{{Short description|American jazz singer (1916–1984)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Ina Ray Hutton | image = Ina Ray Hutton Billboard.jpg | caption = Hutton in 1942 | birth_name = Odessa Cowan | birth_date = {{Birth date|1916|3|13}} | birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1984|2|19|1916|3|16 |mf=yes}} | death_place = Ventura, California, U.S. | genre = Jazz, big band | occupation = Singer, bandleader | years_active = 1926–1968 }}
'''Ina Ray Hutton''' (born '''Odessa Cowan'''; March 13, 1916 – February 19, 1984)<ref name="LarkinGE">{{cite book |title=The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music |editor=Colin Larkin |publisher=Guinness Publishing |date=1992 |edition=First |isbn=0-85112-939-0 |page=1215}}</ref> was an American singer, bandleader, and the elder sister of June Hutton.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pool |first=Jeannie Gayle |title=Peggy Gilbert & Her All-Girl Band |date=2008 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=9781461737346 |page=[https://archive.org/details/peggygilberthera00pool/page/92 92] |url=https://archive.org/details/peggygilberthera00pool |url-access=registration |access-date=August 2, 2019}}</ref> She led one of the first all-female big bands.
==Biography== thumb|Ad for a Hutton concert at the Army Air Base, Salt Lake City, Utah, October 22, 1942 A native of Chicago, Hutton began dancing and singing on stage at the age of eight.<ref name="Ultimate">{{cite book |last=Yanow |first=Scott |title=The Jazz Singers: The Ultimate Guide |date=2008 |publisher=Backbeat |isbn=978-0-87930-825-4 |page=109}}</ref><ref name=slih/> Her mother was a pianist in Chicago.<ref name=slih/> At age 15, she starred in the Gus Edwards revue ''Future Stars Troupe'' at the Palace Theater<ref name=slih/> and Lew Leslie's ''Clowns in Clover''. On Broadway she performed in George White's revues ''Melody'', ''Never Had an Education'' and ''Scandals'', then with the Ziegfeld Follies of 1934.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ina Ray |website=Playbill |url=https://www.playbill.com/person/ina-ray-vault-0000054663 |access-date=August 30, 2022}}</ref> <!-- Playbill lists participation of Melody and Follies -->
In 1934, she was approached by Irving Mills and vaudeville agent Alex Hyde to lead an all-girl orchestra, the Melodears,<ref name="abb">{{cite book |last=Lee |first=William F. |title=American Big Bands |date=2005 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |isbn=9780634080548 |page=[https://archive.org/details/americanbigbands00leew/page/183 183] |url=https://archive.org/details/americanbigbands00leew |url-access=registration |access-date=August 2, 2019}}</ref> As part of the group's formation, Mills asked her to change her name.<ref name="slih">{{cite book |last=McGee |first=Kristin A. |title=Some Liked It Hot: Jazz Women in Film and Television, 1928–1959 |date=2010 |publisher=Wesleyan University Press |isbn=9780819569677 |pages=86–110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vmsbhYc8-XEC&pg=PA86 |access-date=August 2, 2019}}</ref> The group included trumpeter Frances Klein, Canadian pianist Ruth Lowe Sandler, saxophonist Jane Cullum, guitarist Marian Gange, trumpeter Mardell "Owen" Winstead, and trombonist Alyse Wells.{{cn|date=April 2022}}
The Melodears appeared in short films and in the movie ''Big Broadcast of 1936''. They recorded six songs, sung by Hutton, before disbanding in 1939.<ref name="Ultimate" /> Soon after, she started the Ina Ray Hutton Orchestra (with men only) that included George Paxton and Hal Schaefer.<ref name="Ultimate" />
The band appeared in the film ''Ever Since Venus'' (1944), recorded for Elite and Okeh,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Young |first1=William H. |last2=Young |first2=Nancy K. |title=Music of the World War II Era |date=2008 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=9780313338915 |page=[https://archive.org/details/musicofworldwari0000youn/page/67 67] |url=https://archive.org/details/musicofworldwari0000youn |url-access=registration |access-date=August 2, 2019}}</ref> and performed on the radio. After this band broke up, she started another male band a couple years later.<ref name="Ultimate" /> She married jazz trumpeter Randy Brooks.<ref name="Ultimate" />
During the 1950s, Hutton formed a female big band that played on television and starred in ''The Ina Ray Hutton Show''.<ref name="Ultimate" /> She retired from music in 1968 and died at the age of 67 on February 19, 1984, from complications due to diabetes.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ina Ray Hutton, Band Leader in 40's and 50's |newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 22, 1984 |page=D21 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1984/02/22/005253.html?pageNumber=91 |access-date=August 30, 2022 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>
