[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 17 (Thursday, February 24, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                         TRIBUTE TO DINAH SHORE

                                 ______


                            HON. BOB CLEMENT

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 24, 1994

  Mr. CLEMENT. Mr. Speaker, I am saddened this afternoon to learn of 
the passing of Dinah Shore.
  Dinah was known throughout the world for her kindness, generosity, 
incredible talent, and boundless energy. She was the star of radio, 
television, and film. She toured with the USO and, to her fans she was 
a source of inspiration.
  A native of Winchester, TN, she graduated from Nashville's Hume Fogg 
High School and Vanderbilt University. They were especially proud of 
her success, which she took in stride and without ever allowing it to 
affect her outlook on life or her attitude toward people around her. 
Most recently, she hosted a weekly television talk show on the 
Nashville Network.
  All Tennesseans, all Americans, will miss Dinah Shore. She graced us 
with her gentleness, her humor, and her love. We will miss her and, to 
her family, we extend our deepest sympathies.

Dinah Shore Dies; Radio, Record, Movie, TV Career Spanned Seven Decades

                         (By E. Scott Reckard)

       Beverly Hills, Calif.--Dinah Shore, the honey-haired, down-
     to-earth singer and talk show hostess whose career spanned 
     seven decades of radio, television, records and movies, died 
     of cancer Thursday. She was 76.
       At various times in her life, Miss Shore also was known as 
     pitch woman for Chevrolet, author of cookbooks, wife of 
     cowboy actor George Montgomery, companion of actor Burt 
     Reynolds, pal of presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan and 
     hostess of a popular professional golf tourney.
       Preparing her final cable television show for the 1989-90 
     season, she said she had never felt intimidated during a 
     career that sent her into millions of American living rooms.
       ``I don't know how to be afraid of that old red eye,'' she 
     said of the camera's ``on'' light. ``It's one person to me. I 
     don't visualize large numbers of people out there. I'm 
     comfortable with it.''
       Miss Shore, who won eight Emmy Awards, nine gold records 
     and the USO Medallion Award as the first entertainer to visit 
     GIs on the front lines of World War II, died at her home 
     here. Her illness was brief, publicist Stephanie Masters 
     said.
       Born Frances Rose Shore on March 1, 1917, in Winchester, 
     Tenn., the brown-eyed entertainer was a graduate of 
     Nashville's Vanderbilt University.
       The gentility and conservatism of her Southern background 
     stayed with her as the world changed. In 1970, preparing to 
     return to NBC-TV for a weekday morning program about women's 
     interests, she listed her subject matter as ``men and well 
     men and, uh, men.''
       She said she appreciated the women's movement drive for 
     equal pay, but added: ``It's a man's world and you must give 
     something to get something.''
       ``We want men to cherish us, love us, protect us, be polite 
     to us,'' she said. ``When we go out to dinner, we expect them 
     to pick up the check. If we're to be in rough competition 
     with men, won't we have to give some of that up?''
       The marriage to Montgomery in 1943 produced two children, 
     Melissa Ann Hime in 1948 and John David Montgomery in 1954. 
     She divorced Montgomery in 1962. A second marriage to Maurice 
     F. Smith in 1963 lasted a year. She never remarried although 
     her relationship with Reynolds provided fodder for the 
     tabloids and gossip columnists in the 1970s.
       ``Dinah was the most wonderful friend I ever had and for me 
     the world has lost the very best part of it,'' Reynolds said 
     in a statement.
       Aside from guest appearances on talk shows, Miss Shore had 
     kept a relatively low profile in the last two years. She 
     continued to indulge her passion for golf, playing frequently 
     with friends such as former anchorwoman Kathleen Sullivan, a 
     neighbor at Miss Shore's home near Palm Springs.
       Sullivan, in a telephone interview from that Coachella 
     Valley golf resort area south of Los Angeles, said Miss 
     Shore's death would touch many lives.
       ``This is a loss to this valley, a loss to women in sports, 
     a loss to the entertainment field,'' Sullivan said.
       Television comic and producer Carl Reiner, who worked with 
     Miss Shore on her television program in 1960, remembered her 
     vivacity and graciousness.
       ``She was the most alive person I ever met, absolutely 
     interested in everything in the world and everybody in the 
     world. And she was always sincere,'' Reiner said.
       ``Dinah was five star in every way,'' former President Ford 
     said, calling her ``one of the finest, most generous and 
     thoughtful persons'' he and his wife, Betty, had ever known.
       Miss Shore began her broadcast singing career in 1938 on 
     New York's WNEW, teaming with another young singer Frank 
     Sinatra. She joined the NBC radio network later that year and 
     signed a contract with RCA Victor in 1940. A year later she 
     joined Eddie Cantor's radio program; by 1943 she was starring 
     in her own radio program, sponsored by General Foods.
       Her last television show, ``A Conversation With Dinah'' on 
     The Nashville Network, ran from August 1989 to March 1991 as 
     a weekly show. Later that year, she did specials for TNN, 
     interviewing Reynolds and Tennessee Ernie Ford. She appeared 
     on a TNN tribute show to Eddy Arnold in May 1992.
       Her daytime talk show, ``Dinah and Friends,'' ran from 1979 
     through 1984. From 1974-79 she was in ``Dinah!'' From 1970-74 
     it was ``Dinah's Place.''
       An older generation remembers her from ``The Dinah Shore 
     Chevy Show,'' a variety program that aired from 1956-63.'' 
     Earlier still was ``The Dinah Shore Show,'' which lasted from 
     1951-57.
       She acted in such movies as ``Thank Your Lucky Stars,'' 
     ``Up in Arms,'' ``Belle of the Yukon,'' ``Follow the Boys,'' 
     ``Make Mine Music,'' ``Fun and Fancy Free'' and ``Aaron Slick 
     from Punkin Crick.''
       Miss Shore, who had Hollywood Walk of Fame stars for 
     recording, radio and television, once said that people 
     identified her most with the slogan from her variety show: 
     ``See the USA in Your Chevrolet.'' She would sing the jingle 
     with gusto on every show, her right arm punching the air.
       She was hesitant about analyzing her place in TV history.
       ``I'm not sure I'll have one,'' she said in a 1989 
     interview. ``Time and the people will judge that. I guess it 
     will be pleasant and I hope it will be exciting. It won't be 
     terribly controversial.''
       The assessment on her George Foster Peabody Award for 
     distinguished broadcasting was not so modest.
       ``What TV needs, obviously, is about 100 Dinah Shores,'' it 
     reads.
       In addition to her son and daughter, survivors include 
     three granddaughters: Jennefer, Adam and Alexander Hime. 
     Funeral services, to take place in Los Angeles, were pending.

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