Helen Grayco is an American singer, performer, and actress active from the 1930s to the 1960s. She was most famous for appearances with her husband Spike Jones on The Spike Jones Show in the 1950s and the 1960s. She is also the mother of producer and Emmy recipient, Spike Jones, Jr. and Leslie Ann Jones, a Grammy award-winning recording engineer.
Early life
Grayco was born Helen Greco on September 20, 1924 in Tacoma, Washington. She was the tenth of eleven children born to parents Battiste and Rosina "Rose" Greco. She had five brothers; John, Ralph, George, Anthony and James, and five sisters; Mary, Carmella, Katherina, Theresa and Elizabeth. Her parents were Italians who emigrated to the United States from Lamezia Terme, Calabria. Grayco and her siblings were raised in the Roman Catholic faith. Grayco's father owned a grocery store which went bankrupt during the Great Depression.
Career
Radio
Grayco got her first singing gig when she was eight years old, for a show called The Carnival Hour, a variety show that aired on radio station KHJ in Los Angeles. She was then hired to appear on a local variety program in Seattle, Washington. Bing Crosby and his brothers, who were, like Grayco, all natives of Tacoma, heard her on the program and reportedly Crosby said that "...she sings Hollywood!" Crosby gave her a job in Hollywood and soon her family moved to Los Angeles. She earned a salary of $75 a week.
Film
In 1935, after her collaboration with Crosby ended, Grayco appeared in a non-speaking part in a scene with Allan Jones in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film A Night at the Opera starring the Marx Brothers. In 1938, Joe Pasternak of Universal Studios signed Grayco, then thirteen, to replace Deanna Durbin as Universal's leading child star. During her stay at Universal, she appeared in a small role in Durbin's film That Certain Age.
Musical career
Before Spike Jones
Before meeting Spike Jones, Grayco worked with the bands of Chuck Cascalas, Chuck Cabot and Red Nichols. Her big break came when she began travelling with Stan Kenton's band. She was attending high school at the time she went with Kenton on a cross-country bus tour. The tour took Grayco from Los Angeles to the Roseland Ballroom in New York City.
With Spike Jones
Grayco first met bandleader Spike Jones in 1946 while she was performing at the Hollywood Palladium. After her performance he offered her a gig with him and his band, The City Slickers. In a 2009 interview, Grayco had this to say about her first meeting with Spike Jones: Grayco also got a spot with Jones's Other Orchestra, which he formed in 1946. The group was known for its legitimately "pretty" music in contrast to the City Slickers, who were known for their crazy way of performing. The one outstanding recording by the Other Orchestra is "Laura", which features a serious first half and a manic second half. Even with the success of "Laura", the public preferred the crazy music of the Slickers to the elegant music of the Other Orchestra. The Other Orchestra broke up in 1947, only a year after its founding. She appeared with Jones and his City Slickers on The Colgate Comedy Hour and The Red Skelton Show. She also starred with Jones and his band on a series of television shows between 1954 and 1961 on NBC and CBS known as The Spike Jones Show and Club Oasis.
Solo artist
Grayco released her first single in 1949. Her two most memorable albums were After Midnight in 1957 and The Lady in Red in 1958. The latter was the last album she ever released.
Later career
Grayco continued to sing in various venues for about the next ten years. Her last public appearance was in 1968 on an episode of The Dean Martin Show.
Personal life
Grayco married Spike Jones on July 18, 1949. They had three children: producer Spike Jones, Jr., Grammy award-winning recording engineer Leslie Ann Jones, and Gina Jones. Their marriage lasted until Jones's death on May 1, 1965 from emphysema. In 1968 she married Bill Rosen, who owned a restaurant named Gatsby's in New York City. She moved to New York with him and later moved back to Los Angeles with him when he opened a restaurant called Gatsby's in L.A. Rosen died in 2002.
