George "Georgie Shaw" Shoester, 76, onetime pop singer; rather bleak Phila. Inquirer obit
Rick B.
By Gayle Ronan Sims
Inquirer Staff Writer
George Shoester, 76, once a popular Philadelphia singer known by the
stage name Georgie Shaw, died Friday of heart disease at his home in
the Bella Vista section of South Philadelphia.
The son of a bricklayer, he grew up near 10th and Oregon Streets and
graduated in 1947 from South Philadelphia High School. His first job
was selling bed linens at the old Frank & Seder department store at
11th and Market Streets.
In 1952, he married Tracey Fiore, who worked at a modeling school. The
marriage ended in divorce in 1967.
In 1954, Mr. Shaw kissed off his career selling sheets and began
singing at a Cherry Hill nightclub, the Smart Spot.
A few weeks later, talent agent Danny Kessler liked what he heard and
signed him up. Mr. Shaw landed in New York with a contract with Decca
Records and began singing at top spots, including the old Latin Casino
in Philadelphia, the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, Steel Pier and 500 Club
in Atlantic City, and Chez Paree in Chicago.
Mr. Shaw recorded two hits that sold more than a million copies each:
"No Arms Can Ever Hold You" and "Till We Two Are One."
>From 1954 to 1962, he earned about $250,000 a year.
By 1962, however, he was in decline. He was $100,000 in debt, had filed
for bankruptcy, and was drinking heavily. He opened a nightclub at 22d
and Walnut Streets, the Tradewinds, that didn't last long.
Afterward, his records did not sell and his yearly income fell to below
$10,000 a year. He ended up selling blood to pay for liquor.
In 1967, he borrowed money to open a club at 1907 Sansom St., Georgie
Shaw's. That club also closed quickly.
Mr. Shaw made his last Philadelphia appearance in 1971 at the Parkway
Room at the Parkway House, 22d and Spring Garden Streets. He was still
drinking heavily.
Mr. Shaw drifted to Las Vegas, where he worked as a bar boy at hotels
on the strip for $125 a week. He was briefly married to a woman from
Idaho named Jackie, said a friend, Sam Niglio.
In 1976, while working as a bar boy at the Copa Room where 20 years
earlier he was the supporting act for Tallulah Bankhead, Mr. Shaw hit
bottom. He was fired and joined Alcoholics Anonymous.
In 1980, he married Mary Ann Berlangieri and was hired as bartender at
the Marina Hotel in Las Vegas. The hotel's entertainment director
listened to Mr. Shaw's old records and told him to get his voice in
shape.
With hopes of rekindling his singing career, Mr. Shaw returned to
Philadelphia to study voice with his old coach, John Palmer. Then he
went to Vegas, but his career went nowhere. He came back to
Philadelphia in 1981 and retired. He split his time between homes in
South Philadelphia and Margate, N.J.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Shaw is survived by four nephews and a
niece.
Henry Maurer
obit very depressing when I read it in the morning paper.
deb...@comcast.net
Henry Maurer wrote:
> Bleak indeed! I had never heard of this man before, but found this
> obit very depressing when I read it in the morning paper.
He split his time between homes in
South Philadelphia and Margate, N.J.
How bleak could his life have been, when he divided his time between 2
homes?
William Barger
Bill
Rick B.
The obit is almost as remarkable for what it doesn't say as for what it
does. We read about nearly 20 years of failure and alcoholism...then he
gets married in 1980, "retires" in 1981 (in his very early 50s)...and
then 25 years go by *with no further comment* and he dies, still
married to the same woman. Did she support him while he puttered around
her house(s) for a quarter-century? Did he keep drinking? Stop
drinking? Take up woodworking or deep-sea fishing? Turn on Channel 6
every morning when he got up and leave it on till bedtime? We just
don't know.
Brad Ferguson
<deb...@comcast.net> wrote:
Especially when Margate is the home of Lucy the Elephant:
http://www.lucytheelephant.org/
Cf. the excellent film "Walking to the Waterline."