Judy Canova

Judy Canova was born Juliette Canova on November 20, 1913 in Starke, Florida. Her family performed in a vaudeville routine and she naturally followed suit. She and her sister Annie and brother Zeke performed as the Three Georgia Crackers all over the country. They began playing small Florida theaters and ended up in New York City.

Judy’s talent was to yodel and play guitar. She had a personality that stood out from the show and she often wore her hair in braids and donned a straw hat and was a likeable country girl in her act. 

She was offered a guest spot on Rudy Valee’s radio show and her career launched from there. The entire Canova family was able to perform on radio all throughout the decade of the 1930s. They also performed on Broadway in Calling All Stars, a revue but Judy still stood out and she was offered a contract from Warner Brothers to perform in many small roles.   

Eventually she signed with Republic Pictures and starred in more than 24 films. Some of her most popular were Lay That Rifle Down, Scatterbrain, and Joan of Ozark.  She also became well known for her recordings on the RCA Victor Label.

In 1943, she was offered The Judy Canova Show that ran for a dozen years on CBS and later NBC. She was the central star, but she had many guest stars such as Mel Blanc, Gale Gordon, and Sheldon Leonard who helped to make her show a hit.

She was also a popular figure during World War II, know for selling war bonds and closing each show during the war with the song Goodnight Soldier. After the war she changed the close of her show to a lullaby Go to Sleepy little Baby and would sign off Goodnight, Tweeny, her duaghter Julietta's nickname. The lullaby became very popular and she recorded it in 1946.

She was the star of her own show, but she still made time to appear on other old time radio shows such as Fred Allen andAbbott and Costello. Her popularity grew and she made the transition into television. She could also be seen on Broadway and in Vegas Nightclubs.

Judy Canova earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her film work and another star for her radio work. She was a woman who made huge contributions to radio and film. At the age of 69, Judy Canova sadly passed away from cancer.

I will be adding episodes of The Judy Canova Show each day of this week and throughout the coming weeks.

Happy listening my friends,