Caterina Valente

I was checking out Facebook yesterday and ran across a posting that fascinated me.  It was of Caterina Valente tap dancing with four drummers, taken from "Hollywood Palace", a TV show from the 1960s.  I am not that familiar with Valente, but she was an all-around performer who acted, sang (in twelve languages!) and danced.  She's still around, although I'm not sure if she's performing.  Check out  her website - http://caterinavalente.com.  When I saw the clip (introduced by another great talent, Victor Borge) I remembered that there was a time when there were a number of performers out there who "did it all" and who were seen in mainstream media.  People like Pearl Bailey (who was married to one of the drummers in the Valente clip, Louie Bellson), Danny Kaye, Carol Lawrence, Milton Berle, Bob Hope, Sammy Davis, Jr....the list goes on.  The general public is not exposed to that type of entertainer as much anymore, which is one reason so many people know nothing about tap these days.  Sad.  Anyway, check out the clip of Valente.

And here's a clip I found of her singing with Danny Kaye and a guy named Armstrong.  Talk about talented people!