Marian Spelman (Marian Spelman)

Marian Spelman

Television actress and singer, she was an icon in her local city of Cincinnati, Ohio, where she worked mostly on television station WLWT.   A regular on the “Fifty-Fifty Club” show and other live shows from 1952 to 1975, she was also known for her work with the Cincinnati Playhouse, the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.  She regularly sang the National Anthem for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team at their opening games at Crosley Field, beginning the Major League Baseball Season.   Married to actor Bill Nimmo, the two would host daytime and evening shows, including one that they shared as co-hosts.  She is survived by her only child, Steve Spelman. Her noted signature songs were “Soon Twill Be Christmas,” “Christmas Lullaby,” and “There’s No Time Like Christmas Time,” which were written specifically for her by her friend Ruth Lyons.  She would sing on Ruth Lyons’ live 90-minute weekday radio show that was broadcast on Radio Station WLW, and also telecast on Dayton, Columbus and Indianapolis television stations.  In 1959, she went on a five week USO tour of European and North African Army bases.  In 1975, she retired from the “Fifty-Fifty Club” and taught music at Northern Kentucky University, obtained her real estate license, and did publicity work for the Donnelly Directory’s “Yellow Pages.”  In the 1980s, she returned to WLWT in Cincinnati to supervise the Ruth Lyons’ Children’s Christmas Fund, and to do new stories for older viewers, finally retiring again in 1988.   (bio by: Mike Welty)

Born

  • July, 21, 1921

Died

  • January, 01, 2007
  • USA

Cemetery

  • Arlington Memorial Gardens
  • Ohio
  • USA

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