Biography!
Little Miss Zelma Kathryn Hedrick was born on February 9, 1922 in Winston Salem, North Carolina. She is the third child of Charles & Lillian Hedrick. She grew up in Kirkwood, Missouri, where her family moved in 1927. According to Ms. Grayson, all the members of her family had more than four octave ranges, they just weren’t aware that any of them had a good voice. They sang all the time.
Eleven year old Zelma was “discovered” on an empty stage at the St Louis Civic Opera House by Frances Marshall, a Chicago Civic Opera singer. She recognized the little one’s potential and volunteered to give her singing lessons.
The family relocated quite often, but in 1937 they made it to California. By this time, Zelma had decided to pursue a career on the operatic stage. She continued her singing lessons with a new teacher, Minnaletha White, and attended school at Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles. Her solos at school and church had attracted much attention, including the attention of Art Rush at RCA Redseal Records, who quickly signed her to a contract. She seemed to be on her way to fulfilling her dreams, but other twists were in store for the aspiring diva.
In 1939, Zelma attracted some more attention, that of Sam Katz, the executive in charge of musicals at Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Continually looking for a rival to Universal’s popular Deanna Durbin, he pleaded with the young girl to come and sing for the executives at MGM. He was repeatedly denied. Zelma wanted to be in opera, not movies. But, not knowing that RCA was “in cahoots” with MGM, she was finally convinced to go by RCA, because what would it hurt? MGM was formally introduced to Zelma’s amazing vocal abilities (a vocal range of G below middle C to C above high C). By the end of her “audition,” Zelma’s life had taken a new path-to being MGM’s newest Lady of Song.
Not long after signing her contract, she was asked to make her debut in Lucia at the Metropolitan Opera House. Louis B Mayer insisted that if she were to become an opera star, she would be known as “high brow” and may never achieve world-wide popularity. Whereas, if she was a movie star, she would be more accessible to general audiences, and would become a respected talent world over. Many fights ensued from this little disagreement, but Mr. Mayer got his way, and the world would soon get Kathryn Grayson. (the name coming from her own middle name, and her mother's maiden name.)
Kathryn still didn't want to be a movie star, insisting that she wasn't cut out for it. She finally got a screen test in 1940, had her hair done by Sidney Guilaroff and gown done by Adrian. She didn't know who they were, and frankly didn't care. She sang arias and popular tunes with the orchestra. Afterward, Katharine Hepburn told her that she was the best young actress she had ever seen! So, hearing this Kathryn decided to actually view what she had done, and hated it. She told Mr. Mayer, who was VERY displeased with her. There was a rather nasty fight with a few rather nasty words, which ended in Kathryn walking out! She went home and told her mother, and her mother thought it very disrespectful, and thought Kathryn should be punished. Eventually the strong willed young diva returned, and MGM finally had their gal.
As they had done with many "up-an-comers," MGM put Kathryn in an Andy Hardy movie. Playing the title role of Andy Hardy's Private Secretary, Kathryn captivated audiences, and critics alike. The picture was one of MGM's top box office hits that year, and it proved that Mr. Mayer was, in fact, right in his opinion that Kathryn was just right for the big screen.
Just as her career took a turn, so did Kathryn's personal life. A middle aged executive at MGM had an eye for her, and wouldn't leave her alone. He hounded her until finally she decided that she'd say yes to the next man who asked her to marry him. And she did. Kathryn eloped to Las Vegas on July 11, 1941 at the age of 18. She married 26 year old singer/actor John Shelton. The hasty marriage surprised everyone, including Kathryn's own family and MGM. They both demanded she get an annulment. Metro most of all, because of the smartly manufactured Deanna Durbin-like character they had built her into. But, Kathryn won her battle, and the marriage lasted until 1946.
Kathryn was still a very special person to the people at the studio. She was always treated nicely. She said in a recent interview, "...the limo drivers, they'd say, 'You can't walk in the rain with that voice!' They would leave Garbo, Joan Crawford, Greer Garson, etc... in the rain to chauffer me!" Everyone tried to protect her, even after she was married.
In 1943, Kathryn filmed Thousands Cheer with Gene Kelly, and a whole slew of MGM stars. A cute story about a soldier (Kelly) falling in love with the commander's daughter (Grayson) is sometimes overshadowed by the marvelous all star revue of many popular songs of the time. After the film debuted, Kathryn went on her first personal appearance tour. When she arrived to do appearances at the Capitol Theatre in New York, a purported four show a day, two week run turned into a ten week run, with seven shows a day. Kathryn became the first person to do so. Thus proving her immense popularity once again.
When writing this biography, I used an article from Issue #27 of Films of the Golden Age magazine as a reference. I hope this does not present any problems.