Sally Ann Howes
Encyclopedia
Sally Ann Howes is a British actress and singer, who currently holds dual British
-American
citizenship. Her career on stage, screen and television has spanned over six decades. She is best remembered for the role of Truly Scrumptious
in the 1968 musical film, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
.
, London
, the daughter of British comedian/actor/singer/variety star Bobby Howes
(1895–1972) and actress/singer Patricia Malone
(1899–1971). She is the granddaughter of Capt. J.A.E. Malone (died 1928), London theatrical director of musicals, and she has an older brother, Peter Howes, a retired professional musician and music professor. Her great-grandfather, Joseph Malone, was awarded the Victoria Cross
in 1854 during the Crimean War
. Her uncle, Pat Malone, was an actor on stage, films, and television.
Howes moved to the family's country house in Essendon, Hertfordshire
for the duration of World War II
. She was a show-business baby who lived a quiet, orderly childhood where she grew up with a nanny and was surrounded by a variety of pets and her parents' theatrical peers, including actor/writer Jack Hulbert
and his wife, actress Cicely Courtneidge
, who had an adjoining house. Her first taste of the stage was school productions, but as she came from a theatrical family, it was inevitable that another family friend, an agent who was visiting the Howes family for dinner, became impressed with her and not long after suggested the young Sally Ann for a role in a movie. Two hundred young girls had already been screen tested without success, and the producers were desperate to find a talented little girl to play the lead, and they asked her father to please rush in some pictures on the recommendation of the agent. The movie, Thursday's Child, was written by playwright
and screenwriter
Rodney Ackland
, also a close neighbor to the Howes family, and it would become Ackland's directorial debut. Thursday's Child (1943) launched her career. A second film, The Halfway House
(1944), led to her being put under contract by Michael Balcon
of Ealing Studios
, and this was followed by many other film roles as a child actress including Dead of Night
(1945) with Sir Michael Redgrave, Pink String and Sealing Wax
(1946), Nicholas Nickleby
(1947), My Sister and I (1948) and Anna Karenina
(1948), with Vivien Leigh
.
At age 18, the Rank Organisation
put her under a seven-year contract, and she went on to make the films, Stop Press Girl (1949), The History of Mr. Polly
(1949) with John Mills
, Fools Rush In
(1949), and Due mogli sono troppe
(1950).
.
That same year, Howes accepted her first professional stage role in the Sandy Wilson
musical, Caprice, forcing her to terminate her contract with Rank, with whom she'd been unhappy with the film roles and being on "loan out". She was finding gainful employment in television and radio, and she was looking to flex her singing talent, something that both Balcon and Rank had overlooked. Caprice was followed by Bet Your Life with Julie Wilson
, Arthur Askey
and Brian Reece. She was also simultaneously on the radio with Askey and Reece. In 1953, she starred on the West End in the musical Paint Your Wagon with her father, Bobby Howes
. The show ran for 18 months. It was followed by Summer Song
, also on the West End
, firmly establishing her as a leading musical comedy star. This was followed by her critically acclaimed performance in the stage drama, A Hatful of Rain
. In the early to mid-1950s, she also mixed her theatre with television appearances and even modelling, commercials and product endorsements.
She became a popular celebrity in England, even appearing as a comic-strip character in TV Fun serial comics
and annuals, as a young, wholesome teacher in the wild American west at a time when Western TV shows were very popular. She appeared on the cover of many magazines, most notably Life
(3 March 1958), when she was in the United States to take over from Julie Andrews
in My Fair Lady
on Broadway.
In late 1957, Howes was offered the part (for the third time) to enable Andrews to join the cast of the London production. She had turned it down twice before. The first offer had been to join the USA touring company of the musical, and the second time she declined the part was due to her film commitment for Admirable Crichton
(1957). With the persistence of Lerner and Loewe, however, she accepted the third time, for a year's contract, but at a higher salary than Julie Andrews. She became an instant hit as a very fiery Eliza Doolittle
.
In January 1958, Howes married Tony-winning composer Richard Adler
(The Pajama Game
, Damn Yankees
) . The following December, she appeared on television in Adler's musical adaptation (which was written for her) of O.Henry's short story, The Gift of the Magi
. Adler and Bob Merrill
collaborated on a musical version of W. Somerset Maugham
's Of Human Bondage
so that Howes could play Mildred.
She appeared on many TV shows including those of Perry Como
, Dinah Shore
and Jack Paar
in 1962, The Tonight Show
, plus appearing in The Bell Telephone Hour
, The Kraft Music Hall, The United States Steel Hour
. She appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show
four times.
When her one-year contract in My Fair Lady was over, she returned to England to tape six one-hour variety shows The Sally Ann Howes Show for the British commercial television network. She was also personally requested to sing for three U.S. presidents (Dwight D. Eisenhower
, John F. Kennedy
and Lyndon B. Johnson
). She became a frequent guest panellist on game shows and was known for her quick, spontaneous answers.
She returned to Broadway in 1961 in the short run of Kwamina
, another Adler musical which was written for her. She starred opposite Terry Carter
, Brock Peters
, and Robert Guillaume
. The musical centred on an interracial love story and was too controversial in a time when civil rights
were hotly contested. The show has not had a Broadway revival since. Coincidentally, her father, Bobby Howes
, was also on Broadway that year with a short revival of Finian's Rainbow
, and a cast album exists of that show as well.
In 1962, she starred in a short revival of the musical Brigadoon at the New York City Opera
and received a Tony nomination, the first performer to be nominated for a revival performance. She recreated the role in a private White House
performance at the express invitation of President and Mrs. Kennedy
. In 1964 she starred on Broadway opposite Robert Alda
and Steve Lawrence
in the energetic What Makes Sammy Run?
, which lasted for over 500 performances.
She returned to familiar territory on TV in 1966 with Brigadoon opposite Robert Goulet
, Peter Falk
and some of her Broadway cast, it won six Emmy Award
s.
, the beautiful, aristocratic daughter of a confectionery magnate in the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
(1968).
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang did not, however, restart her film career or launch a career for her in episodic television despite several guest-starring roles in Mission: Impossible
, Marcus Welby, M.D.
, and Branigan and The Men From Shiloh
. Even the pilot Prudence and the Chief, which was a spoof on The King and I
, did not get picked up as a TV series. In addition, musicals were now failing at the box office and that venue was closed to her. As a result, she returned almost exclusively to the musical stage, appearing in only a few more films/TV productions.
, she toured Britain with The King and I
and later the USA with The Sound of Music
. After her debut with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera in 1972 with The Sound of Music
she returned to England to star in the stage drama, Lover, which was written specifically for her.
In the 1970s
and 1980s
, she began to cross over from standard musicals to operettas. She performed two summers with the Kenley Players in Blossom Time and The Great Waltz
, and she later added Franz Lehár
's The Merry Widow
and then two seasons of Stephen Sondheim
's A Little Night Music
at the New York City Opera
. She also added the role of Gertrude from Hamlet
to her repertoire.
In 1990, she debuted her one-woman show, From This Moment On at the Edinburgh Festival
and at a benefit for the Long Island AIDS Association at the John Drew Theatre in Easthampton, New York
. Her last film was the 1992 miniseries Judith Krantz's Secrets. That marked her 50th year in film.
