Wanda Curtis Profile

Wanda Curtis

c. 28	is born
?	sings at Billy Gray’s Band Box, a small Hollywood nightclub
?	becomes the first client of actor-turned-wardrobe designer Dick Blackwell
April 53	tagged a motion picture vocalist, she tours the Far East with the Johnny Grant troupe
July 53	columnist Dorothy Kilgallen tells: “Joe E. Lewis, the darling of the older cafe-goers, has a giant Crush on Wanda Curtis...”
August 53	the press reports: “Wanda Curtis, nightclub entertainer noted for her wardrobe, models some of her spectacular creations on the Al Jarvis show”
October 53	tours theaters and nightclubs in Paraguay, Peru, Cuba, Chile, Brazil, and Uruguay
March 54	columnist Erskine Johnson knows: “Hit of the Argentine Film Festival, attended by some top Hollywood stars, was an American singing star named Wanda Curtis, appearing in a Buenos Aires night club. Two years ago, Wanda was a waitress on the Sunset Strip, serving flapjacks and hamburgers to some of the stars...”
May 54	ends her South American tour by starting a one-entertainer strike at the Buenos Aires nightclub where she’s appearing. “When Wanda found fellow workers weren’t getting paid, she slugged the manager and her ‘strike’ spread to 218 performers. The management paid, Wanda left South America.”
15 September 54	two boa constrictors escape their box at her third floor apartment in Hollywood and menace her while she takes a shower. Animal trainer Ralph Helfer and actor Douglas Henderson come to her help. “They explained they were on their way to Palm Springs, Riverside county, where pictures of Miss Curtis and the snakes were to be taken today.”
c. June 56	marries in Boston, Massachusetts. Columnist Mike Connolly tells that on her way back from South America aboard ship, “she met a man from Massachusetts who is worth $35,000,000. When they landed in Boston, she married him.”
Early 00s	dies

Sources: Giseld Dervishi, The Modesto Bee, Long Beach Independent, The Odessa American, Pacific Stars & Stripes, The Lowell Sun, The Fresno Bee
Recommended Books:
Links: Filmography