Singer Marian Spelman dies
Garrison Hilliard
By Rick Bird
Post staff reporter
Singer Marian Spelman, the operatic soprano whose career not only spanned, but
helped define the golden age of Cincinnati television with a near 25-year-career
on Ruth Lyons' "Fifty-Fifty Club," died Tuesday morning at Mercy Franciscan at
West Park nursing home in Westwood.
She was believed to be 85.
"That was part of Marian's lore. She never liked to talk about her age," said
Mickey Fisher, the long time secretary for Lyons. "Marian did it all - community
theater, the national anthem at Crosley, she recorded Ruth's Christmas songs, so
much local theater."
It was Lyons who gave Ms. Spelman her big break in 1952, hiring her as a
featured vocalist on WLW-T's "Fifty-Fifty Club" show.
Ms. Spelman became the much-loved sweetheart vocalist of local TV and through
her community wide performances for three decades until she announced her
retirement on "The Bob Braun Show" in 1975.
She sang wherever she was asked. There were numerous national anthems at Reds
games at Crosley Field, performances with the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops
orchestras, an appearance at the New York World's Fair in 1964 and countless
local musical theater productions. She performed on the "Tonight" show and
toured with the USO in Europe.
Ms. Spelman was a versatile vocalist who could belt out show tunes, do opera or
sing "Silent Night" at a Pops Christmas show. Longtime fans remember her for her
signature Christmas songs, many penned by Lyons, such as "Christmas Lullaby" and
"Soon Twill Be Christmas Eve. "
She even pulled off singing in a boxing ring. She once told The Post how she
climbed into a ring wearing her best "black, low cut formal, tight fitting
dress" to sing the national anthem at a fight that featured Ezzard Charles,
worrying how she was going to squeeze between the ropes in the dress and get to
the microphone at center ring.
"After the band started up and I started singing, I looked over to Ezzard
Charles' corner. My Gosh! There was the champ going through a few subdued
warm-up exercises," she remembered in a late '50s interview. "I thought I was
going to have to go five rounds with him before I got out of there."
While she was a pristine vocalist, it is that devilish sense of humor that many
friends are remembering.
"She would fit in with the hot dog crowd as much as she could fit in with the
caviar crowd. She had that demeanor," said longtime friend Nick Clooney. "She
was one of the most civilized women I have ever known. She was absolutely
remarkable. And she had a wicked, wicked sense of humor."
Jazz singer Mary Ellen Tanner said Ms. Spelman's blonde good looks made her seem
unapproachable to some.
"But when you got to know her, she had this killer sense of humor," said Tanner,
who began on the Braun show in 1978. Ms. Spelman had left the show by then, but
she stayed active in the local "girl singer" community, a mentor to Tanner and
others.
"We talked about our singing styles a lot. She was such a ball to be with,"
Tanner said. "There was nothing but good times with Marian."
Raised in Corryville, Ms. Spelman was a graduate of Hughes High School and took
lessons at the Conservatory of Music, later to be affiliated with the University
of Cincinnati. But she put off a singing career until the mid '40s, when her son
was a year old. She once talked about her first professional job - she performed
at a wedding and split a one dollar fee with the pianist.
"I don't know how you can call one dollar encouraging, but it was. Pretty soon I
was singing full time," she told The Post in 1956, by then a beloved local star
on Cincinnati television.
Her first professional singing gigs were at ice shows that toured the country.
She was the Cincinnati winner of the 1951 Metropolitan opera auditions, a sort
of classical "American Idol" of its time. Lyons heard about her talent and hired
her as a featured vocalist on her show in 1952.
"I was so shy that the only time I opened my mouth was to sing. But Ruth changed
all that," Ms. Spelman told Post TV writer Mary Wood in 1975.
She also sang on Channel 5's "Midwestern Hayride" and "The Paul Dixon Show,"
where she was encouraged to show off the zanier aspects of her personality. In
the late '60s, she hosted her own afternoon variety show on Channel 5 with her
second husband, Bill Nimmo.
After she left TV, she rarely performed, occupying herself with public relations
and real estate jobs. She was a tireless worker throughout the '80s for the Ruth
Lyons Children's Fund as its coordinator. Friends say she really retired in the
1990s, when her health began to fail.
Ms. Spelman was typical of many quality women singers that came out of
Cincinnati in the post-war era. While homegrown talent like Doris Day and
Rosemary Clooney did leave town, others found it cozy and lucrative to stick
around. They included Ruby Wright, Bonnie Lou Okum and Colleen Sharp.
"They joked they were all just the 'blonde singers' on Ruth's show," said
Clooney. "Marian would say, 'I'm just one of those blondes.' And if they
weren't, they eventually became blonde no matter how they started."
They were all talented and probably could have found national fame and fortune.
But, why bother? Cincinnati television was the place to be in the '50s and '60s
with WLW-T owner Avco sending Lyons' show to several Midwestern markets and
programming up to three different live local variety shows a day.
"At that time, it wasn't necessary for a singer to leave town," said Clooney.
"You could work here and actually make a good living. While Marian certainly
could and sometimes did work out in the wider world, she didn't have to. It was
an impressive time here."
Above all, Ms. Spelman is being remembered as the embodiment of the wit and
talent that could be seen every day in town in what is now a bygone media age.
"She did everything with class and style," said Tanner. "Marian came from
another era where you wouldn't see her walking across Fourth Street in downtown
Cincinnati in blue jeans. She always looked like a million dollars. But when you
got to know her she was just this fun, earthy person to be around."
Ms. Spelman is survived by her son, Steve Spelman of Oregon.
Funeral arrangements are pending. A public memorial service is expected to be
announced for next week.
Publication date: 01-24-2007
http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070124/NEWS01/701240378
angela copus
Thank you so much for Sending this, This is sad news to me, I am only
34 but have heard her sing and met her also. I had not heard this
yet on any of the cincinati tv or radio stations.
Angela