Recent projects include her narrations of Cubby Broccoli, The Man Behind Bond on the 2000 year release of the DVD Diamonds Are Forever
, The Making of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang The Musical (2002), and her appearance in the documentary, After They Were Famous - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (2004).
Except for occasional lectures, charity functions and some Broadway openings, she is semi-retired, although she still hosts events or performs two or three times per year. Over the period September 2007 to January 2008, she toured the USA in the Cameron Mackintosh
production of My Fair Lady, appearing as Mrs. Higgins. When she is not performing, she is an Artistic Advisor for the Palm Beach Theater Guild, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the Royal Poinciana Playhouse in Palm Beach, Florida
.
She has been married to Douglas Rae since the early 1970s.
She can also be found on the albums The Best of the Telephone Hour, Cole Porter: A Remembrance (1965), An Evening With Alan Jay Lerner (1987), and the three Christmas songs she recorded, Toyland, It Came Upon A Midnight Clear, and O Little Town of Bethlehem can be found reissued each year on various compilation Christmas albums. The last known recording she made was a gift album for a party for a friend, called Mary Lea, Songs My Sister Loved & Sang (1998) for which she holds the production rights and copyright.
She did some modeling in the 1950s and early 1960s, and can be found in the following publications:
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
citizenship. Her career on stage, screen and television has spanned over six decades. She is best remembered for the role of Truly Scrumptious
Truly Scrumptious
Truly Scrumptious is a fictional character in the 1968 film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, based on the children's novel of the same name by Ian Fleming.She does not appear in the book. In the film the character is portrayed by singer/actress Sally Ann Howes....
in the 1968 musical film, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (film)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a 1968 musical film with a script by Roald Dahl and Ken Hughes, and songs by the Sherman Brothers, loosely based on Ian Fleming's novel Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car. It starred Dick Van Dyke as Caractacus Potts and Sally Ann Howes as Truly Scrumptious. The...
.
Childhood film career
Howes was born in St John's WoodSt John's Wood
St John's Wood is a district of north-west London, England, in the City of Westminster, and at the north-west end of Regent's Park. It is approximately 2.5 miles north-west of Charing Cross. Once part of the Great Middlesex Forest, it was later owned by the Knights of St John of Jerusalem...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the daughter of British comedian/actor/singer/variety star Bobby Howes
Bobby Howes
Bobby Howes, born as Charles Robert William Howes on 4 August 1895 in Battersea, England. His parents were Robert William Howes and Rose Marie Butler.- Biography :...
(1895–1972) and actress/singer Patricia Malone
Patricia Malone
Patricia "Pat" Malone was an English stage actress.Pat Malone was the daughter of a London theatrical director, Captain J.A.E. Malone and she began acting at an early age. She married actor/comedian/singer Bobby Howes and they had two children, the actress Sally Ann Howes and the musician Peter...
(1899–1971). She is the granddaughter of Capt. J.A.E. Malone (died 1928), London theatrical director of musicals, and she has an older brother, Peter Howes, a retired professional musician and music professor. Her great-grandfather, Joseph Malone, was awarded the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
in 1854 during the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
. Her uncle, Pat Malone, was an actor on stage, films, and television.
Howes moved to the family's country house in Essendon, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
for the duration of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. She was a show-business baby who lived a quiet, orderly childhood where she grew up with a nanny and was surrounded by a variety of pets and her parents' theatrical peers, including actor/writer Jack Hulbert
Jack Hulbert
John Norman "Jack" Hulbert was a British actor, specialising primarily in comedy productions.-Biography:Born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, he was the elder and more successful brother of Claude. He was educated at Cambridge and appeared in many shows and revues, mainly with the Cambridge Footlights. He...
and his wife, actress Cicely Courtneidge
Cicely Courtneidge
Dame Esmerelda Cicely Courtneidge DBE was an English actress and comedienne. The daughter of the producer Robert Courtneidge, she was appearing in his productions in the West End, by the age of 16, and was quickly promoted from minor to major roles in his Edwardian musical comedies.After the...
, who had an adjoining house. Her first taste of the stage was school productions, but as she came from a theatrical family, it was inevitable that another family friend, an agent who was visiting the Howes family for dinner, became impressed with her and not long after suggested the young Sally Ann for a role in a movie. Two hundred young girls had already been screen tested without success, and the producers were desperate to find a talented little girl to play the lead, and they asked her father to please rush in some pictures on the recommendation of the agent. The movie, Thursday's Child, was written by playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
Rodney Ackland
Rodney Ackland
Rodney Ackland was an English playwright, actor, theatre director and screenwriter.He was educated at Balham Grammar School in London...
, also a close neighbor to the Howes family, and it would become Ackland's directorial debut. Thursday's Child (1943) launched her career. A second film, The Halfway House
The Halfway House
The Halfway House is a 1944 British drama film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Tom Walls, Mervyn Johns and Glynis Johns. It also features the French actress Françoise Rosay...
(1944), led to her being put under contract by Michael Balcon
Michael Balcon
Sir Michael Elias Balcon was an English film producer, known for his work with Ealing Studios.-Background:...
of Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever since...
, and this was followed by many other film roles as a child actress including Dead of Night
Dead of Night
Dead of Night is a British portmanteau horror film made by Ealing Studios, its various episodes directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. The film stars Mervyn Johns, Googie Withers and Michael Redgrave...
(1945) with Sir Michael Redgrave, Pink String and Sealing Wax
Pink String and Sealing Wax
Pink String and Sealing Wax is a 1945 British drama film directed by Robert Hamer and starring Mervyn Johns, Googie Withers and Gordon Jackson.-Cast:* Mervyn Johns as Edward Sutton* Googie Withers as Pearl Bond* Gordon Jackson as David Sutton...
(1946), Nicholas Nickleby
Nicholas Nickleby (1947 film)
Nicholas Nickleby is a 1947 British drama film directed by Cavalcanti. The screenplay by John Dighton is based on the 1839 novel The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens...
(1947), My Sister and I (1948) and Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina (1948 film)
Anna Karenina [p] is a 1948 British film based on the 19th century novel, Anna Karenina, by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. The film was directed by Julien Duvivier, and starred Vivien Leigh in the title role...
(1948), with Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh, Lady Olivier was an English actress. She won the Best Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire , a role she also played on stage in London's West End, as well as for her portrayal of the southern belle Scarlett O'Hara, alongside Clark...
.
At age 18, the Rank Organisation
Rank Organisation
The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment company formed during 1937 and absorbed in 1996 by The Rank Group Plc. It was the largest and most vertically-integrated film company in Britain, owning production, distribution and exhibition facilities....
put her under a seven-year contract, and she went on to make the films, Stop Press Girl (1949), The History of Mr. Polly
The History of Mr. Polly (film)
The History of Mr. Polly is a 1949 British film, based on the 1910 comic novel The History of Mr. Polly by H.G. Wells. It was directed by Anthony Pelissier and stars John Mills, Betty Ann Davies, Megs Jenkins and Finlay Currie...
(1949) with John Mills
John Mills
Sir John Mills CBE , born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills, was an English actor who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades.-Life and career:...
