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== Early Life and Career ==
== Early Life and Career ==
Catherine Morgan Basie was born on April 11, 1914 in Cleveland, Ohio.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Catherine L. “Katy” Morgan Basie (1914-1983) -... |url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22272099/catherine_l-basie |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=www.findagrave.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Congress |first=United States |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=blk3caJsIw0C&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA43639&dq=%22catherine+basie%22&hl=en#v=onepage&q=%22catherine%20basie%22&f=false |title=Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress |date=1971 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |language=en}}</ref>
Catherine Morgan Basie was born on April 11, 1914 in Cleveland, Ohio.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Catherine L. “Katy” Morgan Basie (1914-1983) -... |url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22272099/catherine_l-basie |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=www.findagrave.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Congress |first=United States |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=blk3caJsIw0C&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA43639&dq=%22catherine+basie%22&hl=en#v=onepage&q=%22catherine%20basie%22&f=false |title=Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress |date=1971 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=1983 |title=Count Basie's Wife Dies at Home of Heart Attack |journal=Jet |volume=64 |pages=58}}</ref>


She was a champion backstroke swimmer in high school and an Olympic hopeful. Unable to adequately train for the 1936 Olympics due to a lack of financial support, Catherine ended her athletic career and began pursuing dancing. At 16 years old she joined the Black vaudeville quartet, the [[Whitman Sisters]] and became part of a trio of dancers which included [[Alice Whitman]] and [[Jeni Le Gon|Jeni LeGon]] known as the “Snake Hips Queens.”<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mosbrook |first=Joe |title=Cleveland Jazz History |publisher=Northeast Ohio Jazz Society |year=2003 |edition=2nd |pages=50}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-02-21 |title=Whitman Sisters [biography]:Biography Description: Performing Arts Encyclopedia, Library of Congress |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221131338/http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.music.tdabio.156/ |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=web.archive.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Basie |first=Count |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ATF0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT262&lpg=PT262&dq=princess+aloha+catherine+basie&source=bl&ots=EVZMbGSVbn&sig=ACfU3U3xRY6zr2wd5eehPJ4Uhn20Kjt0Qw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjvho2tod6FAxXwFVkFHQT_Ans4ChDoAXoECAMQAw#v=onepage&q=princess%20aloha%20catherine%20basie&f=false |title=Good Morning Blues: The Autobiography of Count Basie |date=2016-12-14 |publisher=U of Minnesota Press |isbn=978-1-4529-5320-5 |pages=135 |language=en}}</ref> She was also an accomplished singer and one of the original performers at the Copacabana nightclub in New York.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 12, 1983 |title=Catherine Basie Obituary |work=Herald News |pages=B - 13}}</ref> Catherine was a featured dancer in short films, “soundies,” which were produced during the early 1940s.  She is billed under her stage name, Princess Aloha.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Princess Aloha {{!}} Actor, Soundtrack |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1471592/ |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=IMDb |language=en-US}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite book |last=Basie |first=Count |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ATF0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT262&lpg=PT262&dq=princess+aloha+catherine+basie&source=bl&ots=EVZMbGSVbn&sig=ACfU3U3xRY6zr2wd5eehPJ4Uhn20Kjt0Qw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjvho2tod6FAxXwFVkFHQT_Ans4ChDoAXoECAMQAw#v=onepage&q=princess%20aloha%20catherine%20basie&f=false |title=Good Morning Blues: The Autobiography of Count Basie |date=2016-12-14 |publisher=U of Minnesota Press |isbn=978-1-4529-5320-5 |pages=153 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |date=1 February 1943 |title=Princess Aloha may get Count |journal=Down Beat |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=13 |via=RIPM Jazz}}</ref> Princess Aloha is the featured act with Andy Iona and His Orchestra in the 1941 soundie “Hilo Hattie.”  