Keely Smith

Keely Smith

Photofest

Keely Smith

Performer, singer
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Keely Smith

Performer, singer

March 9, 1928

Norfolk, Virginia

December 16, 2017

Keely Smith was a Grammy Award-winning American jazz and popular music singer.

Smith performed and recorded extensively in the 1950s with bandleader Louis Prima, and throughout the 1960s as a solo artist.

She and Prima married in 1953, and together, they won a Grammy in 1959 for their hit "That Old Black Magic," which peaked at No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Their songs "Bei Mir Bist Du Schon" and "I've Got You Under My Skin" also made the Hot 100 in 1959. Smith and Prima divorced in 1961.

Smith appeared on dozens of television variety shows throughout the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s, including The Jack Paar Tonight Show, The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, The Andy Williams Show, The Dean Martin Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Merv Griffin Show, and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Smith died December 16, 2017, in Palm Springs, California. She was 89.

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The Television Academy database lists prime-time Emmy information. Click here to learn more.