, Fools Rush In
Fools Rush In (1949 film)
Fools Rush In is a 1949 British comedy film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Sally Ann Howes, Guy Rolfe and Nigel Buchanan. A bride gets cold feet on the eve of her wedding and decides to call it off.-Cast:* Sally Ann Howes - Pamela Dickson...
(1949), and Due mogli sono troppe
Due mogli sono troppe
Due mogli sono troppe is a 1950 Italian World War II war film directed by Mario Camerini....
(1950).
Musical theatre on the West End and Broadway
Howes had begun taking singing lessons on the recommendation of a visiting teacher friend not only to bring out her natural talents but also in effort to lower her speaking voice which was quite high-pitched. While still in her teens, she made her first musical-comedy stage appearance in Fancy Free. In late 1950, she starred in a BBC TV version of CinderellaCinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
.
That same year, Howes accepted her first professional stage role in the Sandy Wilson
Sandy Wilson
Sandy Wilson is an English composer and lyricist, best known for his musical The Boy Friend .-Biography:Wilson was born Alexander Galbraith Wilson in Sale, Greater Manchester, and was educated at Harrow School and Oriel College, Oxford. During the war he served in the Royal Ordnance Corps in Great...
musical, Caprice, forcing her to terminate her contract with Rank, with whom she'd been unhappy with the film roles and being on "loan out". She was finding gainful employment in television and radio, and she was looking to flex her singing talent, something that both Balcon and Rank had overlooked. Caprice was followed by Bet Your Life with Julie Wilson
Julie Wilson
Julie Wilson is an American singer and actress.Born in Omaha, Nebraska and first finding a musical outlet with local musical group Hank's Hepcats, Wilson headed to New York City during World War II and found work in two of Manhattan's leading nightclubs, the Latin Quarter and the Copacabana...
, Arthur Askey
Arthur Askey
Arthur Bowden Askey CBE was a prominent English comedian.- Life and career :Askey was born at 29 Moses Street, Liverpool, the eldest child and only son of Samuel Askey , secretary of the firm Sugar Products of Liverpool, and his wife, Betsy Bowden , of Knutsford, Cheshire...
and Brian Reece. She was also simultaneously on the radio with Askey and Reece. In 1953, she starred on the West End in the musical Paint Your Wagon with her father, Bobby Howes
Bobby Howes
Bobby Howes, born as Charles Robert William Howes on 4 August 1895 in Battersea, England. His parents were Robert William Howes and Rose Marie Butler.- Biography :...
. The show ran for 18 months. It was followed by Summer Song
Summer Song
"Summer Song" is the second single of 2008 by Japanese pop singer-songwriter Yui. The single was released on July 2, 2008. Summer Song was aired on the last episode of Yui Locks on May 29, 2008....
, also on the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
, firmly establishing her as a leading musical comedy star. This was followed by her critically acclaimed performance in the stage drama, A Hatful of Rain
A Hatful of Rain
A Hatful of Rain is a 1957 dramatic film. The movie was a rarity for its time in its frank depiction of the effect of drug addiction.It is a medically and sociologically accurate account of the effects of morphine on an addict and his family ....
. In the early to mid-1950s, she also mixed her theatre with television appearances and even modelling, commercials and product endorsements.
She became a popular celebrity in England, even appearing as a comic-strip character in TV Fun serial comics
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...
and annuals, as a young, wholesome teacher in the wild American west at a time when Western TV shows were very popular. She appeared on the cover of many magazines, most notably Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
(3 March 1958), when she was in the United States to take over from Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews
Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...
in My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
on Broadway.
In late 1957, Howes was offered the part (for the third time) to enable Andrews to join the cast of the London production. She had turned it down twice before. The first offer had been to join the USA touring company of the musical, and the second time she declined the part was due to her film commitment for Admirable Crichton
The Admirable Crichton (film)
The Admirable Crichton is a 1957 British comedy film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Kenneth More, Diane Cilento, Sally Ann Howes and Cecil Parker. The film was based on J. M...
(1957). With the persistence of Lerner and Loewe, however, she accepted the third time, for a year's contract, but at a higher salary than Julie Andrews. She became an instant hit as a very fiery Eliza Doolittle
Eliza Doolittle
Eliza Sophie Caird , better known by her stage name Eliza Doolittle, is an English singer–songwriter from London, who signed to the Parlophone record label in October 2008. Her debut self-titled album, Eliza Doolittle was released on 12 July 2010, where it debuted at number 3 in the UK...
.
In January 1958, Howes married Tony-winning composer Richard Adler
Richard Adler
Richard Adler is an American lyricist, composer and producer of several Broadway shows.-Biography:Born in New York City, Adler had a musical upbringing, his father being a concert pianist. After serving in the Navy he began his career as a lyricist, teaming up with Jerry Ross in 1950...
(The Pajama Game
The Pajama Game
The Pajama Game is a musical based on the novel 7½ Cents by Richard Bissell. It features a score by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story deals with labor troubles in a pajama factory, where worker demands for a seven-and-a-half cents raise are going unheeded...
, Damn Yankees
Damn Yankees
Damn Yankees is a musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop and music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., during a time when the New York Yankees dominated Major League...
) . The following December, she appeared on television in Adler's musical adaptation (which was written for her) of O.Henry's short story, The Gift of the Magi
The Gift of the Magi
"The Gift of the Magi" is a short story written by O. Henry , about a young married couple and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money...
. Adler and Bob Merrill
Bob Merrill
Bob Merrill was an American songwriter, theatrical composer, lyricist, and screenwriter.Merrill was born Henry Merrill Levan in Atlantic City, New Jersey and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Following a stint with the Army during World War II, he moved to Hollywood, where he worked as a...
collaborated on a musical version of W. Somerset Maugham
W. Somerset Maugham
William Somerset Maugham , CH was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and, reputedly, the highest paid author during the 1930s.-Childhood and education:...
's Of Human Bondage
Of Human Bondage
Of Human Bondage is a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. It is generally agreed to be his masterpiece and to be strongly autobiographical in nature, although Maugham stated, "This is a novel, not an autobiography, though much in it is autobiographical, more is pure invention." Maugham, who had...
so that Howes could play Mildred.
She appeared on many TV shows including those of Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
, Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
and Jack Paar
Jack Paar
Jack Harold Paar was an author, American radio and television comedian and talk show host, best known for his stint as host of The Tonight Show from 1957 to 1962...
in 1962, The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
, plus appearing in The Bell Telephone Hour
The Bell Telephone Hour
The Bell Telephone Hour is a long-run concert series which began April 29, 1940 on NBC Radio and was heard on NBC until June 30, 1958. Sponsored by Bell Telephone, it showcased the best in classical and Broadway music, reaching eight to nine million listeners each week. It continued on television...
, The Kraft Music Hall, The United States Steel Hour
The United States Steel Hour
The United States Steel Hour is an anthology series which brought hour-long dramas to television from 1953 to 1963. The television series and the radio program that preceded it were both sponsored by the United States Steel Corporation....
. She appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
four times.
When her one-year contract in My Fair Lady was over, she returned to England to tape six one-hour variety shows The Sally Ann Howes Show for the British commercial television network. She was also personally requested to sing for three U.S. presidents (Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
, John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
and Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
). She became a frequent guest panellist on game shows and was known for her quick, spontaneous answers.
