Lola Dee dies at 95: Pretty Eyed Baby singer passes away due to natural causes at nursing facility
- The Pretty Eyed Baby singer died of natural causes on Thursday
- She had previously released her 1951 hit under the name Lola Ameche
- The vocal powerhouse quit her music career in the '70s to care for her mother with Alzheimer's disease.
Lola Dee passed away on Thursday at the age of 95.
The singer died of natural causes at a nursing home in Hinsdale, Illinois, according to an announcement from her publicist and CD producer Alan Eichler.
She was a popular singer in the 1950s and toured with Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante and Johnnie Ray.
Her 1951 hit, Pretty Eyed Baby – which she released at age 23 under Lola Ameche before her name change in the '60s – hit No. 21 on the Billboard singles chart.
Born Lorraine DeAngelis in Chicago in 1928, Dee started out as a child star at the age of 14, performing in local amateur shows at Junior Junction.
Lola Dee passed away on Thursday at the age of 95. The singer died of natural causes at a nursing home in Hinsdale, Illinois, according to an announcement from her publicist and CD producer Alan Eichler.
At the age of 16, she had signed a recording contract. She recorded for the Columbia and Mercury labels in the 1950s.
In 1951 she collaborated with the Al Trace Orchestra for her famous single Pretty Eyed Baby.
The following year they collaborated on another hit, Hitsity Hotsity.
Over the next three years she recorded more than twenty songs.
Some of the songs she released during this period were swinging versions of Dance Me Loose, Old Man Mose, Down Yonder, Take Two Tango and Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes.
As the popularity of rock and roll grew in the 1960s, she eventually changed her name to Lola Dee to appeal to the younger market.
She also bleached her dark brown hair to platinum blonde at the suggestion of her record label.
In 1954, she recorded and released Padre and Dig That Crazy Santa Claus, which was covered by Brian Setzer in 2005.
She was best known for her 1951 hit, Pretty Eyed Baby, which she released at age 23 under Lola Ameche before changing her name in the '60s. The track charted at number 21 on Billboard singles
However, her musical career was halted when she stepped back to care for her mother, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease.
Dee returned to Chicago and was a singer on WGN radio and television.
She often worked with National Radio Hall of Fame broadcaster Orion Samuelson from 1971 to 1971.
Her last public appearances were performances of the national anthem for the Chicago Bears and Chicago White Sox in 1978.
Later she worked as a concierge for an executive hotel.
Dee is survived by her son Barry, whom she shared with her late husband Rudolph Valentino, not to be confused with the movie star of the same name.