Ina Ray Hutton [SEP] sister
Ina Ray Hutton
Odessa Cowan, better known by her stage name Ina Ray Hutton (March 13, 1916 – February 19, 1984), was an American vocalist, bandleader, and the sister of June Hutton.
Biography.
Ina Ray Hutton (March 13, 1916 – February 19, 1984) was born Odessa Cowan in Chicago, Illinois, to parents Marvel Svea Williams and Odie Daniel Cowan. She began dancing and singing in stage revues at the age of eight under the guidance of her then tap and
a film now in the Maurice Zouary collection at the Library of Congress.) Blanche Calloway, sister of Cab Calloway, led a male band, Blanche Calloway and Her Joy Boys, from 1932 to 1939, and Ina Ray Hutton led an all-girl band, The Melodears, from 1934 to 1939. Eunice Westmoreland, under the name Rita Rio, led an all-girl band appearing on NBC Radio and in short subjects for Vitaphone and RKO before changing her career to acting and her professional name to Dona Drake,