She returned to Broadway in 1961 in the short run of Kwamina
Kwamina (musical)
Kwamina is a musical which originally debuted on Broadway on October 23, 1961 at the 54th Street Theatre, and ran for 32 performances, ending on November 18, 1961...
, another Adler musical which was written for her. She starred opposite Terry Carter
Terry Carter
Terry Carter is an American actor and filmmaker who is known for his roles as "Sgt. Joe Broadhurst", on the seven year hit TV series McCloud and as "Colonel Tigh" on the original Battlestar Galactica.-Early life:...
, Brock Peters
Brock Peters
Brock Peters was an American actor, best known for playing the role of Tom Robinson in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird...
, and Robert Guillaume
Robert Guillaume
Robert "Bob" Guillaume is an American stage and television actor, best known for his role as Benson Du Bois on the TV-series Soap and the spin-off Benson, voicing the mandrill Rafiki in The Lion King and as Isaac Jaffe on Sports Night...
. The musical centred on an interracial love story and was too controversial in a time when civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
were hotly contested. The show has not had a Broadway revival since. Coincidentally, her father, Bobby Howes
Bobby Howes
Bobby Howes, born as Charles Robert William Howes on 4 August 1895 in Battersea, England. His parents were Robert William Howes and Rose Marie Butler.- Biography :...
, was also on Broadway that year with a short revival of Finian's Rainbow
Finian's Rainbow
Finian's Rainbow is a musical with a book by E.Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy, lyrics by Harburg, and music by Burton Lane. The 1947 Broadway production ran for 725 performances. Several revivals and a 1968 film version followed. A Broadway revival ran from October 8, 2009 until January 17, 2010...
, and a cast album exists of that show as well.
In 1962, she starred in a short revival of the musical Brigadoon at the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
and received a Tony nomination, the first performer to be nominated for a revival performance. She recreated the role in a private White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
performance at the express invitation of President and Mrs. Kennedy
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier "Jackie" Kennedy Onassis was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and served as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Five years later she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle...
. In 1964 she starred on Broadway opposite Robert Alda
Robert Alda
Robert Alda was an American actor. He was the father of actors Alan Alda and Antony Alda.-Life and career:...
and Steve Lawrence
Steve Lawrence
Steve Lawrence is an American singer and actor, perhaps best known as a member of a duo with his wife Eydie Gormé, billed as "Steve and Eydie"...
in the energetic What Makes Sammy Run?
What Makes Sammy Run?
What Makes Sammy Run? is a novel by Budd Schulberg. It is a rags to riches story chronicling the rise and fall of Sammy Glick, a Jewish boy born in New York's Lower East Side who very early in his life makes up his mind to escape the ghetto and climb the ladder of success...
, which lasted for over 500 performances.
She returned to familiar territory on TV in 1966 with Brigadoon opposite Robert Goulet
Robert Goulet
Robert Gerard Goulet was a Canadian American entertainer as a singer and actor. He played the role of Lancelot in the Broadway musical Camelot of 1960.-Early life:...
, Peter Falk
Peter Falk
Peter Michael Falk was an American actor, best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo...
and some of her Broadway cast, it won six Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
s.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
In 1967, she began the long film shoot for what would become a popular children's film, as Truly ScrumptiousTruly Scrumptious
Truly Scrumptious is a fictional character in the 1968 film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, based on the children's novel of the same name by Ian Fleming.She does not appear in the book. In the film the character is portrayed by singer/actress Sally Ann Howes....
, the beautiful, aristocratic daughter of a confectionery magnate in the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (film)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a 1968 musical film with a script by Roald Dahl and Ken Hughes, and songs by the Sherman Brothers, loosely based on Ian Fleming's novel Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car. It starred Dick Van Dyke as Caractacus Potts and Sally Ann Howes as Truly Scrumptious. The...
(1968).
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang did not, however, restart her film career or launch a career for her in episodic television despite several guest-starring roles in Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...
, Marcus Welby, M.D.
Marcus Welby, M.D.
Marcus Welby, M.D. is an American medical drama television program that aired on ABC from September 23, 1969, to July 29, 1976. It starred Robert Young as a family practitioner with a kind bedside manner, and was produced by David Victor and David J. O'Connell...
, and Branigan and The Men From Shiloh
The Virginian (TV series)
The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series...
. Even the pilot Prudence and the Chief, which was a spoof on The King and I
The King and I
The King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
, did not get picked up as a TV series. In addition, musicals were now failing at the box office and that venue was closed to her. As a result, she returned almost exclusively to the musical stage, appearing in only a few more films/TV productions.
Later theatrical career
In the 1970s1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
, she toured Britain with The King and I
The King and I
The King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
and later the USA with The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
. After her debut with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera in 1972 with The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
she returned to England to star in the stage drama, Lover, which was written specifically for her.
In the 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
and 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
, she began to cross over from standard musicals to operettas. She performed two summers with the Kenley Players in Blossom Time and The Great Waltz
The Great Waltz
The Great Waltz is a musical conceived by Hassard Short with a book by Moss Hart and lyrics by Desmond Carter, using themes by Johann Strauss I and Johann Strauss II. It is based on a pasticcio by Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Julius Bittner called Walzer aus Wien, first performed in Vienna in 1930...
, and she later added Franz Lehár
Franz Lehár
Franz Lehár was an Austrian-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas of which the most successful and best known is The Merry Widow .-Biography:...
's The Merry Widow
The Merry Widow
The Merry Widow is an operetta by the Austro–Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband – on an 1861 comedy play,...
and then two seasons of Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
's A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Mozart's Serenade...
at the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
. She also added the role of Gertrude from Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
to her repertoire.
In 1990, she debuted her one-woman show, From This Moment On at the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
and at a benefit for the Long Island AIDS Association at the John Drew Theatre in Easthampton, New York
East Hampton (town), New York
The Town of East Hampton is located in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, at the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. It is the easternmost town in the state of New York...
. Her last film was the 1992 miniseries Judith Krantz's Secrets. That marked her 50th year in film.
Recent projects include her narrations of Cubby Broccoli, The Man Behind Bond on the 2000 year release of the DVD Diamonds Are Forever
Diamonds Are Forever (film)
Diamonds Are Forever is the seventh spy film in the Eon Productions James Bond series, and the sixth and final Eon Productions film to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film is based on Ian Fleming's 1956 novel of the same name, and is the second of four James Bond films...
, The Making of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang The Musical (2002), and her appearance in the documentary, After They Were Famous - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (2004).
Except for occasional lectures, charity functions and some Broadway openings, she is semi-retired, although she still hosts events or performs two or three times per year. Over the period September 2007 to January 2008, she toured the USA in the Cameron Mackintosh
Cameron Mackintosh
Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh is a British theatrical producer notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "the most successful, influential and powerful theatrical producer in the world" by the New York...
production of My Fair Lady, appearing as Mrs. Higgins. When she is not performing, she is an Artistic Advisor for the Palm Beach Theater Guild, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the Royal Poinciana Playhouse in Palm Beach, Florida
Palm Beach, Florida
The Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...
.
