Margherita Maria Francesca LaCentra[1] (April 10, 1910 – June 1, 1996)[2] was an American contralto[3] singer, best known for her work on old-time radio and her singing with Artie Shaw's orchestra. She also performed as Barbara Fulton.
LaCentra worked as an announcer at WNAC[6] and performed on WBZ radio in Boston[7] before moving to New York in 1931 to work on network radio broadcasts.[2] She performed on NBC programs, including Beauty Box Theater, Circus Night in Silvertown, and Lucky Smith.[5]
In 1934, LaCentra was billed as Barbara Fulton when she sang with Leo Reisman's orchestra on radio. Use of the pseudonym was necessary because Reisman's sponsor was a competitor of the one for which she sang on another program.[8] In December 1934, she began singing with Harry Reser and his orchestra on a new weekly program on NBC.[9]
In 1935, a group of five radio stars selected LaCentra and Bob Lawrence to star in a new program, The Radio City Party, on NBC-Blue.[10] Also in 1935, she was the leading lady on Max Baer's radio program.[11] She gained her own program, The Peg LaCentra Show, on NBC in 1938,[12] a year in which she also sang on For Men Only on NBC.[13]
LaCentra was one of the stars of the Gulden's Mustard Serenade, a 15-minute variety show broadcast on NBC twice weekly in 1940.[14] She and singer Jerry Wayne co-starred in a twice-weekly musical program on CBS in 1944.[15] As a dramatic actress, she frequently played supporting roles in Mutual's romantic thriller, The Modern Adventures of Casanova (1952).[13]: 466-467
In addition to her work on network radio, LaCentra recorded programs for NBC's Thesaurus music service.[16]
Stage and television
LaCentra appeared on Broadway as Mrs. Hamilton in The Patriots (1943).[17] In 1957, she appeared in a production of the romantic comedy Janus at the Pasadena Playhouse.[18]
On television, she played Amanda on the CBS comedy series The Marge and Gower Champion Show (1957).[19]
Orchestras and recordings
In 1932, LaCentra sang with Phil Spitalny and his orchestra.[3] Her first recording was "The Fortune Teller" (1934) with Johnny Green's orchestra on the Columbia label.[2]
In 1936, LaCentra joined Shaw as a singer for his newly formed orchestra. The two had worked together when she sang on The Mell-O-Roll Ice Cream Show, on which he was a member of the orchestra. In their new relationship, they performed in New York at the Paramount Theater and the Lexington Hotel. She recorded with Shaw for Brunswick records for a year.[2] She also sang with Benny Goodman's orchestra[1] and recorded with Jerry Sears' orchestra for Bluebird Records.[2]
^Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 655. ISBN978-0-7864-6477-7.
