Dinah Shore

Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, television personality, and the topcharting female vocalist of the 1940s. She reached the height of her popularity as a recording artist during the Big Band era of the 1940s and 1950s, but achieved even greater success a decade later, in television, mainly as hostess of a series of variety programs for Chevrolet.

Shore was born to RussianJewish immigrant shopkeepers, Anna and Solomon Shore, in Winchester, Tennessee. She had a sister, eight years older, named Elizabeth, known as Bessie. When she was two years old, she was stricken with polio , a disease that was not preventable at the time, and for which the only treatment was bed rest. Her parents provided intensive care for her, suggesting rigorous exercising. She recovered, but she sustained a deformed foot and limp. She loved to sing as a small child her mother, a contralto with operatic aspirations, encouraged her. Her father would often take her to his store where she would perform impromptu songs for the customers.

Source: Wikipedia