Personal life
Howes adopted Richard Adler's two sons, Andrew and Christopher (died 1984) after the death of his first wife (1964).She has been married to Douglas Rae since the early 1970s.
Filmography
- Thursday's Child (1943) - "Fennis Wilson"
- The Halfway HouseThe Halfway HouseThe Halfway House is a 1944 British drama film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Tom Walls, Mervyn Johns and Glynis Johns. It also features the French actress Françoise Rosay...
(1944) - "Joanna French" - Dead of NightDead of NightDead of Night is a British portmanteau horror film made by Ealing Studios, its various episodes directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. The film stars Mervyn Johns, Googie Withers and Michael Redgrave...
(1945) - "Sally O'Hara" (segment Christmas Party) - Pink String and Sealing WaxPink String and Sealing WaxPink String and Sealing Wax is a 1945 British drama film directed by Robert Hamer and starring Mervyn Johns, Googie Withers and Gordon Jackson.-Cast:* Mervyn Johns as Edward Sutton* Googie Withers as Pearl Bond* Gordon Jackson as David Sutton...
(1945) - "Peggy Sutton" - Nicholas NicklebyNicholas Nickleby (1947 film)Nicholas Nickleby is a 1947 British drama film directed by Cavalcanti. The screenplay by John Dighton is based on the 1839 novel The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens...
(1947) - "Kate Nickleby" - Anna KareninaAnna Karenina (1948 film)Anna Karenina [p] is a 1948 British film based on the 19th century novel, Anna Karenina, by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. The film was directed by Julien Duvivier, and starred Vivien Leigh in the title role...
(1948) - "Kitty Scherbatsky" - My Sister and I (1948) - "Robina Adams"
- Fools Rush In (1949) "Pamela Dickson"
- The History of Mr. PollyThe History of Mr. Polly (film)The History of Mr. Polly is a 1949 British film, based on the 1910 comic novel The History of Mr. Polly by H.G. Wells. It was directed by Anthony Pelissier and stars John Mills, Betty Ann Davies, Megs Jenkins and Finlay Currie...
(1949) - "Cristabel" - Stop Press Girl (1949) - "Jennifer Peters"
- Due mogli sono troppeDue mogli sono troppeDue mogli sono troppe is a 1950 Italian World War II war film directed by Mario Camerini....
(1950) - aka Honeymoon Deferred (UK) - "Katherine Fry" - The Admirable CrichtonThe Admirable Crichton (film)The Admirable Crichton is a 1957 British comedy film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Kenneth More, Diane Cilento, Sally Ann Howes and Cecil Parker. The film was based on J. M...
(1957) aka Paradise Lagoon (USA Title) - "Lady Mary" - Brigadoon (1966) "Fiona MacLaren"
- Chitty Chitty Bang BangChitty Chitty Bang Bang (film)Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a 1968 musical film with a script by Roald Dahl and Ken Hughes, and songs by the Sherman Brothers, loosely based on Ian Fleming's novel Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car. It starred Dick Van Dyke as Caractacus Potts and Sally Ann Howes as Truly Scrumptious. The...
(1968) - "Truly ScrumptiousTruly ScrumptiousTruly Scrumptious is a fictional character in the 1968 film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, based on the children's novel of the same name by Ian Fleming.She does not appear in the book. In the film the character is portrayed by singer/actress Sally Ann Howes....
" - Death ShipDeath Ship (1980 film)Death Ship is a 1980 horror film directed by Alvin Rakoff. The cast includes Academy Award winner George Kennedy, Richard Crenna, Sally Ann Howes, and Black Christmas actor Nick Mancuso.-Plot:...
- "Margaret Marshall" (1980) - Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were ThereBroadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were ThereBroadway: The Golden Age is a 2004 documentary by Rick McKay, telling the story of the "golden age" of Broadway by the oral history of the legendary actors of the 40s and 50s, incorporating rare lost footage of actual performances and never-before-seen personal home movies and photos.-The Cast:The...
(2003) (documentary)
Theatre
- Caprice (Joan) - stage debut in Glasgow - written by Sandy WilsonSandy WilsonSandy Wilson is an English composer and lyricist, best known for his musical The Boy Friend .-Biography:Wilson was born Alexander Galbraith Wilson in Sale, Greater Manchester, and was educated at Harrow School and Oriel College, Oxford. During the war he served in the Royal Ordnance Corps in Great...
- Bet Your Life (Jane) - at the London Hippodrome, with Julie WilsonJulie WilsonJulie Wilson is an American singer and actress.Born in Omaha, Nebraska and first finding a musical outlet with local musical group Hank's Hepcats, Wilson headed to New York City during World War II and found work in two of Manhattan's leading nightclubs, the Latin Quarter and the Copacabana...
, Arthur AskeyArthur AskeyArthur Bowden Askey CBE was a prominent English comedian.- Life and career :Askey was born at 29 Moses Street, Liverpool, the eldest child and only son of Samuel Askey , secretary of the firm Sugar Products of Liverpool, and his wife, Betsy Bowden , of Knutsford, Cheshire...
and Brian Reece - 1952 - Paint Your Wagon (Jennifer Rumson) at Her Majesty's TheatreHer Majesty's TheatreHer Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...
, Haymarket – with father Bobby HowesBobby HowesBobby Howes, born as Charles Robert William Howes on 4 August 1895 in Battersea, England. His parents were Robert William Howes and Rose Marie Butler.- Biography :...
- production ran for 477 performances over 18 months starting Feb. 1953. - Babes in the WoodBabes in the WoodBabes in the Wood is a traditional children's tale, as well as a popular pantomime subject. It has also been the name of some other unrelated works. The expression has passed into common language, referring to inexperienced innocents entering unawares into any potentially dangerous or hostile...
(Robin Hood) - British pantomime - Golders Green Hippodrome - with Arthur AskeyArthur AskeyArthur Bowden Askey CBE was a prominent English comedian.- Life and career :Askey was born at 29 Moses Street, Liverpool, the eldest child and only son of Samuel Askey , secretary of the firm Sugar Products of Liverpool, and his wife, Betsy Bowden , of Knutsford, Cheshire...
, holiday season 1954 - Romance In Candlelight (Margaret) - at Piccadilly - 1955 - 53 performances
- Summer Song (Karolka) - Princes Theatre, Shaftesbury Ave, W.C.2 148 performances - directed by Charles Hickman - opened Feb. 1956. Premiered at the Opera House Manchester on 21 December 1955 before moving to the Princes Theatre on London's West EndWest End of LondonThe West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
. - A Hatful of RainA Hatful of RainA Hatful of Rain is a 1957 dramatic film. The movie was a rarity for its time in its frank depiction of the effect of drug addiction.It is a medically and sociologically accurate account of the effects of morphine on an addict and his family ....
(Celia Pope) - Princes Theatre, Shaftesbury Ave, W.C.2 - directed by Sam WanamakerSam WanamakerSamuel Wanamaker was an American film director and actor and is credited as the person most responsible for the modern recreation of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London...
- 1956 - My Fair LadyMy Fair LadyMy Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
(Eliza Doolittle) - Mark Hellinger Theater, Broadway - took over for Julie Andrews in Feb. 1958 for one year. - KwaminaKwamina (musical)Kwamina is a musical which originally debuted on Broadway on October 23, 1961 at the 54th Street Theatre, and ran for 32 performances, ending on November 18, 1961...
