Meet The McGuire Sisters

A salute today to the singing McGuire Sisters, all of whom were with us quite recently! The trio was comprised of Christine (1926-2018), Dottie (1928-2012, not to be confused with actress Dorothy McGuire), and Phyllis (1931-2020).

The girls were from the greater Dayton, Ohio area, where their mom was a minister at a local church. As children they grew up singing at service, gradually expanding to social functions and special occasions, and performances at hospitals and military bases. They were teenagers when they debuted on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts in 1952. Godfrey liked them so much he made them a regular on his various variety shows through 1957.

This incredible national exposure no doubt was a factor in their chart success. Their best known is probably “Sugartime” which went to #1 in 1957, and was also the title of the 1995 HBO bio-pic about the trio, which focused on Phyllis’s long term relationship with gangster Sam Giancana (they were played by Mary-Louise Parker and John Torturro, respectively. (It was widely speculated that Phyllis’s spectacular Las Vegas mansion, which was surrounded by a swan-filled moat, and had its own beauty parlor, as well as a courtyard with a replica of the Eiffel Tower, was built with Giancana’s mob money, but McGuire contended it came from oil investments. Among Christine’s many husbands, the most notable was comedian Guy Marks. Dottie was at point romantically linked with singer Julius La Rosa).

Their other #1 hit, “Sincerely” (1954) was lip synced by Karen Black, Cher, and Sandy Dennis in the 1982 Robert Altman movie Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. Other hits for the McGuire Sisters included “Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight” (#7, 1954) which I first know as the closing credits song on Sha Na Na, “Muskrat Ramble” (#10, 1954), “Something’s Gotta Give” (#5, 1955), “He” (#10, 1955), the theme song to the movie Picnic (#13, 1956), “May You Always” (#11, 1959), and numerous others.

In addition to the various Arthur Godfrey programs, the McGuire Sisters also appeared on The Kate Smith Hour,The Jackie Gleason Show,The Frank Sinatra Show, The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, The Steve Allen-Chevy Show, The Pat Boone-Chevy Showroom (oy, with the cars!),The Garry Moore Show,The Phil Silvers Show (a.k.a. Bilko),Perry Como’s Kraft Music Hall,The Jack Benny Hour,Val Parnell’s Sunday Night at the London Palladium, The Red Skelton Hour,The Jimmy Dean Show,The Hollywood Palace, The Dean Martin Show, etc.

A 1968 performance on The Ed Sullivan Show (their 21st appearance on the program) marked their retirement, although Phyllis continued on as a solo after that. They reunited in 1986 and continued performing on the night club circuits, and on telethons, and such as late as 2004.

For more about variety entertainmentconsult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, And please stay tuned for my upcomingElectric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.