Ringing Out the The Bell Sisters

The Bell Sisters, like the Clooney Sisters, were originally from Kentucky. The duo consisted of Cynthia (b. 1935) and Kay (b. 1940. Their given name was Strother; Bell was their mother’s maiden name.

The girls were very young when they found fame with their first single “Bermuda” in 1951, written by 16 year old Cynthia (making Kay only 11 at the time). It went all the way to #7 on the pop charts by the following year. It’s a flipping amazing song, haunting, full of melodic surprises, evocative (and surprisingly mature) lyrics, and breath-taking harmony. It’s almost too good for a pop single. Allison Anders used it in her 1996 movie Grace of My Heart starring Illeana Douglas. (It’s not to be confused with Paul Shaffer’s eponymous masterwork on the same theme). The girls had performed it on a local Los Angeles radio show, resulting in a contract with RCA and 10 additional singles. They also had hits with “Wheel of Fortune” (#10) and “Piece o’ Puddin'” (#19).

I first heard of the Bell Sisters because they appeared in the movie Those Redheads from Seattle (1953) with Agnes Moorhead and Teresa Brewer. The same year they were in Cruisin’ Down the River with Dick Haymes and Audrey Trotter. During their brief peak, which lasted until about 1955 they performed live and on radio (including numerous appearances on the shows of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope), and were on many TV variety shows including The Frank Sinatra Show, The Colgate Comedy Hour,The All Star Revue, The Dinah Shore Show,The Al Pearce Show, The Red Skelton Show,Webster Webfoot with Jimmy Weldon,The Johnny Carson Show(pre-Tonight Show),The Art Linkletter Show, The Today Show, The Mickey Mouse Club, and specials with Bob Hope,Perry Como, and others. They also toured Korea with the U.S.O. In 1954 they also shot a pilot for a sit-com called Our Uncle Dudley with Rudy Vallee, but it was not picked up.

An appearance in a 1955 short called Les Brown Goes to Town seems to be one of their last appearances as a duo. The girls were all of 20 and 15 at the time. Kay’s career as a solo performer lasted for about another decade. Cynthia’s songs continued to be covered by many famous artists over the years. Both women went into teaching after leaving show business. A very dutiful nephew of theirs created this excellent website containing everything you’d ever want to know about the Bell Sisters.

For more on show business history,please see my book No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous; and keep an eye out for my upcomingElectric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.