(Eve Jordan)- 54th St. Theatre, 32 shows - Oct 23 - Nov 18, 1961 - Brigadoon (Fiona McLaren) - at New York City Center Light Opera Company - 1962
- Brigadoon (Fiona McLaren) (Tony Award Nomination) - at New York City Center Light Opera Company - January 28 - February 10, 1963
- Brigadoon (Fiona McLaren) - Carter Barron Amphitheater, Washington, D.C. - June 24 thru 30th, 1963
- What Makes Sammy Run?What Makes Sammy Run?What Makes Sammy Run? is a novel by Budd Schulberg. It is a rags to riches story chronicling the rise and fall of Sammy Glick, a Jewish boy born in New York's Lower East Side who very early in his life makes up his mind to escape the ghetto and climb the ladder of success...
(Kit Sargent) - 54th St. Theatre, 540 performances - February 24, 1964 - June 12, 1965 - My Fair LadyMy Fair LadyMy Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
- (Eliza Doolittle) - Melody Top Theatre, Chicago - July 1964 - My Fair LadyMy Fair LadyMy Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
- (Eliza Doolittle) - Melody Top Theatre, Chicago - July 1965 - CamelotCamelot (musical)Camelot is a musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe . It is based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T. H. White tetralogy novel The Once and Future King....
(Guenevere) - St. Louis Municipal Opera (aka The Muny) - summer 1969 - My Fair LadyMy Fair LadyMy Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
(Eliza Doolittle) - Kenley Players - Florida theater - Dec. 23, 1969 - Jan. 4, 1970 - Blossom Time (Mitzi Kranz) - Morris Mechanic Theatre, Baltimore. Also starred Earl WrightsonEarl WrightsonEarl Wrightson was an American singer and actor best known for musical theatre, concerts and television performances. His regular singing partner was the soprano Lois Hunt.-Early life and career:...
and Lois HuntLois HuntLois Hunt was an American lyric soprano who had spent some of her earlier career performing at New York City's Metropolitan Opera and later spent four decades performing and recording classical music and musical theater numbers nationwide together with baritone Earl Wrightson.-Early life and...
- 1970 - Blossom Time (Mitzi Kranz) - Kenley Players, Memorial Hall in Dayton, Ohio - (one week) - August 1970.
- The Sound of MusicThe Sound of MusicThe Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
(Maria) - Kenley Players - 1970 or 1971 - The Great WaltzThe Great WaltzThe Great Waltz is a musical conceived by Hassard Short with a book by Moss Hart and lyrics by Desmond Carter, using themes by Johann Strauss I and Johann Strauss II. It is based on a pasticcio by Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Julius Bittner called Walzer aus Wien, first performed in Vienna in 1930...
(Resi) - Kenley Players, Packard Music Hall, Warren, Ohio - August 1971 - The Sound of MusicThe Sound of MusicThe Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
(Maria) - The Los Angeles Civic Light Opera - 1972 - The Sound of MusicThe Sound of MusicThe Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
(Maria) - San Francisco Light Opera Association - 1972 - Lover (Suzy Martin) - with Jeremy Hawk, Derren Nesbitt and Max Wall - Theatre Royal, Brighton - week of Feb. 11-17, 1973 - thriller
- The King and IThe King and IThe King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
(Anna Leonowens) - British tour. Also starred Peter WyngardePeter WyngardePeter Paul Wyngarde is an Anglo-French actor best known for playing the character Jason King, a bestselling novelist turned sleuth, in two British television series in the late 1960s and early 1970s: Department S and Jason King .-Biography:He was born Cyril Goldbert in Marseilles, France, the...
- 1973. - Man and SupermanMan and SupermanMan and Superman is a four-act drama, written by George Bernard Shaw in 1903. The series was written in response to calls for Shaw to write a play based on the Don Juan theme. Man and Superman opened at The Royal Court Theatre in London on 23 May 1905, but with the omission of the 3rd Act...
(Ann Whitefield) - with Denis QuilleyDenis QuilleyDenis Clifford Quilley OBE was an English theatre, television and film actor who was long associated with the Royal National Theatre....
- 1973 - The King & I (Anna Leonowens)- the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion - with Ricardo MontalbanRicardo MontalbánRicardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino, KSG was a Mexican radio, television, theatre and film actor. He had a career spanning six decades and many notable roles...
- April 1974. - I Do! I Do!I Do! I Do!I Do! I Do! is a musical with a book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt which is based on the Jan de Hartog play The Fourposter. The two-character story spans fifty years, from 1895 to 1945, as it focuses on the ups and downs experienced by Agnes and Michael Snow throughout their...
- Cherry County Playhouse, Traverse City, MI. - August 18, 1976 - Goodbye CharlieGoodbye CharlieGoodbye Charlie is a 1964 comedy film about a callous womanizer who gets his just reward. It was adapted from George Axelrod's play Goodbye, Charlie and starred Debbie Reynolds and Tony Curtis...
- 1976? - Robert and ElizabethRobert and ElizabethRobert and Elizabeth is a musical with music by Ron Grainer and book and lyrics by Ronald Millar. The story is based on an unproduced musical titled The Third Kiss by Judge Fred G. Moritt, which in turn was adapted from the play The Barretts of Wimpole Street by Rudolph Besier...
(Elizabeth) - Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford - also starred Jeremy BrettJeremy BrettJeremy Brett , born Peter Jeremy William Huggins, was an English actor, most famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in four Granada TV series.-Early life:...
- Dec. 22, 1976 - Jan. 29, 1977. - Robert and ElizabethRobert and ElizabethRobert and Elizabeth is a musical with music by Ron Grainer and book and lyrics by Ronald Millar. The story is based on an unproduced musical titled The Third Kiss by Judge Fred G. Moritt, which in turn was adapted from the play The Barretts of Wimpole Street by Rudolph Besier...
(Elizabeth) - O'Keefe Center, Toronto - March 1977 - Hans Anderson (Jenny Lind) - with Tommy SteeleTommy SteeleTommy Steele OBE , is an English entertainer. Steele is widely regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star.-Singer:...
. 10 week run at the London Palladium - Dec. 17, 1977 - Feb 28, 1978. - The Sound of MusicThe Sound of MusicThe Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
(Maria) - 1978 USA touring company - HamletHamletThe Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
(Queen Gertrude) - New Shakespeare Company, Gardner Centre Theatre, Brighton, UK. Opened 9 May 1983. - The Merry WidowThe Merry WidowThe Merry Widow is an operetta by the Austro–Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband – on an 1861 comedy play,...
- with Barry Clark - 1986 - Noel CowardNoël CowardSir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
's Semi-MondeSemi-MondeSemi-Monde is a play written by Noel Coward in 1926, but not produced until 1977. Set in the lobby, restaurants, and bar of an up-scale Paris hotel , the play follows the lives of a variety of socialites over a three year period from 1924 to 1926. It is remarkable among its contemporaries due to...
- Royalty Theatre, London - September 13, 1989 - A Little Night MusicA Little Night MusicA Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Mozart's Serenade...