The film was produced by Sam Coslow and directed by Josef Berne.<ref>{{Citation |last=Berne |first=Josef |title=Hilo Hattie |type=Short, Music |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26453710/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1_tt_7_nm_1_q_Hilo%2520Hattie |access-date=2024-04-25 |others=Princess Aloha, Andy Iona |publisher=RCM Productions}}</ref> She also starred as Princess Aloha with Charles Dorn in “My Little Grass Shack” in 1942.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0385109/fullcredits |title=My Little Grass Shack (1942) - IMDb |access-date=2024-04-25 |via=www.imdb.com}}</ref>
She was a champion backstroke swimmer in high school and an Olympic hopeful. Unable to adequately train for the 1936 Olympics due to a lack of financial support, Catherine ended her athletic career and began pursuing dancing. At 16 years old she joined the Black vaudeville quartet, the [[Whitman Sisters]] and became part of a trio of dancers which included [[Alice Whitman]] and [[Jeni Le Gon|Jeni LeGon]] known as the “Snake Hips Queens.”<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mosbrook |first=Joe |title=Cleveland Jazz History |publisher=Northeast Ohio Jazz Society |year=2003 |edition=2nd |pages=50}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-02-21 |title=Whitman Sisters [biography]:Biography Description: Performing Arts Encyclopedia, Library of Congress |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221131338/http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.music.tdabio.156/ |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=web.archive.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Basie |first=Count |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ATF0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT262&lpg=PT262&dq=princess+aloha+catherine+basie&source=bl&ots=EVZMbGSVbn&sig=ACfU3U3xRY6zr2wd5eehPJ4Uhn20Kjt0Qw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjvho2tod6FAxXwFVkFHQT_Ans4ChDoAXoECAMQAw#v=onepage&q=princess%20aloha%20catherine%20basie&f=false |title=Good Morning Blues: The Autobiography of Count Basie |date=2016-12-14 |publisher=U of Minnesota Press |isbn=978-1-4529-5320-5 |pages=135 |language=en}}</ref> She was also an accomplished singer and one of the original performers at the Copacabana nightclub in New York.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 12, 1983 |title=Catherine Basie Obituary |work=Herald News |pages=B - 13}}</ref> Catherine was a featured dancer in short films, “soundies,” which were produced during the early 1940s.  She is billed under her stage name, Princess Aloha.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Princess Aloha {{!}} Actor, Soundtrack |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1471592/ |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=IMDb |language=en-US}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite book |last=Basie |first=Count |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ATF0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT262&lpg=PT262&dq=princess+aloha+catherine+basie&source=bl&ots=EVZMbGSVbn&sig=ACfU3U3xRY6zr2wd5eehPJ4Uhn20Kjt0Qw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjvho2tod6FAxXwFVkFHQT_Ans4ChDoAXoECAMQAw#v=onepage&q=princess%20aloha%20catherine%20basie&f=false |title=Good Morning Blues: The Autobiography of Count Basie |date=2016-12-14 |publisher=U of Minnesota Press |isbn=978-1-4529-5320-5 |pages=153 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |date=1 February 1943 |title=Princess Aloha may get Count |journal=Down Beat |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=13 |via=RIPM Jazz}}</ref> Princess Aloha is the featured act with Andy Iona and His Orchestra in the 1941 soundie “Hilo Hattie.”  The film was produced by Sam Coslow and directed by Josef Berne.<ref>{{Citation |last=Berne |first=Josef |title=Hilo Hattie |type=Short, Music |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26453710/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1_tt_7_nm_1_q_Hilo%2520Hattie |access-date=2024-04-25 |others=Princess Aloha, Andy Iona |publisher=RCM Productions}}</ref> She also starred as Princess Aloha with Charles Dorn in “My Little Grass Shack” in 1942.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0385109/fullcredits |title=My Little Grass Shack (1942) - IMDb |access-date=2024-04-25 |via=www.imdb.com}}</ref>


