Catherine Basie
Early Life
Catherine Morgan Basie was born on April 11, 1914 in Cleveland, Ohio.[1][2] 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 vaudeville act, 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][3][4] She was also an accomplished singer and one of the original performers at the Copacabana nightclub in New York. Ref. 45: “Catherine Basie Obituary,” Herald News, April 12, 1983
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.[5] 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. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26453710/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1_tt_7_nm_1_q_Hilo%2520Hattie
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOy5tJhAxUI] Princess Aloha stars with Charles Dorn in “My Little Grass Shack” in 1942. [Youtube: “1940's My Little Grass Shack Musical Soundie” https://youtu.be/5wP6dm605dc?feature=shared ]
- ^ "Catherine L. "Katy" Morgan Basie (1914-1983) -..." www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
- ^ a b Congress, United States (1971). Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress. U.S. Government Printing Office.
- ^ Mosbrook, Joe (2003). Cleveland Jazz History (2nd ed.). Northeast Ohio Jazz Society. p. 50.
- ^ "Whitman Sisters [biography]:Biography Description: Performing Arts Encyclopedia, Library of Congress". web.archive.org. 2024-02-21. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
- ^ "Princess Aloha | Actor, Soundtrack". IMDb. Retrieved 2024-04-25.