Teresa Brewer made her debut on "The Major Bowes Amateur Hour" radio program in 1936 and toured with the show until 1943. She made her first recording in 1949 and her first big record was "Music! Music! Music!" It debuted on 4 February 1950, was Number 1 on the Top 10 charts for four weeks, and stayed on the Top 10 charts for 17 weeks.
October 17, 2007, New Rochelle, New York, United States
Place Of Birth
Toledo, Ohio, USA
Height
5' 1" (1.55 m)
Profession
Soundtrack, Actress
Nationality
American
Spouse
Bob Thiele (m. 1972–1996)
Albums
Songs Everybody Knows
Nominations
NME Award for Favourite US Female Singer
Movies
Those Redheads from Seattle, Hank Williams
Star Sign
Taurus
#
Quote
1
I could kick myself.
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Fact
1
She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 1708 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.
2
Ed Sullivan first introduced the petite singer on his variety show as "the little girl with the big voice." She was a frequent Sullivan guest.
3
She moved away from performing in the 1960s as rock 'n' roll took over the pop scene and instead concentrated on raising a family of four. She returned to singing in a jazz-swing mode a decade later after marrying her second husband, jazz producer Bob Thiele, and worked with such icons as Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie.
4
Born Theresa Veronica Breuer, the eldest of five children of a glass inspector for the Libby Owens Co. in Toledo, Ohio.
5
Made her official professional debut at age 2 singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" on a children's Toledo radio show. At age 5 she won a singing competition which earned her several appearances on the "Major Bowes Amateur Hour" radio talent program. She spent the next seven years touring with a Bowes'-formed troupe, then "retired" at age 12 to return to school.
6
Dropped out of high school a couple months before graduating and moved to New York for singing engagements, altering her given name to "Teresa Brewer". Because she had skipped a grade she would have graduated early in 1947 at age 17. But because she had won a contest and was swept into singing engagements in New York earlier that year, she did not return to finish the school year. She even turned down an offer of an honorary diploma, disliking school that much.
7
Made around 300 records by the mid-1960s.
8
She dyed her brown hair and made her film debut as one of Those Redheads from Seattle (1953) starring Rhonda Fleming, but turned down a long-term contract offer by Paramount in order to maintain her singing career and remain with her family, both established on the East Coast. Paramount was ready to promote her as a "starlet", a term which irritated her. Later in an interview with the Teresa Brewer Center she said "I could kick myself" for not doing more movies.
9
She recorded Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World", which was written by her second husband Bob Thiele. Thiele also produced a few of her earlier hits.
10
Four daughters: Kathleen (born in 1950), Susan and Megan Colleen (born in November 1954), and Michelle (born in 1958).
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Brontes at the BBC
2016
TV Movie documentary performer: "He Understands Me" - uncredited
Mad Men
2010
TV Series performer - 1 episode
True Blood
2009
TV Series performer - 1 episode
Sons of Anarchy
TV Series performer - 1 episode, 2008 writer - 1 episode, 2008
Haack: The King of Techno
2004
Documentary performer: "Satellite" - as Teressa Brewer
Ramona
2003
TV Mini-Series performer: "Music! Music! Music!"
61*
2001
TV Movie lyrics: "I Love Mickey" / music: "I Love Mickey" / performer: "I Love Mickey"
Porky's
1981
performer: "'Til I Waltz Again With You"
Good Old Days Part II
1978
TV Special performer: "Till I Waltz Again with You", "A Tear Fell", "A Sweet Old Fashioned Girl"
The Muppet Show
1977
TV Series performer - 1 episode
Mondo Trasho
1969
performer: "Ricochet"
The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show
1958
TV Series performer - 1 episode
Those Redheads from Seattle
1953
"I Guess It Was You All the Time" / performer: "Baby, Baby, Baby", "Mr. Banjo Man"
Teresa Brewer and the Firehouse Five Plus Two
1951
Short performer: "Music! Music! Music! Put Another Nickel In", "Old Man Mose" - uncredited