Monday, September 10, 2012

DOROTHY McGUIRE DIES AT 84



Associated Press
The McGuire Sisters (from left: Christine, Phyllis and Dorothy) in 1953, the year before they made their first Top 10 record.

    The cause was complications of Parkinson’s disease, said her son Rex Williamson.
    Ms. McGuire and her sisters, Christine (the oldest) and Phyllis (the youngest and the lead singer), became pop stars at roughly the same time that rock ’n’ roll was becoming a worldwide phenomenon. But the McGuire Sisters’ music — like that of Perry Como, Patti Page and others of their generation — existed in a kind of parallel universe; the sweet, upbeat innocence of their hit songs like “Sincerely” and “Sugartime” (both of which reached No. 1) stood in stark contrast to rock ’n’ roll’s raucous energy, and the sisters’ genteel image — identical clothes, identical hairstyles, identical smiles — displayed not a trace of teenage angst or rebellion.
    Dorothy McGuire was born on Feb. 13, 1928, in Middletown, Ohio. Her father, Asa, worked in a steel factory; her mother, the former Lillie Fultz, was an ordained minister at the First Church of God in Miamisburg, Ohio. She and her sisters discovered early on that they had a knack for singing in harmony, and their first public performances were in their mother’s church.
    In 1952, after touring veterans’ hospitals and military bases and performing at a hotel in Dayton, they decided to try their luck in New York. Their success was almost immediate. They became regulars on Arthur Godfrey’s hugely popular morning television show, where they remained for six years, and began recording for Coral Records, a subsidiary of Decca. They had their first Top 10 record, “Good Night, Sweetheart, Goodnight,” in 1954.
    The McGuire Sisters continued to have hits into the early 1960s and to perform until 1968, when they split up; their farewell performance was on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” where they had appeared many times, Phyllis pursued a solo career, while Dorothy and Christine left show business to raise their families.
    They reunited in 1985 and continued to perform well into the 21st century. Their last performance was in 2004, on the PBS special “Magic Moments: The Best of ’50s Pop.”
    In addition to her sisters and her son Rex, Ms. McGuire is survived by her husband of 53 years, Lowell Williamson; another son, David Williamson; two stepchildren, Rhonda Williamson Wootan and Eric Williamson; and nine grandchildren.
    Over the years the McGuire sisters performed for five presidents and for Queen Elizabeth II. They were inducted into both the National Broadcasting Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.
    Dorothy McGuire offered an explanation for the secret of the McGuire Sisters’ success to People magazine in 1986. “We had a clear, true harmony and a pure blend,” she said. “I’ve always been sold on our sound.”

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