Eleanor Collins

Eleanor (Elnora Ruth) Collins (nee Procter) was born in Edmonton on November 21st, 1919. At 15 she won an amateur contest in Edmonton and subsequently sang with Joe Macelli’s dance band, with the Three ‘E’s, and on CFRN radio. She moved in 1938 to Vancouver and performed during the 1940s on CBC radio with a gospel group, the Swing Low Quartette, and with Ray Norris’ jazz quintet. After a brief retirement 1948-52 she appeared at TUTS in Finian’s Rainbow in 1952 and 1954 and Kiss Me Kate in 1953 and made her TV debut in 1954 on CBC Vancouver’s ‘Bamboula’. Often compared to Lena Horne, Collins was for many years Vancouver’s leading jazz and blues singer. She was the first woman and jazz singer to headline a show on national TV. She starred on CBC TV’s ‘The Eleanor Show’ (1955), ‘Blues and The Ballad’ (1960), ‘Quintet’ (1962), and ‘Eleanor’ (1964). She also sang on other CBC TV and radio variety shows, in clubs, and in concert, with Chris Gage, Lance Harrison, Doug Parker, and Dave Robbins. Collins recorded with Ray Norris (RCI 57 and 58) in 1951 and appeared on CBC broadcast albums by Gage and Robbins in the 1960s. In later years she performed occasionally in concert and on TV – notably for Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill in 1975, and at Jazz City in 1980. Eleanor Collins is a truly distinguished artist.