Classic Movie Travels: Dinah Shore
Frances “Fanny” Rose Shore was born on February 29, 1916, to Anna and Solomon Shore in Winchester, Tennessee. She had a sister, Elizabeth, who was eight years older. When Fanny was eighteen months old, she suffered from polio. After extensive care, an exercise program, and therapeutic massages, Fanny recovered but coped with a deformed foot and limp.
Fanny enjoyed singing from an early age. Anna, a contralto who dreamed of working in the opera, encouraged her to sing. Solomon often brought Fanny along to his store, where she performed for customers.
By 1924, the family relocated to McMinnville, Tennessee, where Solomon opened a department store. During Fanny’s fifth-grade year, the family moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where Fanny completed her elementary education. She participated in sports and was a cheerleader at Hume-Fogg High School. While attending Hume-Fogg High School, she also participated in music club and theatrical productions.
When Fanny turned 16, her mother passed away from a heart attack. Fanny continued her education at Vanderbilt University and graduated in 1938 with a sociology degree. She soon made her radio debut on WSM, a Nashville radio station.
Fanny decided to pursue her interest in singing and moved to New York City, where she auditioned for various orchestras and radio stations. Initially, she traveled there while she was on summer break from Vanderbilt. By the time she graduated, she intended to live in New York permanently. As part of her audition repertoire, she performed the song “Dinah.” When Martin Block, a disk jockey, could not recall her name, he instead introduced her as “The Dinah Girl.” They name soon became her stage name: Dinah Shore.
Shore was hired on as a vocalist for the WNEW radio station, singing alongside Frank Sinatra. In addition, she performed with the Xavier Cugat Orchestra and signed a recording contract with RCA Victor Records.
In 1939, Shore debuted on national radio for CBS Radio’s Ben Bernie’s Orchestra radio program. During the following year, she was a featured vocalist on NBC Radio, performing Dixieland and blues songs. The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street program on which she was performing became so popular that it was moved to a primetime slot.
Her popularity soon caught Eddie Cantor’s attention and he signed her as a regular performer on his Time to Smile radio program. In 1943, she appeared in her first film, Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943), starring Cantor. Shore went on to the Paul Whiteman Presents radio program.
Shore married actor George Montgomery in 1943. They had a daughter named Melissa Montgomery in 1948, who became an actress. The couple adopted a son, John Montgomery. Shore and Montgomery divorced in 1962.
Shore transitioned to other radio shows and record labels throughout this period. Her largest commercial success of her recording career was “Shoo-Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy” for Columbia. She also started her own radio show, Call for Music, for CBS and, later, NBC.
Shore appeared in additional films including Up in Arms (1944), Belle of the Yukon (1944), and Till the Clouds Roll By (1946). She also provided vocals for two Disney films: Make Mine Music (1946) and Fun and Fancy Free (1947). Her final starring film role was in Aaron Slik from Punkin Crick (1952).
In the 1950s, Shore returned to recording with RCA Victor. BY 1959, she transitioned to Capitol Records until she was dropped by them in 1962.
After numerous radio guest spots over the years, she made her commercial television show debut on The Ed Wynn Show in 1949. In 1951, she was the star of her own television show, The Dinah Shore Show. In 1956, she hosted one hour-long, full-color productions of The Chevy Show, which was renamed The Dinah Shore Chevy Show. Shore appeared in 125 hour-long programs across the show’s 12-season run from 1951 through 1963.
In 1963, Shore married tennis player Maurice F. Smith. They divorced the following year.
In the 1970s, Shore hosed two daytime programs: Dinah’s Place and Dinah! (renamed Dinah and Friends). During this period, Shore had a six-year romance with actor Burt Reynolds.
Off-screen, Shore enjoyed playing golf and supported women’s professional golf steadfastly. She helped found the Colgate Dinah Shore Golf Tournament in 1972, which is now the Chevron Championship and one of the major golf tournaments of the LPGA Tour. The tournament was held annually at the Mission Hills Country Club near Shore’s former Rancho Mirage, California, home until 2022. The event moved to Texas the following year because of a new sponsor. Nonetheless, Mission Hills retains the Dinah Shore Course, which now hosts the Galleri Classic tournament. Shore was posthumously elected an honorary member of the LPGA Hall of Fame in 1994 due to her contributions to golf and also became a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1998.
In 1993, Shore was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and passed away from the illness in her Beverly Hills, California, home on February 24, 1994. Her remains were cremated and divided among niches at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California, and Forest Lawn Cemetery—Cathedral City in Cathedral City, California. Additional ashes went to her relatives.
Today, there are numerous tributes to Shore, particularly in the Palm Springs area.
In 1920, Shore and her family resided at 8 9th Ave., Winchester, Tennessee. In 1930, they lived at 3106 33rd Ave. S., Nashville, Tennessee. These homes have since been razed.
Hume-Fogg High School stands at 700 Broadway, Nashville, Tennessee.
Both Cathedral City, California, and Rancho Mirage, California, have streets named after her.
Shore’s hometown, Winchester, Tennessee, also has a Dinah Shore Boulevard.
In 1940, Shore lived at 111 Britton Ave., Queens, New York, which no longer stands.
In 1960, Shore lived at 400 Drury Ln., Beverly Hills, California. This home remains.
In 1964, Shore maintained an estate at 432 Hermosa Pl., Palm Springs, California, which stands.
In 1996, Shore received a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars.
Shore has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, honoring her work in radio, recording, and television. Her stars are located at 1751 Vine St., 6901 Hollywood Blvd., and 6916 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, California, respectively.
Mission Hills Country Club is a private country club located at 34600 Mission Hills Dr., Rancho Mirage, California. The clubhouse has the Dinah Shore Board Room, spotlighting information about Shore’s life and career. On the course, the Dinah Shore Wall of Champions contains a tribute to Shore with a sculpted golf club protruding from a depiction of Shore. Additionally, there is a statue of Shore on the course, sculpted by George Montgomery.
Shore’s ashes are interred at Hillside Memorial Park, located at 6001 W. Centinela Ave., Los Angeles, California. Her ashes are also interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery—Cathedral City, located at 69855 Ramon Rd., Cathedral City, California.
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–Annette Bochenek for Classic Movie Hub
Annette Bochenek pens our monthly Classic Movie Travels column. You can read all of Annette’s Classic Movie Travel articles here.
Annette Bochenek of Chicago, Illinois, is a PhD student at Dominican University and an independent scholar of Hollywood’s Golden Age. She manages the Hometowns to Hollywood blog, in which she writes about her trips exploring the legacies and hometowns of Golden Age stars. Annette also hosts the “Hometowns to Hollywood” film series throughout the Chicago area. She has been featured on Turner Classic Movies and is the president of TCM Backlot’s Chicago chapter. In addition to writing for Classic Movie Hub, she also writes for Silent Film Quarterly, Nostalgia Digest, and Chicago Art Deco SocietyMagazine.
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