[Dixielandjazz] Margaret Whiting (Billboard)

[Robert Ringwald]

Margaret Whiting, Iconic Standards Singer, Dies at 86
by Jillian Mapes
Billboard, January 12, 2011
Margaret Whiting, a longtime singer of jazz, pop and country standards perhaps best
known for her duet, "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Johnny Mercer, died of natural
causes Monday (Jan. 10) in Englewood, N.J, her daughter confirmed to the New York
Times. She was 86.
Born Margaret Eleanor Whiting on July 22, 1924 in Detroit, Whiting began her career
in the 1940's big band scene and soon became a favorite interpreter of the Great
American Songbook, performing with bands led by Freddie Slack and Billy Butterfield,
among others, and singing on U.S.O. tours during World War II and the Korean War.
Whiting was signed to Capitol Records as a teenager by co-founder Johnny Mercer,
who wrote songs with her father, composer Richard Whiting ("On the Good Ship Lollipop,"
"Hooray for Hollywood"). "Baby, It's Cold Outside," Whiting and Mercer's 1949 duet,
reached No. 3 on Billboard's Most Played by Disc Jockeys chart.
In fact, the singer appeared on more than 40 singles that ranked on the Billboard
charts from the 1940's through 1970, with "Moonlight in Vermont," "A Tree in the
Meadow" and "Now Is the Hour" among her biggest hits. Whiting also dabbled in country
music and recorded nine duets with country singer Jimmy Wakely -- including "Slipping
Around," which hit No. 1 on both the pop and country singles charts in 1949.
Whiting's last big hit was 1966's "The Wheel of Hurt," which spent four weeks at
No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart and No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100. She last
charted in 1970 with the AC hit "Until It's Time For You To Go," which peaked at
No. 32.
Whiting also made frequent appearances on the TV variety show circuit and starred
in a biographical CBS sitcom, "Those Whiting Girls," with her sister Barbara during
the mid-'50s. Later in life, she embarked on a cabaret and musical theater career,
touring as recently as the '90s and performing at nightclubs near her former home
in Manhattan. Most recently, her original recording of "Time After Time" was used
in the 2009 film, "Julie and Julia."
Whiting leaves behind her lone survivor, daughter Deborah Whiting.


--Bob Ringwald
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