The marriage between Catherine and the renowned jazz composer and bandleader, [[Count Basie]], is shrouded in some ambiguity regarding its exact timeline. According to Count Basie’s autobiography, the couple eloped in late summer of 1942,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Basie |first=Count |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ATF0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT262&lpg=PT262&dq=princess+aloha+catherine+basie&source=bl&ots=EVZMbGSVbn&sig=ACfU3U3xRY6zr2wd5eehPJ4Uhn20Kjt0Qw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjvho2tod6FAxXwFVkFHQT_Ans4ChDoAXoECAMQAw#v=onepage&q=princess%20aloha%20catherine%20basie&f=false |title=Good Morning Blues: The Autobiography of Count Basie |date=2016-12-14 |publisher=U of Minnesota Press |isbn=978-1-4529-5320-5 |pages=259 |language=en}}</ref> while contemporaneous newspapers asserted their elopement occurred in January 1943.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Calvin |first=Dolores |date=1943-01-23 |title=Thru Harlem |work=The Chicago Defender |pages=18}}</ref> In early 1943, Count Basie claimed that the couple had been recently engaged, but no yet married.<ref name=":1" /> The marriage license for the couple held at the Washington State archives in Kings County is dated July 13, 1950.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Washington Marriage Records, 1854-2013; Reference Number: kingcoarchmc166491 |url=https://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov |access-date=April 25, 2024 |website=Washington State Archives}}</ref>
The marriage between Catherine and the renowned jazz composer and bandleader, [[Count Basie]], is shrouded in some ambiguity regarding its exact timeline. According to Count Basie’s autobiography, the couple eloped in late summer of 1942,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Basie |first=Count |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ATF0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT262&lpg=PT262&dq=princess+aloha+catherine+basie&source=bl&ots=EVZMbGSVbn&sig=ACfU3U3xRY6zr2wd5eehPJ4Uhn20Kjt0Qw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjvho2tod6FAxXwFVkFHQT_Ans4ChDoAXoECAMQAw#v=onepage&q=princess%20aloha%20catherine%20basie&f=false |title=Good Morning Blues: The Autobiography of Count Basie |date=2016-12-14 |publisher=U of Minnesota Press |isbn=978-1-4529-5320-5 |pages=259 |language=en}}</ref> while contemporaneous newspapers asserted their elopement occurred in January 1943.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Calvin |first=Dolores |date=1943-01-23 |title=Thru Harlem |work=The Chicago Defender |pages=18}}</ref> In early 1943, Count Basie claimed that the couple had been recently engaged, but no yet married.<ref name=":1" /> The marriage license for the couple held at the Washington State archives in Kings County is dated July 13, 1950.<ref>{{Cite web |title=King County Marriage Records, 1855-2017; Reference Number: kingcoarchmc166491 |url=https://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov |access-date=April 25, 2024 |website=Washington State Archives}}</ref> The couple had one daughter, Diane Basie, who was born in 1944 with [[cerebral palsy]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=In Memory Of Diane Lillian Basie |url=https://www.thecountbasieorchestra.com/in-memory-of-diane-lillian-basie-1944-2022/ |access-date=2024-04-27 |website=The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-10-29 |title=Count Basie in his own write |url=https://thebluemoment.com/2020/10/29/count-basie-in-his-own-write/ |access-date=2024-04-27 |website=thebluemoment.com |language=en}}</ref> Due to her daughter’s health struggles, Catherine became an advocate for children with developmental disabilities and was recognized for her efforts by various organizations such as the United Cerebral Palsy, the Salvation Army, and Lighthouse for the Blind.<ref name=":0" />


⚫
The The couple lived in the St. Albans neighborhood located in Queens, NY (Reference #44 in google drive ) and in the 1970s moved to Freeport in the Bahamas (Reference #45 in google drive). Catherine died on April 11, 1983 at her home in Freeport. (<nowiki>https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22272099/catherine-l-basie#source</nowiki>, Reference #45 in google drive).
The couple had one daughter, Diane Basie, who was born in 1944 with cerebral palsy. Due to her daughter’s health struggles, Catherine became an advocate for children with developmental disabilities and was recognized for her efforts by various organizations such as the United Cerebral Palsy, the Salvation Army, and Lighthouse for the Blind.<ref name=":0" />

⚫
(<nowiki>https://www.thecountbasieorchestra.com/in-memory-of-diane-lillian-basie-1944-2022/</nowiki>) The The couple lived in the St. Albans neighborhood located in Queens, NY (Reference #44 in google drive ) and in the 1970s moved to Freeport in the Bahamas (Reference #45 in google drive). Catherine died on April 11, 1983 at her home in Freeport. (<nowiki>https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22272099/catherine-l-basie#source</nowiki>, Reference #45 in google drive).


