The name Dinah Shore is one that anyone growing up in the 40’s and 50’s would know due to her successful career as a singer and actress — but her name is also synonymous with the game of golf and has been for decades, thanks to her passionate commitment to the game.
Born on February 29, 1916, in Winchester Tennessee, Dinah Shore entered the world as Frances Rose Shore. Known lovingly to her friends and family as “Franny”, She grew up with her older sister, Bessie and was always encouraged by her parents, Anna Stein and Solomon Shore.
Dinah always loved to sing from a very young age and she eventually rose to the height of her singing career during the Big Band Era. She went on to star in her own music and variety shows and finally her own talk show in the 1970’s. During her long career Shore had many loves in her life — one of them being the game of golf.
Shore’s young life started out with what most would consider a major set back in those days when, at the age of two, she was diagnosed with polio.
At that time there was no prevention or real treatment for the disease, but with the intensive care from her parents and much bed rest, she survived it with only a deformed foot and a limp.
Because of this, Shore was a shy young girl,self conscious of her limp, but she did not let it keep her from becoming involved in sports , cheerleading and other activities at Hume-Fogg High School in Nashville, where her family moved to when Dinah was in the 5th grade.
Shore eventually went on the graduate from Vanderbilt University in 1938 with a degree in Sociology. During her time at Vanderbilt, she also visited the Grand Ole Opre and made her radio debut on WSM (AM) radio in Nashville.
When Shore was 14 years old, she sang in a nightclub as a torch singer, but her parents put any ideas of a singing career on hold for her once they found out about it.
After Shore had graduated, she made the move to New York City to further pursue her singing career. For many of her auditions, Shore sang the song” Dinah”, and soon the name stuck and became her stage name. She was eventually hired to sing at a local radio station,WNEW, and went on to sing with many of the greats at that time, including Frank Sinatra and Xavier Cugat .
In the 1940’s Shore began appearing in films,including; Thank Your Lucky Stars, Make Mine Music, Fun and Fancy Free and Belle of the Yukon. She did not care for working in the film industry however, and only appeared in a total of 7 movies during her career.
Even with her busy schedule, she still made time to perform for the troops during World War II while continuing her success on the music charts, recording multiple record albums and making many television guest appearances. Among these T.V. appearances were the Ed Wynn Show on CBS and in 1950 she made a guest appearance on Bob Hope’s first network show on NBC.
Soon after this appearance, Shore became a television star with her own show in 1951, followed by a long line of variety programs and talk shows. Her first show was entitled The Dinah Shore Show and lasted til 1956 when Chevrolet sponsored her to host two t.v. specials, leading to the Dinah Shore’s Chevy Show; a musical variety show that lasted until 1961 every Sunday evening on NBC.
Over the next 23 years, Shore went on to host three daytime television programs, including Dinah’s Place, Dinah!, and Dinah and Friends. This long T.V. career lasted until 1991 with her final show, A Conversation with Dinah.
Shore achieved a great deal of success in her television career as well as her singing career and earned many prestigious awards along the way. First winning Emmy Awards in 1954 and 1955 for Best Female Singer then Best Female Personality in 1956-1957 and Best Actress in a Musical or Variety Show. Shore was also honored in 1991 by being inducted into the television hall of fame, then posthumously in 2006 by having a Golden Palm Star dedicated to her on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars.
Shore was not only lucky in her career but she was also lucky in love. She had many brief involvements, including a rumored flirtation with General George Patten, before her first marriage in 1943 to actor, George Montgomery. Together they had 2 children; Melissa Ann, born in January 1948, and John David, whom they adopted in 1954.
During the 1950’s it was rumored, once again, that she was involved in an affair with Frank Sinatra. Shore and her husband divorced in 1962.
Shore decided that she would temporarily retire at this point to spend more time with her children and moved them from Beverly Hills to Palm Springs California. Shortly after their divorce, she married Maurice Smith — but that marriage was short lived and ended in 1964.
Shore continued to have many involvements throughout the 1960’s, however, in the 1970’s she had what was arguably her most notable relationship with actor Burt Reynolds.
Reynolds appeared several times on her talk shows and they were often featured in the tabloids. Their relationship become very public, more than likely over the fact that Burt Reynolds was known for being a sexy ladies’ man and 20 years younger than Shore.
Eventually this relationship ended and Shore was reported to have several more relationships with younger men as well as novelists, actors , and even a former New York Governor.
Away from the spotlight, Shore took up golf when she was young to help combat the effects of the polio she was stricken with as a child. To help her remain in strong physical shape from the disabilities the disease left her with, Shore played golf and tennis so that she would always have a physical activity to do.
The legendary singer and actress from the 1940’s and 1950’s loved the game of golf and spent much of her life in Southern California around it — in fact, she was even the first female member of Hillcrest Country Club in Los Angeles.
In 1972, she lent more than just her name to the LPGA’s Colgate Dinah Shore tournament — which is still one of the tour’s five major championships each year.
Until her passing in 1994, Shore was a major supporter of not only the LPGA Tour, but of women’s golf in general — and for her work and dedication, she was named an honorary member of the LPGA Hall of Fame that year and four years later was added to the World Golf Hall of Fame.
On February 24, 1994, Dinah Shore died of Ovarian Cancer just 5 days before 78th birthday. The legendary singer, actress and golf pioneer will forever be remembered for her talent, personality and — by golfers — for everything she did for, not only women’s golf, but for the game as a whole.