Grace Moody, child vaudeville star once managed by Col. Tom Parker
deb...@comcast.net
Bruce Fessier
The Desert Sun
March 28, 2006
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Grace Moody, a child vaudeville star who brought local supper club
entertainment to new heights, was remembered Monday as the epitome of
Palm Springs show biz.
She died Sunday after a battle with cancer. Even her family was unsure
of her exact age.
Moody and her husband, Phil, owned and presented original musical
revues in Moody's Supper Club in Palm Springs for 10 years, beginning
in 1981. They had their own rooms at the Ranch Club and Livreri's
Italian Restaurant in Palm Springs for a decade before and after that.
"They were the bridge between the Doll House and the Chi Chi (supper
clubs), and the McCallum and the (Palm Springs) Follies," said Follies
publicist Greg Purdy, who often sang with her. "They perfected what
Buddy Greco is trying to do right now."
They're included in the Palm Springs Walk of Stars.
Grace Moody and her sister, Pony Sherrell, sang in vaudeville as the
Sherrell Babies before they were 6. They performed on "Uncle Don's," a
famous kiddie radio show, when Grace was 9 and toured with Gene Austin,
America's first crooner, as teenagers.
Their manager was Tom Parker, who later managed Elvis Presley.
Pony and Phil Moody later wrote acts for top Las Vegas stars, such as
Mae West. They opened Moody's Supper Club months after West's death.
West's valet, David Christopher, joined Grace as a singer with Phil on
piano.
"They were show business to me," said Christopher, who had hoped to
introduce Grace at his revue of Austin's music May 21 at Lyons' English
Grille.
"Palm Springs is not ever going to be the same without Grace Moody. I
just loved her."
Besides Phil, Grace is survived by their daughter, Mary.
Memorial plans are pending.
aka Bob
proffered:
>Grace Moody and her sister, Pony Sherrell, sang in vaudeville as the
>Sherrell Babies before they were 6. They performed on "Uncle Don's," a
>famous kiddie radio show, when Grace was 9 and toured with Gene Austin,
>America's first crooner, as teenagers.
Gene Austin was certainly one of America's first crooners, but *the*
first?
"It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens." - Woody Allen
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Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
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deb...@comcast.net
first?
Austin's recording career started up in 1923, before Rudy Vallee...
deb...@comcast.net
famous kiddie radio show,
Is this the guy who was fired for saying on air (unknowingly) "That
oughta keep the little bastards happy for awhile"?!
King Daevid MacKenzie
...snopes.com is your friend...
...at http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/radio/uncledon.htm you can see the
whole story of this urban myth. And at
http://rockradioscrapbook.ca/mackenzie2.ram you can hear _me_ use that
gag as a closer on my own show in 2001...
--
King Daevid MacKenzie, WLSU-FM 88.9 La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
heard occasionally at http://www.radio4all.net
http://www.myspace.com/kingdaevid
"You can live in your dreams, but only if you are worthy of them."
HARLAN ELLISON