Mary began singing professionally as a preteen in 1937. On a trip to New York while seeking autographs of her favorite singers, the 11-year-old Baltimore native with the big voice was brought to the attention of Rudee Vallee, who had his own radio show. Mary’s first performance was very impressive, and she was invited for return engagements. She eventually went on to sing on many of the top radio shows including Showboat, Eddie Cantor, Joe Cook, Tony Martin, and Ben Bernie’s Shows. Mary also hosted her own network radio program as a sponsor for Babo Scouring Cleanser. Her Little Miss Babo commercials were heard nationally.
Mary took a brief hiatus from show business as a young adult during which time she married successful songwriter / producer Vic Mizzy (who wrote the Addams Family Theme), becoming Mary Mizzy, and began raising a family. She made a comeback appearing at New York’s Roxy Theater in 1952. Continuing to sing professionally she eventually met up with Jack Gale in Baltimore. In 1961, under the direction of Gale, she recorded the Fats Domino song “Valley of Tears.” Jack remembered having difficulty finding a trombone player to play on the recording. Eventually a local inexperienced player was found and they proceeded to record dozens of takes until finally getting it to Gale’s satisfaction. According to Jack, when the recording was done, Capitol inadvertently released the wrong take.
In addition to the Capitol record, she released singles on King (1951-52), Mercury (1953), Epic (1954-55), Coral (1956-57), Seeco (1961), and Vitalent (1966), all issued as Mary Small. Her Baltimore related Capitol release is listed below.
1961 Capitol 4563 Valley of Tears / Everybody but Me
