Miss Jill Corey: Memories of Your Hit Parade

Your Hit Parade 1957-58

	Famed A & R man Mitch Miller says, "I don't believe in song cycles or even singer cycles, either. To get a hit you must create, not imitate. There's no rule except to make a good record. If the girls make good records, they'll get their share of hits." Miller has the satisfaction this season of seeing one young singer whom he signed as a teenager graduate at twenty-one to top star status. Jill Corey drew one of the most sought-after assignments in TV when she was chosen to be one of the four leads in *Your Hit Parade. Helen Bolstad in Radio-TV Mirror* magazine, November 1957. Click here to read the entire *Radio-TV Mirror* article.

	On the eve of her debut as lead singer on NBC's *Your Hit Parade, Cue* magazine, an entertainment weekly serving the New York City area ran a feature article about the new cast of the venerable show for its 1957-58 and last season on network television. Where our Jill is concerned, we think the writer was quite ill-informed, but click here or on the image at left, read on and judge for yourself.

	The September 1, 1957 edition of the *Jacksonville Journal* *TV Week* featured this cover photo of Jill along with a brief biographical sketch on the opening page inside. Click here or on Jill's image at left for more.
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	The *St. Louis Post-Dispatch TV Magazine* for September 22-28, 1957 featured a two-page story about Jill by staff writer Virginia Irwin. Click here or on the image at left to read the article and see Jill attired for a traditional song and dance routine.
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	The October 26 - November 1, 1957 edition of *TV Guide* carried a brief article and this photo of the new cast of *Your Hit Parade* in full costume for one of their production numbers. Click image for larger view.

	The *TV and Radio Magazine* of the *New York Herald Tribune* featured the new cast of *Your Hit Parade* on the cover of the September 1-7, 1957 issue. Inside was a two-page story on the imminent changes in this NBC Saturday night institution. Click here or on Jill's image at left to read the entire article.
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	Jill with *Your Hit Parade* co-stars Alan Copland, Virginia Gibson and Tommy Leonetti in an ensemble scene from their Christmas program in 1957. Click image for larger view.

	The NBC publicity department released this photo of their 22-year-old star of *Your Hit Parade* during the fall of 1957. Click here or on the image at left to see the entire picture.

	An elegantly gowned Jill in the arms of one of the *Hit Parade* dancers. Click image for larger view.

	On November 8, 1957, NBC television declared our Jill *Miss Mistletoe of 1957* and released an appropriate publicity photo to mark the occasion. Click here or on the image at left to find the mistletoe, Jill and NBC's suggested caption for the picture along with much more of the story on just how Jill capped her television career with the much coveted role as lead singer on *Your Hit Parade*.

	The 1957 edition of *TV Star Annual* featured a cover photo of Jill along with a two-page article inside. Click here or on the image at left to read the article.

	Much speculation was made in the popular press of the day about the men in Jill's life. In the March 1958 issue of a magazine called *TV Headliner* Joseph S. Barns writes about *The Man Jill Corey's Been Hiding*. Click here or on Jill's image at left to read the entire story.

	Volume No. 5 of the annual publication *TV Album* featured Jill on the cover as well as in a two-page spread inside. Click here or on the image at left to see four more pictures, along with a brief article about Jill during her tenure on *Your Hit Parade*. (Photos courtesy of Jacque York of Houston, Texas)

	Publicity head shot with Jill back to her more traditional shorter hair style Click image for larger view.
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	When Jill became a permanent member of the cast of *Your Hit Parade, she moved to a new apartment. It was to this new home that CBS-TV sent cameras for Jill's interview by Edward R. Murrow on Person to Person* in October 1957. *TV Best* magazine also featured Jill in her new setting in their December 1957 issue in an article entitled *Jill's Frills*. Click here or on Jill's image at left to read their story.

	The October 1957 issue of a magazine called *TV Best* featured a two-page illustrated story entitled *Jill's Jumpin'* about Jill's preparations for her featured role on *Your Hit Parade*. In the article the normally demure Miss Corey is pictured perched upon a diving board in one her most provocative poses. Click here or on the image at left to see!

	While performing every Saturday night on *Your Hit Parade* during the 1957-58 season, Jill was still making personal appearances around the country. The November 1957 issue of *TV and Movie Screen* magazine carried a four-page feature on *Jill's Wonderful Weekend* as Queen of Indiana University's Little 500 Bike Race. Click here or on the image at left for the entire story.

	The February 1958 issue of *TV-Radio Mirror* magazine carried a feature on Jill's fastidious personal grooming regimen during her tenure as a member of the *Your Hit Parade* cast. It also mentions another trait which Jill carries with her to this very day: She is a compulsive organizer! Click here or on the image at left to read the full story.

	The February 1958 issue of *TV and Movie Screen* magazine ran a pictorial feature on an arranged "parlor date" with *Your Hit Parade* costar Tommy Leonetti, presumably strictly for publicity purposes. Click here or on the image at left to see and read the story.

	The February-April 1958 issue of *Screen Album* magazine carried a short article entitled *A Spectacular Rise* and a beguiling picture of our Jill. Just click on the image at left for more.

	The March 1958 issue of *COMPACT, the Young People's Digest,* featured an extensive article on Jill, as well as on Tommy Leonetti, her co-star on *Your Hit Parade*. Click here or on the image at left to read Jill's story.

	The April 1958 issue of *Photoplay* magazine contained a short feature on fashions of the day with Jill and *Your Hit Parade* co-star Virginia Gibson serving as models. Click the image for a larger view and click here to read the fashion commentary.

	The April 1958 issue of *Silver Screen* magazine carried a three-plus page article about Jill . . . *with a voice as lovely as a glass slipper and a personality to match* . . . in the retelling of her classic *Cinderella Story*. Click here or on Jill's image at left to read the entire article.

	Click the image at left to see Jill and her fellow cast members for the 1957-58 season of *Your Hit Parade. Click here to see Jill as the Spotlight Singer* featured in the June 1958 issue of *TV Picture Life* magazine. The short article included quotes Jill verbatim from her October 1957 interview by Edward R. Murrow on CBS's *Person to Person*.

	The July 1958 issue of *Movieland and TV Time* did a feature on *Your Hit Parade* which included interviews with each of the four cast members. Click here or on Jill's image at left to read her story.

	The August 1958 issue of *Teen* magazine featured three separate references to the young star of *Your Hit Parade*. Click here or on Jill's image at left to read them.

	On the eve of her debut as lead singer on *Your Hit Parade*, Jill received a flurry of congratulatory telegrams from family, hometown friends, network executives and fellow singers, even Jill's immediate predecessors on the program, Dorothy Collins and Gizele MacKenzie. Click the image at left to read the many good wishes.

	The September 21, 1958 issue of the *New York Sunday News* featured a one-page story by Richard Petrow on Jill's steady rise in popularity as a singing and television star during the decade of the 1950's. Click on Jill's image at left to read the article.

	Jill's success on records during 1957, as well as her being selected to become the lead singer on *Your Hit Parade* for the 1957-58 season, attracted the attention of the producers of *Person to Person*, the popular CBS television interview series hosted by respected journalist Edward R. Murrow. Click on the image of Ed Murrow at left to read more and hear the audio portion of that interview.

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