Ina Ray Hutton

Ina Ray Hutton
File:Ina Ray Hutton Billboard.jpg
Born	Odessa Cowen (1916-03-13)March 13, 1916 Chicago, Illinois
Died	Ventura, California
Occupation	Singer
Spouse(s)	Lou Parisotto Randy Brooks Michael Anter Jack Curtis

Odessa Cowan, better known by her stage name Ina Ray Hutton (March 13, 1916 – February 19, 1984), was an American bandleader, vocalist and performer during the Big band era, and sister to June Hutton.

Biography

Ina Ray Hutton (March 13, 1916 – February 19, 1984) was born Odessa Cowan in Chicago, Illinois to parents Marvel Svea Williams and Odie Daniel Cowan. She began dancing and singing in stage revues at the age of eight under the guidance of her then tap and stage dance instructor, Hazel Thompson-Davis. Cowan's mother Marvel Ray was a local pianist and entertainer in Chicago. By the age of 13, Odessa was considered so advanced that she skipped eighth grade and went straight to high school at Hyde Park High School. By the time she was 18 years old, Odessa (Ina Ray) was a seasoned performer having starred in Gus Edwards' revue "Future Stars Troupe" at the Palace Theater, Lew Leslie's "Clowns in Clover", on Broadway she performed in George White's revues: "Melody", "Never Had An Education," "Scandals", and then onto The Ziegfeld Follies all by the time she was 18.

In 1934, she was approached by Irving Mills and vaudeville agent Alex Hyde to lead an all-girl orchestra, the Melodears, which featured musicians including trumpet player Frances Klein, pianist Ruth Lowe Sandler, saxophonist Jane Cullum, guitarist Marian Gange, trumpeter Mardell "Owen" Winstead and trombonist Alyse Wells during its existence. Hutton and her Melodears were one of the first all-girl bands to be filmed for Paramount shorts including Accent on Girls and Swing Hutton Swing and Hollywood feature films under the management of national booking agent Irving Mills. The group disbanded in 1939. In 1940 she led an all-male orchestra that was featured in the film Ever Since Venus (1944); it was disbanded in 1949. During the 1950s, she returned to the all-girl format for a variety television program, The Ina Ray Hutton Show, which ran from 1951 to 1956 on Paramount Television Network's flagship station KTLA in Los Angeles.

Race

Although Ina Ray Hutton and some members of her family members are known to have passed for "White", historians have long theorized that Ina Ray (Odessa) and her family were of mixed African-American ancestry, based on earlier Census records from her youth. According to actual documents, Odessa's father was listed as Caucasian. His World War I Draft Registration cards list him as being "White." However, the 1920 & 1930 Census listed Odessa's maternal grandmother Minnie as "Mulatto", her step-grandfather Bailey McFall as "Negro" and her mother, she and her younger sister as "Mulatto." Although at the time, according to history, anyone that was mixed with any sort of ethnicity besides Caucasian would have been considered "Mulatto", even Native-Americans. And many Africans and Native Americans were simply listed as "Colored" or "Negro." There were many Census records that listed anyone mixed of Hispanic, Asian, African or Native-American as "Mulatto."

According to an interview with Ina Ray's niece, her grandmother Marvel told her that she was Cherokee Indian. It is believed that Ina Ray's African ancestry is predominantly from her maternal side of the family, but it has never been officially verified as fact. Only Bailey McFall, Ina Ray's step-grandfather was noted as being African-American, or "Negro" in the Census and as a step-relation, he was not of any blood relation to Ina Ray. Ina Ray's father, Odie Daniel Cowan was most thought to be of Irish or Scottish descent. Ina's mother, Marvel also claimed that Ina was the great-grand niece of General George Pickett, of the Confederate Army who led "Pickett's Charge" at the Battle of Gettysburg, meaning that she was also a descendant of the "Old English" families that first settled in Virginia from England.

Personal life

She married and divorced Lou Parisotto, Randy Brooks and Michael Anter. Her fourth husband, Jack Curtis, preceded her in death.

She retired from music in 1968 and died in 1984 of complications from diabetes, aged 67.

References

• Ina Ray Hutton at the Internet Movie Database
• Sisters, Secrets?- Ina Ray and June Hutton's Real History

External links

• Ina Ray Hutton at the Internet Movie Database
• Sisters, Secrets?- Ina Ray and June Hutton's Real History