- Born
- Died
- Birth nameEthel Llewellyn Ennis
- Ethel Ennis was born on November 28, 1932 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. She was an actress, known for Boltneck (2000), Consumer Survival Kit (1975) and Mad Monster Party? (1967). She was married to Earl Arnett and Jack Leeds. She died on February 17, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
- SpousesEarl Arnett(? - February 17, 2019) (her death)Jack Leeds (divorced)
- "Baltimore's first lady of jazz", she sang with Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and the Miles Davis-John Coltrane Sextet, and appeared at the Newport and Monterey jazz festivals.
- She studied piano and became a church pianist. By her teens, she had discovered popular rhythm and blues, which her family frowned upon. She eventually joined a group of young jazz musicians, Riley's Octet, as a pianist. She was too young to appear in nightclubs, so they played in VFW and fellowship halls. She first sang in public as a 15-year-old, when an audience member promised her a $5 tip if she sang "In the Dark." She was a sensation, the crowd demanded encores, and from then on, she was a singer.
- She won acclaim for her a cappella rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" at Nixon's 1973 presidential inauguration.
- She released her first album, "Lullabies for Losers," in 1955, which brought a praise-filled phone call from fellow Baltimore native Billie Holiday.
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