She was singing in local jazz outfits in her mid-teens, auditioned for Duke Ellington at age 16, and got her first professional break at 18, when she joined a new orchestra being formed by bandleader Art Mooney -- she was making $65 a week, a more-than-decent amount of money for a single woman in 1945, and was broadcasting on the radio three nights each week. She was very much in her element, if not the perfect band -- Mooney's orchestra was patterned after Glenn Miller's classic band, and she preferred swing (i.e., jazz) to sweet (i.e., pop) music. She also idolized Billie Holiday, and longed to work with a band like Duke Ellington's.
It was Billy Eckstine, after inviting her to sing with his band, who gave her the stage name Fran Warren, under which she subsequently became a star. Warren got her wish when saxman Charlie Barnet heard one of her broadcasts with Mooney's band and offered her a spot in his group, replacing Kay Starr. Warren loved her 18 months with Barnet's orchestra, but found their pace killing -- she was fired by choice, and moved on to a spot singing with Claude Thornhill's orchestra. The pivotal moment in her career came when their first record together, "A Sunday Kind of Love," became a huge hit and her signature tune. She made an impression on Thornhill as well, who later gave her a $5,000 bonus for the single.
Warren moved into a solo career, recording first with RCA Victor and then MGM. She also made her theatrical debut in the mid-'50s, in the cast of the musical The Pajama Game. She later played the title role in Mame, and toured with the Harry James Orchestra in the mid-'60s. She remained a successful vocalist for 50 years, and continued to perform into the late '90s. Fran Warren died at home in Brookfield, Connecticut on her 87th birthday, March 4, 2013. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi