The Official Website for Shelly Cullin

"By the time I was three, I'd won a Black Bottom contest."

Shelly Cullin has been singing as long as she can remember. She recalls singing lullabies along with her mother. She likes to tell a family story about the evening her parents went out, leaving two-year old Shelly with a new housekeeper who had recently arrived from Europe and did not understand English very well. When Shelly's parents returned home later that evening, they found their daughter awake and their housekeeper distraught. Shelly was used to going to sleep to Caruso's recording of "O Sole Mio", and the housekeeper could not understand what the child wanted. When mother put on the recording, baby, of course, went right to sleep. Obviously this was a child destined for a musical life.

However, for awhile, Shelly's musical talents took a back seat to her dramatic yearnings. Raised in Los Angeles, she went to Hollywood High School, and by fourteen, she was able to indulge her dramatic interests with the Twentieth Century Fox Studio Little Theatre Players. Because she looked older than her years, she got leading roles, graduated from high school at fifteen, and was determined she would become a serious actress.

This was the 1940's, and as Shelly knew, the "look" was Latin -- long black hair, vivacious personality, sparkling eyes. This look fit her perfectly; she had naturally black hair and her personality was bright and her eyes sparkling. (The last two attributes remain, though at seventeen, she became a blonde.) One evening, however, when she was still sixteen and raven-haired, Shelly was out dancing, and the orchestra leader, Jose Pablo, announced a contest. Shelly and her partner were doing the rhumba, and they won. The prize -- a bottle of champagne, which they were both too young to drink. When the orchestra leader came to their table, Shelly showed off her six months of high school Spanish. Senor Pablo then asked her if she could sing in Spanish.

With all the bravado of a pretty teenage girl who had, after all, just won a dancing contest, Shelly replied, "Of course!" She was then invited to audition for the new Hollywood Palladium. At sixteen, Shelly was singing with Jose Pablo's Latin-American orchestra during intermissions at the Hollywood Palladium. The dreams of stage drama were put aside for the music that had always been in her life.

Career

"It was the beginning of a wonderful career."

From the Palladium, Shelly moved into nightclubs, which sent her traveling to West Coast cities like Tucson, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and back to Hollywood. There producer, Michel Kraike, heard her sing and arranged for Shelly to be was placed under contract with Paramount Studios as a "threat" to Betty Hutton, another blonde vivacious singer. If Betty balked at her contract, there would be the "threat" of Shelly to take her place. It was a common practice in Hollywood, but Shelly did not know until just a few years ago that this was the reason she was hired.

Her liaison with Paramount lasted six months, but they were busy months. She won the role of major voice-over for the notorious Axis Sally in, "The Story of G.I. Joe", which recounted the experiences of war correspondent, Ernie Pyle. A new star was born from that role, but it wasn't Shelly Cullin. The film started the career of Robert Mitchum.

"Although I was not seen, only heard, in the film, it was a publicity coup which gave me national attention."

Also at Paramount, Shelly was introduced to the brand new medium of television. One of her shows was a fitness program for the studio, aimed at keeping the stars looking fit. Shelly wore a black two-piece bathing suit and brown lipstick, because no red lipstick was allowed in those days. Another taboo was using the word "body". She worked at developing a well-rounded "figure".

There were also voice-over jobs for a once-a-week cartoon show, narrating the stories and creating the character voices. In addition, she moved into the field of radio and had two shows in which she was featured as soloist, including one called, "Blue Matinee."

After the Paramount experience, Shelly returned to the nightclubs, now as featured soloist with Xavier Cugat at the famous Hollywood nightclub, Ciro's, where she sang the popular Latin numbers of the day, like, "Tico Tico."

"It was exciting! Life was exciting!"

Nightclub life led Shelly to the theater, becoming part of a revue called, "Lend An Ear," with young performers like Carol Channing, Gene Nelson, and Bob Scheerer (later to direct the Danny Kaye television show). The director? Gower Champion with his wife, Marge. "Lend An Ear" went on to break the record for the longest running revue in Hollywood.