== Personal Life ==
== Personal Life ==

Revision as of 14:55, 27 April 2024

Early Life and Career

Catherine Morgan Basie was born on April 11, 1914 in Cleveland, Ohio.[1][2][3]

She was a champion backstroke swimmer in high school and an Olympic hopeful. Unable to adequately train for the 1936 Olympics due to a lack of financial support, Catherine ended her athletic career and began pursuing dancing. At 16 years old she joined the Black vaudeville quartet, the Whitman Sisters and became part of a trio of dancers which included Alice Whitman and Jeni LeGon known as the “Snake Hips Queens.”[2][4][5][6] She was also an accomplished singer and one of the original performers at the Copacabana nightclub in New York.[7] Catherine was a featured dancer in short films, “soundies,” which were produced during the early 1940s.  She is billed under her stage name, Princess Aloha.[8] [9][10] Princess Aloha is the featured act with Andy Iona and His Orchestra in the 1941 soundie “Hilo Hattie.”  The film was produced by Sam Coslow and directed by Josef Berne.[11] She also starred as Princess Aloha with Charles Dorn in “My Little Grass Shack” in 1942.[12]

The marriage between Catherine and the renowned jazz composer and bandleader, Count Basie, is shrouded in some ambiguity regarding its exact timeline. According to Count Basie’s autobiography, the couple eloped in late summer of 1942,[13] while contemporaneous newspapers asserted their elopement occurred in January 1943.[14] In early 1943, Count Basie claimed that the couple had been recently engaged, but no yet married.[10] The marriage license for the couple held at the Washington State archives in Kings County is dated July 13, 1950.[15] The couple had one daughter, Diane Basie, who was born in 1944 with cerebral palsy.[16][17] Due to her daughter’s health struggles, Catherine became an advocate for children with developmental disabilities and was recognized for her efforts by various organizations such as the United Cerebral Palsy, the Salvation Army, and Lighthouse for the Blind.[2]

The The couple lived in the St. Albans neighborhood located in Queens, NY (Reference #44 in google drive ) and in the 1970s moved to Freeport in the Bahamas (Reference #45 in google drive). Catherine died on April 11, 1983 at her home in Freeport. (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22272099/catherine-l-basie#source, Reference #45 in google drive).

Personal Life

Philanthropy and Activism

  1. ^ "Catherine L. "Katy" Morgan Basie (1914-1983) -..." www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
  2. ^ a b c Congress, United States (1971). Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  3. ^ "Count Basie's Wife Dies at Home of Heart Attack". Jet. 64: 58. 1983.
  4. ^ Mosbrook, Joe (2003). Cleveland Jazz History (2nd ed.). Northeast Ohio Jazz Society. p. 50.
  5. ^ "Whitman Sisters [biography]:Biography Description: Performing Arts Encyclopedia, Library of Congress". web.archive.org. 2024-02-21. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
  6. ^ Basie, Count (2016-12-14). Good Morning Blues: The Autobiography of Count Basie. U of Minnesota Press. p. 135. ISBN 978-1-4529-5320-5.
  7. ^ "Catherine Basie Obituary". Herald News. April 12, 1983. pp. B - 13.
  8. ^ "Princess Aloha | Actor, Soundtrack". IMDb. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
  9. ^ Basie, Count (2016-12-14). Good Morning Blues: The Autobiography of Count Basie. U of Minnesota Press. p. 153. ISBN 978-1-4529-5320-5.
  10. ^ a b "Princess Aloha may get Count". Down Beat. 10 (3): 13. 1 February 1943 – via RIPM Jazz.
  11. ^ Berne, Josef, Hilo Hattie (Short, Music), Princess Aloha, Andy Iona, RCM Productions, retrieved 2024-04-25
  12. ^ My Little Grass Shack (1942) - IMDb. Retrieved 2024-04-25 – via www.imdb.com.
  13. ^ Basie, Count (2016-12-14). Good Morning Blues: The Autobiography of Count Basie. U of Minnesota Press. p. 259. ISBN 978-1-4529-5320-5.
  14. ^ Calvin, Dolores (1943-01-23). "Thru Harlem". The Chicago Defender. p. 18.
  15. ^ "King County Marriage Records, 1855-2017; Reference Number: kingcoarchmc166491". Washington State Archives. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  16. ^ "In Memory Of Diane Lillian Basie". The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  17. ^ "Count Basie in his own write". thebluemoment.com. 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
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