Viola Smith
| Viola Smith | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Viola Schmitz[1] |
| Born | November 29, 1912 |
| Origin | Mount Calvary, Wisconsin, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Drums |
Viola Smith (born November 29, 1912)[2] is an American drummer best known for her work in orchestras, swing bands, and popular music in the 1930s and 1940s. She was one of the first professional female drummers.[2][3]
Early life
Smith grew up in Mount Calvary, Wisconsin. She had eight sisters.[2] Her parents operated a concert hall in Mount Calvary.[4] Smith celebrated her 100th birthday on November 29, 2012.[4]
Career
In the 1920s and 1930s Smith played in the Schmitz Sisters Family Orchestra that her father founded in Wisconsin.[5] According to her nephew, Dennis Bartash, playing with her sisters on the Major Bowes Amateur Hour radio show in the 1930s was her big break.[4] In the late 1930s and early 1940s Smith played in the Coquettes, an all-female orchestra, along with her sister,[6] Mildred Bartash who played the clarinet and the saxophone.[2]
Smith joined Phil Spitalny's Hour of Charm, a commercially-successful all-girl orchestra, in 1942.[5] She played with the Kit Kat Band, which was part of the original 1960's Broadway production of Cabaret.[7] Allegro Magazine Volume 113 Number November 10, 2013 featured Viola in an article A Century of Swing 'Never lose your groove!'[8]
Film appearances
- When Johnny Comes Marching Home (1942)
- Here Come the Co-Eds (1945)
Television appearances
- I've Got a Secret (CBS)
- The Ed Sullivan Show, (Five different times) (CBS)[9]
Broadway Musicals
References
- ↑ Dennis Bartash, nephew
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Zildjian Wishes Artist Viola Smith a Very Special Happy Birthday". Zildjian. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
- ↑ Clay, Joanna (November 26, 2011). "Still jazzing it up at 99". Daily Pilot. Retrieved December 1, 2012.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Dobruck, Jeremiah (November 29, 2012). "Still keeping time at 100". Daily Pilot. Retrieved December 1, 2012.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "When Women Called the Tunes". The New York Times. August 10, 2010. Retrieved December 1, 2012.
- ↑ Haas, Jane Glenn (November 19, 2012). "Centenarians getting more common". The Orange Country Register. Retrieved December 1, 2012.
- ↑ "Viola Smith". NAMM. NAMM, the National Association of Music Merchants. October 23, 2012. Retrieved December 1, 2012.
- ↑ http://www.local802afm.org/2013/11/a-century-of-swing/
- ↑ Conversation with Viola Smith