Shirley Gaye

Photo of Shirley Gaye

  • Birth Name

    Gaylene Beulah Shirley

  • Born

    February 9, 1920
    Caldwell, Kansas

  • Died

    February 9, 2005 (age 75)
    Irvine, California

  • Orchestras

    Les Brown
     Jimmy James
     Leo Reisman
    Ted Fio Rito
    Dick Stabile

Vocalist Shirley Gaye worked with several orchestras in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Gaye was born in Caldwell, Kansas, but by 1930 had moved with her family to Los Angeles. In June 1937, at only seventeen years of age, she married Lee Boren, but by November 1938 the couple had parted.[1]

In the late 1930s, Gaye pursued a career as a singer. She first landed a job with Ted Fio Rito’s orchestra in 1939 and then sang for Leo Reisman before joining Les Brown in early February 1940. She stayed slightly longer than one week in Brown’s band before jumping ship to Dick Stabile. She remained with Stabile through at least November.

By early 1942, Gaye had joined the Chicago-based territorial orchestra of Jimmy James, where she stayed through at least mid-year.[2] James entered military service in 1943 and returned to the States in late 1945. He reorganized his band in early 1946 with Gaye again as vocalist. She recorded with James on the Enterprise label that year. Gaye had permanently retired from show business by July 1947 when she worked as a cashier at a Los Angeles grocery store.

Gaye was married at least four times. In 1944, she married a man named De Mayo. The couple had divorced by July 1947 when she married engineer Franklin Boone, who was five years her junior.[3] By April 1948, Gaye had moved to Las Vegas, where she married Los Angeles accountant Oran Bridges, who was also five years her junior.[4] The couple settled in California. She and Bridges were still together in April 1950, having a one-year-old daughter at that time.

Gaye, who preferred to sing sweet, never studied music or took vocal lessons. Shirley Gaye passed away in 2005 on her 75th birthday.[5]

Notes

  1. Gaye’s marital status on the 1940 Census is “single” and not “divorced.” The marriage to Boren may have been annulled. ↩︎

  2. Gaye’s last mention with Jimmy James was June 1942. The next vocalist mentioned with James was Betty Benson in mid-1943. ↩︎

  3. On her marriage license to Boone, Gay gave her last husband as Boren instead of De Mayo. She had registered her name as De Mayo with Social Security in 1944. ↩︎

  4. On her marriage license to Bridges, she gave her last husband as De Mayo. ↩︎

  5. In her early years, Gaye gave her real name as Beulah Gaylene Shirley but later reversed her middle and first names to Gaylene Beulah. ↩︎

Sources

  1. “Vaudeville Reviews: Loew's State, New York” Billboard 28 Oct. 1939: 22.
  2. Wray, Joseph H. “Dance Personalities Have Top-Ranking Possibilities.” The Gettysburgian [Gettysburg College, Pennsylvania] 8 Feb. 1940: 2.
  3. “On the Down Beat.” The Gettysburgian [Gettysburg, Pennyslvanio] 22 Feb. 1940: 2.
  4. “Bishop Joins Brown.” Down Beat 1 Mar. 1940: 21.
  5. “Dick Stabile On the Cover.” Down Beat 15 May 1940: 2.
  6. Advertisement. The Cumberland Evening Times [Cumberland, Maryland] 2 Nov. 1940: 16.
  7. Advertisement. The Athens Messenger [Athens, Ohio] 5 May 1942: 5.
  8. “The Dance Band Maestro.” The Portsmouth Times [Portsmouth, Ohio] 10 May 1942: 7.
  9. “—a good steer!” Down Beat 15 Jun. 1942: 13.
  10. “Jimmy James Back.” Down Beat 15 Nov. 1945: 1.
  11. “Vocalist.” The Helena Independent-Record [Helena, Montana] 25 Aug. 1946: 5.
  12. “Record Reviews.” Billboard 19 Oct. 1946: 29.
  13. “United States Census, 1930,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCJT-CHG : Sun Mar 10 08:33:42 UTC 2024), Entry for Harry J Shirley and Hellena R Shirley, 1930.
  14. “California, County Marriages, 1850-1953,” FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8JB-KMB : 9 March 2021), Lee Masters Boren and Beulah Gaylene Shirley, 26 Jun 1937; citing Los Angeles, California, United States, county courthouses, California; FHL microfilm 2,114,024.
  15. “United States Census, 1940,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K9HW-Z7H : Sun Mar 10 23:38:59 UTC 2024), Entry for Hadley Curts and Ruth Curts, 1940.
  16. “California, County Marriages, 1850-1953,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8KN-68C : Sun Mar 10 05:14:26 UTC 2024), Entry for Franklin Ellison Boone and Gaylene Beulah Demayo, 12 July 1947.
  17. “Nevada County Marriages, 1862-1993,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL4L-1235 : Sun Mar 10 23:22:47 UTC 2024), Entry for Oran O Bridges and Gaylene B Demayo, 22 Apr 1948.
  18. “Nevada County Marriages, 1862-1993,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL4G-D9J3 : Sat Mar 09 22:37:21 UTC 2024), Entry for Oran O Bridges and Gaylene B De Mayo, 30 Apr 1948.
  19. “United States Census, 1950,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6XGM-57DG : Fri Oct 06 18:44:54 UTC 2023), Entry for Oran O Bridges and Gaylene B Bridges, April 10, 1950.
  20. “United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007,” database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6K4S-S1KP : 10 February 2023), Gaylene Beulah Shirley.