy Williams-June Valli Show'', a summer replacement program on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

-TV. A newspaper article noted, "It's her first chance in three years to settle down in one place."

Recordings

Valli recorded a number of hit songs, including "Strange Sensation", "A Shoulder to Cry On", "

Crying in the Chapel "Crying in the Chapel" is a song written by Artie Glenn and recorded by his son Darrell Glenn. The song was released in 1953 and reached number six on the ''Billboard'' chart. The song has also been recorded by many artists including the ...

", "

Why Don't You Believe Me? "Why Don't You Believe Me?" is a popular song written by Lew Douglas, King Laney, and Roy Rodde and published in 1952. A recording by Joni James (MGM Records catalog number 11333) reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' charts for four weeks in No ...

" and "

Unchained Melody "Unchained Melody" is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. North wrote the music as a theme for the prison film '' Unchained'' (1955), hence the song title. Todd Duncan sang the vocals for the film soundtrack.Robert ...

". Throughout her career, she sang with various stars of the time, including

Mel Torme Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...

and

Fats Domino Antoine Caliste Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American singer-songwriter and pianist. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New Orl ...

. Valli was also the singing voice in a series of commercials for

Chiquita Banana Chiquita Brands International S.à.r.l. (), formerly known as United Fruit Co., is a Swiss company producing and distributing bananas and other produce. The company operates under subsidiary brand names, including the flagship Chiquita bran ...

Private life

Valli was married to famed

WIND (AM) WIND (560 Hertz, kHz) is a commercial radio, commercial AM broadcasting, AM radio station city of license, licensed to Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, and broadcasting a conservative talk radio format. It is owned by the Salem Media Group with stu ...

Chicago disc jockey Howard Miller for two years—a union that she called "my biggest mistake." She later married Jim Merchant for 28 years.

Death

Valli died of cancer on March 12, 1993, at her home in

Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a Borough (New Jersey), borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop The Palisades (Hudson River), The Palisades. As of the 2020 Uni ...

."June Valli; Singer, 64"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', March 16, 1993. Accessed November 7, 2022. "June Valli, a singer who appeared on television variety shows from the 1950's through the 1970's, died on Friday at her home. She was 64 and lived in Fort Lee."

Charted Singles

References

1930 births 1993 deaths 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers American people of Austrian descent American people of Italian descent People from Fort Lee, New Jersey Television personalities from New York City American women television personalities Deaths from cancer in New Jersey Entertainers from the Bronx Mercury Records artists RCA Victor artists Singers from New York City Traditional pop music singers {{US-singer-stub