(Desiree) - New York City Opera, Lincoln Center - November 7, 1990 - From This Moment On - one woman show - 1990.
- A Little Night MusicA Little Night MusicA Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Mozart's Serenade...
(Desiree) - New York City Opera, Lincoln Center - 1992 - CinderellaCinderella"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
(Fairy Godmother) - New York City Opera, Lincoln Center, Nov. 9-21, 1993 - CinderellaCinderella"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
(Fairy Godmother) - New York City Opera, Lincoln Center, Nov. 15, 1995 - with Jane PowellJane PowellJane Powell is an American singer, dancer and actress.After rising to fame as a singer in her home state of Oregon, Powell was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer while still in her teens...
and Jean Stapleton - Where's Charley?Where's Charley?Where's Charley? is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by George Abbott. The story was based on the play Charley's Aunt by Brandon Thomas. The musical debuted on Broadway in 1948 and was revived on Broadway and in the West End...
(Charley's Aunt) - August 13–16, 1998 - James Joyce's The DeadJames Joyce's The DeadJames Joyce's The Dead is a Broadway musical by Richard Nelson and Shaun Davey based upon James Joyce's short story of the same name.Originally presented Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons with an opening night cast that included Blair Brown, Paddy Croft, Brian Davies, Daisy Eagan, Dashiell...
world premier (Aunt Julia) - Dec. 14, 1999 - Apr. 16, 2000 - Dear WorldDear WorldDear World is a Broadway musical with a book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. With its opening, Herman became the only composer-lyricist in history to have three productions running simultaneously on Broadway...
(Countess Aurelia) - Nov. 16-Dec. 10, 2000 - My Fair LadyMy Fair LadyMy Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
(Mrs. Higgins) - USA touring company - Sept. 12, 2007 - Jan 20, 2008.
Television movies, miniseries, series, musicals and specials
Early TV appearances included a guest appearance in "Cafe Continental" with her father when they faced the camera together for the first time. Other appearances included "Kaleidoscope, and her own Sunday night series called "Short and Sweet" with Harry Jacobson at the piano. She appeared in the 1951 Festival of Musical Production, which was written for her and entitled "The Golden Year."- Cinderella (1950) (TV - BBC) - Dec. 26, 1950
- "Hallmark Hall of Fame" playing "Della Young" in episode: "The Gift of the Magi" 9 December 1958
- The Sally Ann Howes Show (6 variety shows - UK) 1960
- The Fifth Column (1960)
- Jane Eyre (1961)
- "Play of The Week" in episode: "After Hours" - 1961 with Christopher PlummerChristopher PlummerArthur Christopher Orne Plummer, CC is a Canadian theatre, film and television actor. He made his film debut in 1957's Stage Struck, and notable early film performances include Night of the Generals, The Return of the Pink Panther and The Man Who Would Be King.In a career that spans over five...
- "Play of the Week" in episode: "The Old Foolishness" (episode # 2.24) 6 March 1961
- The Sally Ann Howes Special – A General Motors Special, A CBS Special for the opening of Lincoln Center – Sept. 23, 1962
- Brigadoon (1966) ABC-TV (musical)
- Prudence and the Chief (1970) (TV pilot)
- The Hound of the Baskervilles (1972)
- Female Artillery (1973)
- "Great Performances" playing "Herself" in "An Evening with Alan Jay Lerner" (episode # 18.5), Oct. 23 & 24 November 1989
- Judith Krantz's "Secrets" (1992) (miniseries)
- "After They Were Famous" playing "Herself" in episode: "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" 24 December 2004
Television guest appearances
- "Cafe Continental" - variety show 1947-1953. Appeared with her father as a guest star.
- "Saturday Spectacular" / "Startime" - variety show broadcast from Prince of Wales Theatre - 1950s?
- "Have You A Camera?" playing "Herself" with Royal photographer, Baron - mid-1950s.
- "Toast of the Town" playing "Herself" (episode # 11.20) 9 February 1958, (episode # 17.37) 21 June 1964, (episode # 19.12) 28 November 1965, (episode # 20.23) 12 February 1967
- "Sunday Night at the London Palladium" - March 1959
- "The Perry Como Show" - 17 May 1958, 15 November 1958, 3 June 1959
- "The Bell Telephone Hour" in episode: "A Night of Music" 9 October 1959, "Holiday in Music" 30 September 1960, "Music hath Charms" 20 January 1961, "A Measure of Music" 19 January 1962
- "Dinah Shore Show" playing "Herself" - 1961
- "The United States Steel Hour" in episode: "The Leonardi Code" (episode # 8.19) 17 May 1961
- "To Tell the Truth" - various appearances 1962-1965, Daytime and nighttime versions
- "Password" - various appearances 1962-1965, Daytime version
- "The Match Game" - various appearances 1963-1964, Daytime version
- "I've Got a Secret" playing "Guest Panelist" 24 June 1963
- "The Merv Griffin Show" - 1963 or 1964
- "You Don't Say!" (gameshow) - 1963, 1964 or 1965
- "The Price Is Right" - (with host Bill Cullen) - "Guest Star" - 1963 or 1964
- "The Miss U.S.A. Pageant" (hostess) - 4 June 1965
- "The Miss Universe Beauty Pageant" (hostess) - 24 July 1965
- "Fanfare" playing "Herself" 28 August 1965
- "Bob Hope presents the Chrysler Theatre" playing "Allison Lang" in episode: "The Enemy on the Beach" (episode # 3.10) 5 January 1966
- "Run for Your Life" playing "Rhona" in episode: "The Savage Machines" (episode # 1.29) 2 May 1966
- "The Dean Martin Show" playing "Herself" 6 April 1967
- "Everybody's Talking" playing "Guest Panelist" 22–26 May 1967
- "What's My Line?" playing - various appearances 1968-1970, Daytime version
- "The Hollywood Palace" playing "Herself" 5 April 1969
- "This Is Tom Jones" playing "Herself" 22 May 1969
- "Mission: Impossible" playing "Beth" in episode: "Fool's Gold" (episode # 4.5) 26 October 1969
- "It Takes Two" - "Guest Panelist" - 25 May 1970
- "The Hollywood Squares" - "Guest Panelist" - 23–27 November 1970
- "Bracken's World" playing "Isabel Blue" in episode: "Miss Isabel Blue" (episode # 2.15) 25 December 1970
- "The Virginian" playing "Martha Clayton" in episode: "Tate, Ramrod" (episode # 9.20) 24 February 1971
- "The Virginia Graham Show" - guest appearance approx. 1971
- "Marcus Welby, M.D." in episode: "The Day After Forever" (episode # 4.23) 27 February 1973
- "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" playing "Herself" 19 October 1998
- "Theatre Talk" - regarding "James Joyce's The Dead" - 20 January 2000
Radio
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, she appeared on many radio programmes including: "Ignorance is Bliss," "Geraldo's Open House," "Taxi" with Jerry Verno, "Desert Island Discs," "Talk Yourself Out of This," and she appeared twice on the "Calling All Forces" show.- "Arthur's Inn" - radio variety program with Arthur AskeyArthur AskeyArthur Bowden Askey CBE was a prominent English comedian.- Life and career :Askey was born at 29 Moses Street, Liverpool, the eldest child and only son of Samuel Askey , secretary of the firm Sugar Products of Liverpool, and his wife, Betsy Bowden , of Knutsford, Cheshire...