From there, where would an eager young talent head? The New York stage, of course. And what to do before getting a stage job? Try The Harry Conover Agency, then a leader in the modeling field. Shelly modeled hands and hats. Luckily, she met musician John Lesko, who at the time was the rehearsal pianist for the Broadway show, "Kiss Me Kate".

"Oh, how I needed a friend! Johnny became that friend."

John played piano for Shelly as she practiced her singing, and later he told her that, "Kiss Me Kate," was forming a national touring company, and they needed a "standby" for Julie Wilson who was playing Bianca. "Standby" meant be ready to go on stage if Julie could not perform that night. Shelly auditioned for the part and she got it. But Julie never missed a show.

The show opened in Los Angeles, and from there Shelly and the "Kate" company traveled to San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Washington DC. Julie left the show in Chicago to replace Lisa Kirk in the Broadway production. In her place came Betty George, with Shelly now as her standby. Shelly did go on for Betty several times, but only after sizable costume adjustments, since Betty outweighed Shelly by about 50 pounds and was about Julie's height, 5'8" to Shelly's 5'2".

"It wasn't what I'd call a perfect fit."

The costumes were not the only bad fit. The new replacement for her love interest was 6'3".

"The poor guy was accumstomed to someone whose head was near his chin level, so when I sidled up to him, he looked around to find out from where this disembodied voice was coming."

Even the dance routines were thrown off-balance. As Shelly recalls, her partner in the tarantella number had used a heavier hand with Betty, and when Shelly stepped in,

"He used the same vigor when he danced with me, and when he twirled me out and let go of my hand, I almost sailed into the footlights! He caught me by two fingers -- just enough to prevent an awkward trip into the orchestra pit."

They were about to open in Philadelphia when Shelly managed her own off-stage injury. She went swimming and dislocated her shoulder. Encased in plaster from her right shoulder to waist, she could only watch the show from the sidelines. Finally, she left the show and returned to California.

There she married the man who had long been waiting for her, following her career and encouraging her. They had a child, Matt, and Shelly was back to singing lullabies, this time to her own baby. The marriage lasted ten years.

"The dream ended, and I became a single Mom."

To earn money, Shelly went to Los Angeles Trade Technical College and became a wholesale fashion designer. In the mid-60's, Shelly met Bill Cullin, married him and they blended two families, her son Matt, and Bill's son, Brian, and his daughter, Candice, moving to Virginia, just outside of Washington DC. Shelly wrote for a local newspaper chain and also did some public relations work for a congressional candidate. When the children went off to college, and Shelly, never one to stay idle, enrolled as well. Quite an undertaking, having graduated from high school at 15. But Shelly hung in there and graduated Magna Cum Laude from George Mason University. But even with school, remarriage, new family, new home, Shelly held on to her music.

"I never stopped singing--in the car, in the shower (where, everyone knows, you always sound good!) and wherever else I happened to be."

Listening to her current CD, it's obvious that Shelly is involved with the song's lyric. She is a storyteller, and not only does she sing her stories, she also tells them nonmusically. For many years, she volunteered for "Recordings for the Blind," reading novels, stories, and texts. She still volunteers as storyteller with the Monterey Bay TaleSpinners and the county library system, as well as the Salvation Army Family Environment Center/Adult Day Care. She also performs a musical program for them at least four times a year.

The Cullins moved back to the West Coast in 1980, and eventually, Shelly began performing again in local venues on the Monterey Peninsula. In October 1997, she appeared at The Plush Room in the York Hotel, San Francisco, where she introduced her new CD, "I Only Have Eyes For You", also the title of her latest show. Radio station, Magic 63AM, heard the show, and offered to sponsor her CD Release Concert in The Media Room.

"Each song is timeless, a hand-picked gem set in musical gold."

So this indefatigable lady is on her way along another path.

The 1998 DEAN GOODMAN CHOICE AWARD: A Salute to Excellence.
"For Solo Performance /Cabaret"

-Elizabeth Ahlfors

Read on

photo of Black Bottom winner courtesy of Shelly Cullin

Check Shelly's own photographs of these great days in her new Scrapbook

Hosted by

E-mail suggestions and comments to Ahlfors@CityCabaret.com