Gloria Wood

Gloria Wood (September 8, 1923 – March 4, 1995) sang with band leader Kay Kyser in the 1940s, known chiefly for her vocal on 1948's The Woody Woodpecker Song. 1953's Hey Bellboy was one of her most popular songs on Capitol selling a million copies. in 1958 Time Magazine wrote: « The most pervasive voice in radio or television belongs neither to Bing Crosby nor Perry Como, but to a pretty, twinkly, auburn-haired girl named Gloria Wood. Blessed with a four-octave range and a gift for mimicry, Gloria can sing high or low, squeaky or sweet, on demand and to order. And the demand for such special talents is tremendous. In just the past three years, Gloria has recorded for more than 2000 singing commercials. (...) She is the voice of the impish Tinker Bell orbiting around a jar of Peter Pan peanut butter, of Walt Disney's Minnie Mouse, and (on records) of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. One firm planned a commercial featuring an eight-year-old boy, a nine-year-old girl, their mother and grandmother. Gloria did all four characters. (...) With her four-octave range, which she claims matches the eerie range of Peruvian Vocal Acrobat Yma Sumac, she can take off from low C below middle C and soar to C above high C. But this endowment also drives Gloria to despair: nobody wants to hear her sing straight. Her mother, a pop singer on Boston radio back in the mid-'20s thrust Gloria into big-band singing straight out of high school in 1941. Gloria did solid hitches with Horace Heidt and Kay Kyser, in 1953 made a Capitol record called "Hey Bellboy" (its only words), which sold nearly 1000000 copies. The movies have called on her to provide the voice of many a nonsinging star. She sang for Marilyn Monroe in "River of No Return", for Vera-Ellen in "White Christmas". (...) "I like making money", she admits. "But I'd like to be known for all the things I've done. Nobody knows Gloria Wood." » Wood had other solo tracks on Capitol and did a number of sides for other smaller labels such as Mastertone, Coral and Zephyr.In the mid 1950's she did an entire LP of romantic ballads for Columbia. In the late 1950s did a record with Rick Nelson and also headed up a choir featured on a Disney record and was a character voice in a number of advertisements (along with Stan Freberg), and in cartoons and on record albums. As An Actress: 1996 The Bugs n' Daffy Show (TV series) Various Characters (voice) 1995 That's Warner Bros.! (TV series) Various characters (voice) 1962 A Symposium on Popular Songs (short) The Andrews Sisters singing The Boogie Woogie Bakery Man/Helen Kane (voice) 1961 Nelly's Folly (short) Nelly (voice) 1957 The Jack Benny Program (TV series) Singing Bride – Goodwin Knight/George Jessel Show (1957) … Singing Bride 1956 Gaby Singer at the Bottle Club 1953 The Band Wagon Singer in 'That's Entertainment' Sequence (uncredited) 1962 A Symposium on Popular Songs (short) (performer: "The Boogie Woogie Bakery Man", "Rock, Rumble and Roar", "Charleston Charlie") 1956 Gaby (performer: "Where Or When" - uncredited) 1950 Blues Busters ("Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho", "Better Be Lookin' Out for Love") 1954 White Christmas (background singer: Vera-Ellen - uncredited) 1950 Blues Busters (singing voice: Adele Jergens - uncredited) 1948 Wet Blanket Policy (short) Herself - Singer ("The Woody Woodpecker Song") (voice) Other Works: Album, "Walt Disney presents Christmas Adventure in Disneyland," Disneyland Records DQ-1355, 1973. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.