& Brian Reece - June 1952 - Marle Becker's "Out-FMOut FMOut FM is an anti-racist, progressive LGBTQ public affairs and culture talk radio show airing on Tuesday evenings from 7pm to 8pm on WBAI 99.5 fm, Pacifica Radio in New York...
" show, heard on WBAI-FM (99.5) (or on the internet at http://www.outfm.org/) from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. - October 1, 2000
Other live performances
- Royal Variety Performance - at the Victoria Palace Theatre - October 29, 1951
- London Palladium "Midnight Cavalcade 1954" - A Gala Night of World-Famous Stars in aid of The Actors' Orphanage, the Charitable Funds of the Grand Order of Water Rats & the J.N.F. Charitable Trust - Thursday, March 18, 1954
- London Palladium "Night of 100 Stars" - A Midnight Revue in aid of The Actors' Orphanage - Thursday, June 23, 1955
- Grand opening of the Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh, PA - Sept. 21, 1971
- "Golden Gala" - London Palladium - A musical spectacular from the London Palladium to mark the 50th anniversary of Equal Voting Rights For Women. Princess Margaret was the guest of honour. July 2, 1978
- "Cinderella's Star Night" - Charity gala at the Prince Edward Theatre, January 31, 1982.
- "A Royal Night Of One Hundred Stars" - one night performance at the NT Olivier Theatre - in aid of the "Save the Children Fund." March 17, 1985 (Sunday 8:00 P.M.)
- Memorial service for Alan J. Lerner - was a speaker/singer at St. Paul's Church, Covent Garden - September 1, 1986
- A Celebration Of Shakespeare “Hamlet Travestie” - Action Against Aids, at The Sadlers Wells Theatre - Howes sang "So In Love" from "Kiss Me Kate" - April 12, 1987
- "An Evening With Alan Jay Lerner" - The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. (Recorded Live - recordings available). - June 7, 1987 (Sunday)
- "An Evening With Alan Jay Lerner" - The Opera House Manchester - March 27, 1988
- Being Alive - A Celebration Of The Genius Of Stephen Sondheim - at the Drury Lane Theatre, on 4 June 1989, 7:00pm
- “Let’s Do it” – all star celebration of Noel Coward/Cole Porter – 1 night event at Barbican Centre Concert Hall - October 19, 1989
- "Kids at Heart" - at the London Palladium - a fundraising evening for Medical Aid for Free Romania. - January 20, 1991
- "A Glamorous Night With Evelyn Laye And Friends" - one-night gala at the London Palladium - Sunday, July 26, 1992
- "A Time To Start Living" - A Celebration of the great Elizabeth Welch - The Shaftsbury Lyric Theatre - A World Aid’s Day Gala, a fundraising event for Crusaid - December 6, 1992
- "Jack in Review" - charity gala concert in tribute to Jack Tinker, the theatre critic with the Daily News newspaper. London Palladium, London. Friday, 28 February 1997, 2:30 P.M. Howes sang "Alice Blue Gown."
- Cabaret at the Algonquin Hotel's Oak Room in New York City - late 1990s - the cabaret may have been the inspiration for her album "Mary Lea, Songs My Sister Loved and Sang."
- "A Cultural Affair" - New York Pops Gala, A Cultural Affair honors New York City Commissioners of Cultural Affairs Schuyler Chapin - May 15, 2000
- Broadway Honors BMI Composer Lehman Engel - Merkin Concert Hall - hosted by Sally Ann Howes. April 2, 2001
- The 12th Annual New York Cabaret Convention - "A Nightengale Sang in Berkeley Square" - October 24, 2001 - was booked for but cancelled due to the events of 9/11.
- Lansing Town Hall Celebrity Lecture Series - guest lecturer in "The Best of Broadway" - Lansing, Michigan - Monday, May 20, 2002
- Age Cannot Wither - Rosemary Harris, Sally Ann Howes and Hayley Mills appeared in A Benefit for Shakespeare Globe Centre USA called "Coward X2"- presented at University Club, 1 West 54th Street, in New York City. - Mar. 17, 2003 (Monday)
- Townhall Celebrity Lecture Series, 11:30am, Michigan League Ballroom (University of Michigan) - guest lecturer in "The Best of Broadway" - Wednesday, October 15, 2003
- Port Huron Town Hall - guest lecturer in "The Best of Broadway" - Monday, December 8, 2003
- The 16th Annual New York Cabaret Convention - Mabel Mercer Foundation - "Music From the Movies" - Oct. 20, 2005
- 23rd Annual S.T.A.G.E. event - Side by Side by Side by Side by Sondheim - March 10 & 11, 2007, Wilshire Theatre, Los Angeles.
Discography
She has several Broadway, West End, TV and Film cast albums available including:- Bet Your Life (1952)
- Paint Your Wagon (1953)
- Romance in Candelight (1955) - Original 78 recorded 15 October 1955 in London.
- Summer Song (1956)
- Gift of the Magi (1958)
- KwaminaKwamina (musical)Kwamina is a musical which originally debuted on Broadway on October 23, 1961 at the 54th Street Theatre, and ran for 32 performances, ending on November 18, 1961...
(1961) - What Makes Sammy Run? (1964)
- Brigadoon (1966)
- Chitty Chitty Bang BangChitty Chitty Bang Bang (film)Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a 1968 musical film with a script by Roald Dahl and Ken Hughes, and songs by the Sherman Brothers, loosely based on Ian Fleming's novel Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car. It starred Dick Van Dyke as Caractacus Potts and Sally Ann Howes as Truly Scrumptious. The...
(1968) - Hans Andersen (1977)
- I Remember MamaI Remember Mama (musical)I Remember Mama is a musical with a book by Thomas Meehan, lyrics by Martin Charnin and Raymond Jessel, and music by Richard Rodgers.-Origins:...
(1985) - Great Expectations (1995)
She can also be found on the albums The Best of the Telephone Hour, Cole Porter: A Remembrance (1965), An Evening With Alan Jay Lerner (1987), and the three Christmas songs she recorded, Toyland, It Came Upon A Midnight Clear, and O Little Town of Bethlehem can be found reissued each year on various compilation Christmas albums. The last known recording she made was a gift album for a party for a friend, called Mary Lea, Songs My Sister Loved & Sang (1998) for which she holds the production rights and copyright.
Product endorsements and modeling
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Sally Ann Howes lent her face to many products, of which a few are mentioned here:- Blend-rite Hair Clips (late 1940s)
- BritviC Gold Pure Juice Cocktail (1953) — a photo of Sally Ann Howes, and mentions she starred in the new Jack Hylton musical "Paint Your Wagon".
She did some modeling in the 1950s and early 1960s, and can be found in the following publications:
- Weldons Knitting Booklet #319 (approx. 1953) — a photo of Sally Ann Howes modeling a jersey, and mentions she starred in the new Jack Hylton musical "Paint Your Wagon".
- TV Guide — Oct. 13–19, 1962 — "Sally Ann Howes With Fall Fashions" pp. 22–24