==Race== Although Hutton and some members of her family are thought to have been white,{{Citation needed|date=September 2022|reason=Known by whom}} historians have theorized that she and her family were of mixed white and African-American ancestry. In 1920, Hutton herself was listed in the US Census as "mulatto" and in 1930 as "negro".<ref name=uw/> Hutton was also mentioned under her birth name Odessa Cowan in the African American Chicago newspaper ''The Chicago Defender'' in several articles describing the early years of her career. A photograph of her as a 7-year-old dancer in an all-Black dance troupe appeared in a 1924 issue of the paper.<ref name="uw">{{cite web |last=McElroy |first=Molly |title=Secrets of famous 1930s 'blonde bombshell of rhythm' revealed with help from UW library |url=https://www.washington.edu/news/2012/03/27/secrets-of-famous-1930s-blonde-bombshell-of-rhythm-revealed-with-help-from-uw-library/ |website=UW News |publisher=University of Washington |access-date=August 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190802013148/https://www.washington.edu/news/2012/03/27/secrets-of-famous-1930s-blonde-bombshell-of-rhythm-revealed-with-help-from-uw-library/ |archive-date=August 2, 2019 |date=March 27, 2012}}</ref>
==Personal life== She was married and divorced five times and had no children: * Charles Doerwald, a traveling salesman. They eloped and were married July 29, 1939.<ref>{{cite news |last=Commonwealth of |first=Virginia |title=Certificate of Marriage |agency=Fauquier County |date=July 29, 1939}}</ref> However, Doerwald's divorce from his current wife was not final and his marriage to Hutton was annulled.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ina Ray Hutton Asks Annulment of Marriage |newspaper=Burlington Daily News |location=Burlington, VT |date=February 2, 1940 |page=10 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108632315/ina-ray-hutton-marriage-1/ |access-date=August 20, 2022}}</ref> * Louis P. Parisotto, saxophonist with Hutton's all-male band. Married October 27, 1943.<ref>{{cite news |last=Crittenden |first=Arkansas |title=County Marriages |date=October 27, 1943}}</ref> Divorced December 3, 1946.<ref>{{cite news |title=Band Leader Granted Divorce from Musician |newspaper=The Morning News |location=Wilmington, DE |date=December 14, 1946 |page=15 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108632649/ina-ray-hutton-marriage-2/ |access-date=August 30, 2022}}</ref> * Randy Brooks, trumpeter. Married April 10, 1949.<ref>{{cite news |title=Brooks to Marry Ina Ray Hutton |newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=April 9, 1949 |page=3 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108633008/ina-ray-hutton-marriage-3/ |access-date=August 30, 2022}}</ref> Divorced June 1957.<ref>{{cite news |last=Newspaper |first=Archive |title=Nevada State Journal: Reno |date=June 27, 1957}}</ref> * Michael Anter, owner of a beauty salon in Las Vegas. Married May 31, 1958.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ina Ray Hutton Weds Hairdresser |newspaper=News-Pilot |location=San Pedro, CA |date=June 2, 1958 |page=1 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108633327/ina-ray-hutton-marriage-4/ |access-date=August 30, 2022 }}</ref> Divorced 1960.<ref>{{cite news |last=Newspaper |first=Archive |title=Reno Evening Gazette |date=December 14, 1960}}</ref> * John "Jack" Franklin Curtis, owner of a tool company. Married April 13, 1963.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ina Ray Hutton to Wed |newspaper=The Courier-Journal |location=Louisville, KY |date=March 27, 1963 |page=14 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108633897/ina-ray-hutton-marriage-5/ |access-date=August 30, 2022}}</ref> Divorced December 29, 1979. {{Citation needed |date=September 2022}} <!-- ref? -->
==Discography== * ''Ina Ray Hutton and Her Melodears'' (Vintage Music, 2001) * ''The Definitive Collection'' (Fantastic Voyage, 2011)<ref name="g">{{cite news |last=Stanley |first=Bob |title=Ina Ray Hutton: The Forgotten Female Star of 1930s Jazz |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jul/07/ina-ray-hutton-melodears-jazz |access-date=August 2, 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=July 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190802015807/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jul/07/ina-ray-hutton-melodears-jazz |archive-date=August 2, 2019}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Sources== *{{Cite web |url=http://hollywoodlandforever.blogspot.com/2014/04/sisters-secrets-ina-ray-and-june.html |title=Sisters, Secrets - Ina Ray & June Hutton's Real History |date=April 25, 2014 |publisher=J'aime Rubio, Author |access-date=August 9, 2018}}
*{{Cite web |url=http://www.studio360.org/2011/sep/30/secrets-of-a-blonde-bombshell/ |title=Secrets of a Blond Bombshell |publisher=Studio 360 |access-date=October 3, 2011}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hutton, Ina Ray}} Category:1916 births Category:1984 deaths Category:Singers from Chicago Category:American big band bandleaders Category:American jazz bandleaders Category:American jazz singers Category:20th-century American singers Category:20th-century American women singers Category:Melodears members Category:Hyde Park Academy High School alumni