Judy Canova: Singin' in the Corn!

Evidently, Judy was quite the smoker (going WAY against the wishes of her primary care doctor at the time). The only one of the three Canovas (Judy, Annie & Zeke) who lasted the longest was Annie (who died in 1994), even though Zeke was the oldest. Apparently, Judy's mother was a feared matriarch to her kids AND grandkids. There's a Youtube clip of Judy on the Mike Douglas show from 1980 where, near the end of the clip, she talks about the hats she wore in her movies and how she hated wearing hats. Period. Overall, very interesting book. The author got permission from Judy's two daughters to search her personal papers and all sorts of paraphernalia, which was a BIG help to him. It was also interesting to learn about the guests that she had on her radio show and her appearances on other shows. When one compares her to someone like, say, Fred Allen for example, you will find 2 people from two VERY different backgrounds working together to create one-of-a-kind comedy that one cannot find anywhere else.

I love Judy Canova. But this biography is really short on detail and anecdotes. It brushes upon her popular radio show and films, but really doesn't offer anything of substance, and Judy herself remains a complete enigma. I get it, that Judy isn't around, and that she didn't keep a diary, etc. But come on, no one has stories about a top-rated radio show that was on for ten years, and during World War II? And that featured Mel Blanc?? And that featured a Black woman, when Blacks were pretty much relegated to playing maids and porters (well, okay, Dandrige played a maid, but she was one of the main characters). The show could sometimes veer into surreal territory (like when the entire cast did an episode "from jail" because Judy "innocently" tried to break into Carey Grant's house). What was the story behind that creativeness? Who was responsible? I wanted so much more than "Gosh, folks, this li'l lady shoor was talented." Who owns her films now? Are they being preserved? I would like to know because her films are difficult to find and see in good condition. I did appreciate the long list of her credits at the back of the book. And this *is* the only biography on Judy Canova out there. It feels like what should have been the meat of this book has been lost to time.

I didn't know much about Miss Canova, not even her films. I had never seen them. I did have an old LP of her's that I thought was fun. I had met her once at a New Years Eve party at Johnnie Ray's home. She seemed sweet and a little shy, she died soon afterwards. I was glad I had gotten to meet her. The book gave me insight to the person she was. I enjoyed the book very much and was pleased to finally know Miss Canova. A one of a kind talent. We don't have stars like that anymore. Now they are all cut from the same Pattern. Thank you Miss Judy Canova, for bringing so much laughter into our lives. Edmund Andreas Arredondo

Judy Canova has always been a favorite and finally a bio that fills in details of her life off screen and radio. Well done and appreciated!! Now if we could just get more of her film work out of the vaults!!

A well written, if incomplete biography of the awesomeness that is Judy Canova. The oft told stereotype of the side-splittingly funny comedian being a very serious and sober personage is again presented here. A wonderful film, disc and stage-ography at back make this a fabulous reference, and the truth is a lot more people should know Judy Canova's work today. This woman had a four octave range and she was happy to be thought of as a yodelin' yokel for esssentially her entire career, wow!

Well written and very interesting story. As a child, I loved Judy's movies and her radio show. Reading this happy/sad story of her early life and behind the silver screen, shows how tough she really was and how hard she worker. Was it all worth the high price in the end.

Attn. ALL Judy Canova fans - THIS is the book for you! Judy was an amazing woman who did it all in the entertainment business! This book gives you a great look at the person on stage & off. It's well written & has many personal photos. It is one of those books that you can;t put down until the last page! Get this book if you loved Judy or if you never heard of her, you'll LOVE it!

Judy Canova (1913-1983) was truly one of the most unique personalities to climb to motion picture stardom during the 1940's, always cast as a good-natured chatterbox hick in a string of "B" movies that were surprisingly popular nationwide and at times outgrossed major studio releases even when being reissued. It's tough to see Judy in action these days, only two of her starring films have made it so far to DVD and her movies, most of them made for the western-oriented Republic Studios have never had much airplay on television. She was a terrific comedienne and a very good singer and in the late 1940's had one of the most popular radio series around. She deserves to be remembered than she is and this fascinating book by Ben Ohmart may help to open the door to better exposure for the talents of this endearing little clown. Judy Canova was from Florida and of Spanish-Italian descent. The youngest of four children, the family was fairly prosperous but when the kids decided to crash show business, The Singing Canovas were a "hillbilly" musical-comedy group that went over big from New York to London. Hollywood came calling in the late 30's and, unfortunately for her siblings, basically wanted Judy as a solo act although she would reteam occasionally with her them in a supporting role over the years. After several years of featured parts, Judy signed on to Republic in 1940 and quickly became it's number one female star and arguably only real box-office attraction outside of the cowboy stars. Judy would go on to conquer radio in a big way but television success proved elusive (particularly odd given the popularity of rural comedy on the tube during the late '50's and 60's) and her career basically flittered away by the early 1960's but at her peak she was hugely popular and had a remarkably long film career for a "speciality" performer. There aren't many people around from Judy's golden Hollywood era for Ohmart to have interviewed however he was quite fortunate to have the invaluable assistance of Judy's two daughters (one of them the well-known 70's/80's television actress Diana Canova). They are loving but very blunt about Judy's life, particularly her awful last fifteen years when she was seriously ill with emphysema, asthma, and finally lung cancer, none of it helped by Judy's heavy smoking and heavy drinking. "Mom was an alcoholic...she was just not happy," Diana notes (page 177). " ...She wasn't a light-hearted gal at all, at least not when I knew her. She was usually very sick and that really colored her personality, as you can imagine" (page 173). Judy's romantic life wasn't much better, married at least three times (Ohmart states there is no evidence that she was ever married to comedian Bob Burns in the '30's, which has long been attributed to her in various articles and press copy), once to a Army officer in a whirlwind romance in 1941 which was annulled when she learned he was AWOL, and later to two longer-lasting unions to two men (each fathering one of her daughters) that apparently weren't much happier. The Canova family was intensely close but there were problems as well with a domineering matriarch and an older brother who acted as manager for the family but apparently was pushed away from the clan at some point. Through it all though Judy's big warm smile and mammoth talent carried on (and she looks terrific in the last photo of her from 1982 although quite ill at the time, still with her trademark sweet little smile.) SINGIN' IN THE CORN is profusely illustrated with many of the photos from the Canova family's private collection. There's also a detailed credits section listing Judy's film, radio, television and stage appearances and includes three vintage comic articles supposedly written by Judy. I would have preferred if Ohmart had not given "spoiler" endings to Judy's films while describing the plot's in the book's text (but then one can always skip over them and, too, the endings are hardly a surprise given how close the Canova movies stick to formula). A big plus is including quite a number of terrific wisecracks from Judy's radio show which makes one want to seek out recordings of these programs over the net or ebay. The Judy Canova Show boasted a phenomenally great supporting cast including Mel Blanc, Verna Felton, Ruby Dandridge, Hans Conreid and Sheldon Leonard and the gags in the book certainly show Judy was quite generous in letting her supporting players get many of the big laughs. Judy Canova's story is quite bittersweet given she had more than her share of unhappiness and illness and yet her life is still a triumphant tale of a talented yet not conventionally glamorous woman able to make a big name for herself during no less than golden glamour age of Hollywood. Thanks once again go to Ben Ohmart and his Bearmanor Media publishing house for yet another unsung talent from the great years of Hollywood at last getting their due. Certainly few deserve it more than the sweet, wacky, and extremely gifted Judy Canova.