+ Gisèle MacKenzie (January 10, 1927 – September 5, 2003) was a Canadian-American singer, most famous for her performances on the popular television program Your Hit Parade. She was born Gisèle Marie-Louise Marguerite LaFlèche in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and studied violin and voice at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Ontario. She had at least two Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio programs, Meet Gisèle and Gisele and Mr. Cable, before moving to Los Angeles, California, in 1951. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1955. MacKenzie possessed a crystalline, resonant singing voice, and perfect pitch. She recorded albums and singles on various record labels, most notably Capitol and RCA. In 1953 she reached #6 in the UK Singles Chart, with her rendition of "Seven Lonely Days". Her biggest selling song was "Hard To Get" in 1955. MacKenzie was an accomplished violinist and performed many comedic musical duets with mentor Jack Benny. She remarked that Benny was so enthusiastic about his own violin playing that at each break in rehearsal he would get his violin and they would play duets. In an often-played clip, she and Benny perform a violin duet of "Getting to Know You", in which she breaks their synchronization several times to add some extra musical flourishes, to his mock irritation. Finally, he breaks in with a lengthy (and stereotypically mediocre) flourish of his own, and evokes audience laughter with mock indignation: "Fool around with ME, sister! She sang frequently on early television shows such as The Jack Benny Program, The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford, The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom, and The Ed Sullivan Show. She appeared too in the NBC legal drama Justice, based on cases of the Legal Aid Society of New York. She also appeared frequently in Las Vegas venues and in numerous North American concerts. In the U.S., she appeared on radio on such stars' programs as Bob Crosby and Mario Lanza. She also hosted a radio show entitled Airtime.-WikiPedia
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Please enjoy these 1 old time radio episodes:
Air Date | Title | Synopsis | Rating |
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1956 | gisele mackenzie show (08) guest cab calloway |
+Air Force Reserve syndication, produced at NBC. Sponsored by: Air Force Reserve recruiting. The gue... |
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GISELE MACKENZIE OF CANADA
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