Anecdotes

She and husband Louis Prima were the toast of Las Vegas in the 1950s. She was the sultry, sexy singer who played "straight man" to her husband's wild antics--years before Sonny & Cher did the same thing in their concerts and television shows.

Her affair with Clint Eastwood lasted more than 12 years.

Of part Cherokee heritage, Keely once played the tragic, half-mulatto Julie La Verne in a touring version of "Show Boat".

At age 14, she started singing with a naval air station band led by Saxie Dowell and at age 15 received her first paying job with the Earl Bennett Band. She hooked up with Louis Prima's outfit at age 17 and later married him.

Her singing idols were Ella Fitzgerald and June Christy.

Keely's album "I Wish You Love", a solo debut that confirmed her own star power, received a Grammy Award nomination and sold over a million copies.

Between her marriages to Louis Prima and Jimmy Bowen, Keely was Indy racing champion A.J. Foyt's girlfriend and appeared at the 1964 Indy 500 with him.

Recorded many successful duets with Louis Prima, their best-known hit being "That Ol' Black Magic", which was a top-20 hit (1958). They also had hits with "I've Got You Under My Skin" and "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen", which was also a hit for The Andrews Sisters (1937).

Actor Robert De Niro and director Martin Scorsese are long-time fans of Keely's, and over the years have placed her music in many of their films, both together and separately. These include Voyage au bout de l'enfer (1978), Raging Bull (1980), Mafia Blues (1999), C'est ça l'amour! (1997), Big Night (1996) and Mad Dog and Glory (1993).

She was still performing to appreciative audiences. Her run of performances at Feinstein's in Manhattan played to excellent reviews from the news media and standing ovations from her audiences. (mai 2004)

She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on September 22, 1998.

Ex-sister-in-law of Leon Prima and Madeline Prima.