Banning Tutors Come To You

For many years in later life Banning was home to soprano singer Sally Sweetland. In the 1940s Sweetland was the voice that you heard singing when the actors in the movies burst into song. She often dubbed the singing voice for actress Joan Leslie, and you can hear Sweetland singing in “Yankee Doodle Dandy”, and “Rhapsody in Blue.”

“Yankee Doodle Dandy” was the biggest box office success for Warner Bros in the company’s history up to that time. The film also received much critical acclaim, the film won Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Picture, Best Writing, Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture and Best Sound Recording. This led to Sweetland being in high demand for many motion pictures and she went on to also provide the singing voice for other well-known actresses including Brenda Marshall, Martha Vickers, Constance Dowling and Joan Fontaine.

Banning tutors note that she also appeared as herself as an artist in her own right rather than always as someone else’s voice. However her appearances were mostly during television shows rather than in movie theaters. She was featured on the long running “Perry Como Show” and also “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

Her career as a vocalist naturally led her into the recording studio. Her backing vocals are heard alongside many of the biggest stars of the 1950s including a young Tony Bennett. She achieved chart success; reaching number one in the “Billboard Top 100” and the “UK Singles Chart” in 1953 with her duet with Eddie Fischer entitled “I’m Walking Behind You”. In the same year Frank Sinatra released his own rendition of the song interestingly also issued as a single by Capitol Records.

In her later years Sweetland became a tutor. She professionally taught singing with her baritone husband Lee. Lee’s most notorious role was as Woody the Woodpecker’s singing voice on NBC radio. Between them they were vocal coaches for numerous actors and actresses, one of their students was Seth MacFarlane who is well known as being the creator of the popular adult animated sitcom “Family Guy.”

Sweetland led a long and happy life, she became a widow in 2009 and she celebrated her 100th birthday in 2011. She passed away in Banning at the age of 103. Banning tutors note that her upbeat attitude and positivity led her to have such a full and long life. Sweetland said that it was laughter that kept her young and allowed her such longevity.