Kay Saunders-Palmer - The Super Entertainment Agent
Ms. Kay Saunders-Palmer, the lady born in Philadelphia and came to Hollywood in the early 1950’s as a recording artist for Capitol Records. The day started out ok. She was a little ill, but she was going to “suck-it uo” and lay down the recording. As she started with the second vocal part, Kay was suddenly on the floor of the studio and ill with a bad kidney and off to the hospital she went, where she was in-bed for over a month. There were three backup singers in the session also, one by the name of Margaret Whiting who went on to finish the session and found herself months later on the top of the Pop Charts with the song that Kay had started.
Not to be lost on the music scene, Kay did recover and later found a job at a new company that handled artists. She was the first secretary, agent and publicist for this up and coming company called Associated Booking Corporation. The company was started on a handshake between Joe Glaser, who owned Associated Booking Corporation and Louis Armstrong sometime back in 1940’s. Glazer decided to open a second office in Hollywood/Beverly Hills and kay was his first employee. Kay is credited for designing the first “Artist Press-Kit” for Duke Ellington which became the stanard for the business.
In addition there are “press kits” developed by Associated Booking Corporation publicizing the Orchestra’s performance. These kits often include brief instructions and suggestions for advertising; photographs; punch lines; lists of famous songs and recordings; brief histories of the band, its musicians, and its peak performances; and short essays about Ellington and his contributions to music and society. The records document various publicity formats used by the Ellington organization to advertise domestic and foreign performances and recordings of the Duke Ellington Orchestra between 1935 and 1974.
We called her “Mama Kay”. because she new the entertainment industry better than anyone. She could have ran any of the motion picture studios or even the recording business. Kay’s many gentlemen callers included Lee J.Cobb, U.S. Ambassodor John Gavin, Little Richard and Louie Bellson to name a very few.
Mama Kay had power, and she put together many deals for Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Shirely Bassey, and lots of unknown artist. Kay’s influence stretched all over the world. Kay also produced several album including the Merrell Fankhauser “Dr. Fankhauser” album; including during “voice-overs’ for many films. Kay even produced several motion pictures in her lifetime.
Truly a genious in the entertainment industry — Kay Saunders-Palmer, a legend in Hollywod.
