Annie Ross (born Annabelle Allan Short; 25 July 193021 July 2020) was a British-born American singer and actress, best known as a member of the influential jazz vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. She helped pioneer the vocalese style of jazz singing, with a style described by critic Dave Gelly as "a kind of dreamy watchfulness that is a definition of 1950s hip." In 2010, she was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Kenneth Tynan, who wrote liner notes for Ross, called her "a fallen angel [who] moves us and then brushes off our sympathy with a shrug of her lips."

Early life

Ross was born in Surrey, England, the daughter of Scottish vaudevillians John "Jack" Short and Mary Dalziel Short (née Allan). Her brother was Scottish entertainer and theatre producer and director Jimmy Logan. She first appeared on stage at age three.

Shortly after arriving in the city, she won a token contract with MGM through a children's radio contest run by Paul Whiteman. She subsequently moved with her aunt, Scottish-American singer and actress Ella Logan, to Los Angeles, and her mother, father and brother returned to Scotland.

At the age of 14, she wrote the song "Let's Fly", which won a songwriting contest and was recorded by Johnny Mercer and the Pied Pipers.

At the end of 10th grade, she left school, changed her name to Annie Ross, and went to Europe, where she established her singing career.

Career

In 1952, Ross met Prestige Records owner Bob Weinstock, who asked her to write lyrics to a jazz solo in a similar way to King Pleasure, a practice that would later be known as vocalese. The next day, she presented him with "Twisted", a treatment of saxophonist Wardell Gray's 1949 composition of that title, a classic example of the genre. The song, first released in 1952 (later collected on the album King Pleasure Sings/Annie Ross Sings), was an underground hit, and resulted in her winning Down Beat magazine's New Star award.

In February 1956, the British music magazine NME reported that Ross's version of the song "I Want You to Be My Baby" was banned by the BBC due to the lyric "Come upstairs and have some loving".

She recorded seven albums with Lambert, Hendricks & Ross between 1957 and 1962.

Her adulthood film roles included Liza in Straight On till Morning (1972), Claire in Alfie Darling (1976), Diana Sharman in Funny Money (1983), Vera Webster in Superman III (1983), Mrs. Hazeltine in Throw Momma from the Train (1987), Rose Brooks in Witchery (1988), Loretta Cresswood in Pump Up the Volume (1990), Tess Trainer in Robert Altman's Short Cuts (1993), and Lydia in Blue Sky (1994). She also appeared as Granny Ruth in the horror films Basket Case 2 (1990) and Basket Case 3: The Progeny (1991). She also had a bit part in Robert Altman's The Player in 1992. Ross also starred in Scottish Television's comedy-drama Charles Endell Esquire (1979).

She provided the speaking voice for Britt Ekland in The Wicker Man (1973), and Ingrid Thulin's singing voice in Salon Kitty (1976). On stage, she appeared in Cranks (1955; London and New York City), The Threepenny Opera (1972), The Seven Deadly Sins (1973) at the Royal Opera House, Kennedy's Children (1975) at Arts Theatre, London, Side by Side by Sondheim, and in the Joe Papp production of The Pirates of Penzance (1982). During her time with Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, she became addicted to heroin and in the late 1950s had an affair with the comedian Lenny Bruce, who was also having drug problems. By 1960, Carol Sloane was substituting for her on tour. After a performance by the trio in London in May 1962, she remained in London to confront her drug addiction.

Awards and portrayals

Ross received the ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame award (2009),

In July 2006 a one-woman play entitled TWISTED: The Annie Ross Story by Brian McGeachan premiered at The Space Theatre in London, starring Verity Quade. It focused on her stormy relationship with her aunt, Broadway legend Ella Logan, her brief affair with the comedian Lenny Bruce and her addiction to heroin. The play transferred to the Brockley Jack Theatre in London that same year, with Ross being played by Betsy Pennington.

A documentary about Ross's life, entitled No One But Me, premiered at the Glasgow Film Festival in 2012.

Discography

  • New Sounds from France with Jack Dieval, James Moody (Prestige, 1950)
  • Annie by Candlelight with Tony Crombie (Pye, Nixa, 1956)
  • Cranks with John Cranko, John Addison (His Master's Voice, 1956)
  • Recorded at the Tenth German Jazz Festival in Frankfurt with Pony Poindexter (SABA, 1966)
  • Fill My Heart with Song (Decca, 1968)
  • Music Is Forever (DRG, 1996)
  • Sing Along with Basie with Count Basie, Joe Williams (Roulette, 1959)
  • High Flying with Ike Isaacs (Columbia, 1961)

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|1972|| Straight On till Morning || Liza ||

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|1974|| The Beast Must Die || Caroline Newcliffe || Voice, uncredited

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|1974|| Dead Cert || Mrs. Mervyn || Uncredited

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|1976|| Alfie Darling || Claire ||

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|1979|| Yanks || Red Cross Lady ||

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|1988|| Witchery || Rose Brooks ||

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|1990|| Basket Case 2 || Granny Ruth ||