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Joanie Sommers

  • Actress
  • Additional Crew
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Joanie Sommers
Joanie Sommers was born Joan Drost in Buffalo, New York in 1941. While barely a teen, her family moved to California where she began to pursue singing. She started singing with the band at her high-school dances at Venice High School. In 1959, she was put under contract by Warner Bros. records. She was put to work singing with Edd Byrnes (replacing Connie Stevens) of the TV series 77 Sunset Strip (1958) and guested on the show.

Her first single with Byrnes was "Kookie's Love Song", which was followed by her first solo album, titled Positively The Most, that same year. Critics embraced the jazz-influenced album and she was dubbed "the greatest singing discovery of the last 15 years". She was eighteen years old in 1960 when she released her first solo single, a rendition of "One Boy" from the musical Bye Bye Birdie which charted at #54 on Billboard's 100. In 1962, her biggest hit, "Johnny Get Angry", reached #7. That year she was named "Most Promising New Female Vocalist of 1962" by Cashbox magazine.

In 1965, Sommers reached her peak with the critically-acclaimed album, "Softly The Brazilian Sound", which paired her with bossa nova guitarist Laurindo Almeida. She left Warner Bros. for Columbia Records in 1966. She had several singles with Columbia, but only one album titled 'Come Alive'. Also in 1966, she played the part of a pink-haired angel who helps an ex-teen idol played by Ricky Nelson on the ABC Stage 67 (1966) production "On the Flip Side" which featured songs by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Included in the soundtrack was Sommers' rendition of "Try To See It My Way".

During the 1960s, she made many TV appearances and the feature films Everything's Ducky (1961) and Pleins phares (1964). She also was the voice behind the popular Pepsi-Cola jingles, "It's Pepsi, for those who think young", and "Now you see it, now you don't, oh, Diet Pepsi!" As the 1960s came to an end, Sommers essentially retired from show business in order to concentrate on her marriage and children. In recent years, she has reemerged to perform at nightclubs and has recorded new albums.
BornFebruary 24, 1941
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BornFebruary 24, 1941
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 nominations total

    Photos17

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    Known for

    Margot Robbie in Moi, Tonya (2017)
    Moi, Tonya
    7.5
    • Soundtrack("Little Girl Bad")
    • 2017
    Mickey Rooney, Buddy Hackett, Elizabeth MacRae, and Joanie Sommers in Everything's Ducky (1961)
    Everything's Ducky
    4.4
    • Nina Lloyd
    • 1961
    James Darren, Doug McClure, Joanie Sommers, and Pamela Tiffin in Pleins phares (1964)
    Pleins phares
    5.8
    • Doreen Grey
    • 1964
    L'homme à la Rolls (1963)
    L'homme à la Rolls
    7.3
    TV Series
    • Pee Wee Wilson

    Credits

    Edit
    IMDbPro

    Actress



    • Maurice Benard and Frances Fisher in Lucy et Desi, du rire aux larmes (1991)
      Lucy et Desi, du rire aux larmes
      6.5
      TV Movie
      • Vocals, "Fools Rush In"
      • 1991
    • Love, American Style (1969)
      Love, American Style
      6.8
      TV Series
      • Ernie's Mother
      • Adult Steffi (segment "Love and the Unsteady Steady")
      • Tina (segment "Love and the Anniversary Crisis")
      • 1971–1973
    • Robert Conrad and Ross Martin in Les mystères de l'Ouest (1965)
      Les mystères de l'Ouest
      8.1
      TV Series
      • Kyra Vanders
      • 1969
    • Mouse on the Mayflower (1968)
      Mouse on the Mayflower
      6.8
      TV Movie
      • Priscilla Mullins (voice)
      • 1968
    • ABC Stage 67 (1966)
      ABC Stage 67
      7.3
      TV Series
      • Angie
      • 1966
    • James Darren, Doug McClure, Joanie Sommers, and Pamela Tiffin in Pleins phares (1964)
      Pleins phares
      5.8
      • Doreen Grey
      • 1964
    • L'homme à la Rolls (1963)
      L'homme à la Rolls
      7.3
      TV Series
      • Pee Wee Wilson
      • 1964
    • Mickey Rooney, Buddy Hackett, Elizabeth MacRae, and Joanie Sommers in Everything's Ducky (1961)
      Everything's Ducky
      4.4
      • Nina Lloyd
      • 1961
    • Edd Byrnes, Roger Smith, and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in 77 Sunset Strip (1958)
      77 Sunset Strip
      7.7
      TV Series
      • Sally Peters
      • Joanie Sommers
      • 1960

    Additional Crew



    • The Andrew Klavan Show (2015)
      The Andrew Klavan Show
      6.9
      Podcast Series
      • depicted in photo
      • 2017

    Soundtrack



    • Margot Robbie in Moi, Tonya (2017)
      Moi, Tonya
      7.5
      • performer: "Little Girl Bad"
      • 2017
    • Nicole Kidman and Thandiwe Newton in Flirting (1991)
      Flirting
      7.1
      • performer: "Johnny Get Angry"
      • 1991
    • Robert Conrad and Ross Martin in Les mystères de l'Ouest (1965)
      Les mystères de l'Ouest
      8.1
      TV Series
      • performer: "Dreams, Dreams of a Lady's Love"
      • 1969
    • Danny Kaye in The Danny Kaye Show (1963)
      The Danny Kaye Show
      7.8
      TV Series
      • performer: "England Swings", "Where Am I Going"
      • performer: "Where Are You", "When Your Lover Has Gone", "Romeo and Juliet"
      • 1963–1967
    • James Darren, Doug McClure, Joanie Sommers, and Pamela Tiffin in Pleins phares (1964)
      Pleins phares
      5.8
      • performer: "If You Love Him", "Casey Wake Up!"
      • 1964
    • The Perry Como Show (1948)
      The Perry Como Show
      7.6
      TV Series
      • performer: "Breezin' Along With the Breeze", "Blues in the Night", "Just in Time" (uncredited)
      • 1963
    • Jack Benny in The Jack Benny Program (1950)
      The Jack Benny Program
      8.5
      TV Series
      • performer: "I'll Never Stop Loving You" (uncredited)
      • 1963
    • The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show (1956)
      The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show
      7.8
      TV Series
      • performer: "A Wonderful Guy", "Blue Moon", "Peanut Butter", "Tenderly", "I'm in the Mood for Love", "You Can Depend on Me", "Some of These Days", "I Like the Likes of You", "You Are My Sunshine" (uncredited)
      • 1961
    • Bobby Darin and Friends (1961)
      Bobby Darin and Friends
      7.8
      TV Special
      • performer: "Don't Look at Me That Way" (uncredited), "I'm Too Young for the Blues" (uncredited), "Too Close for Comfort" (uncredited), "You've Got a Lot to Learn" (uncredited), "Cry Me a River" (uncredited), "Mack the Knife" (uncredited), "You Don't Know" (uncredited), "Like Someone in Love" (uncredited), "Hooray for Love" (uncredited), "When Your Lover Has Gone" (uncredited), "My Mother Was a Lady", "Makin' Whoopee", "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home" ("I Wish I Were in Love Again", uncredited)
      • 1961
    • Edd Byrnes, Roger Smith, and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in 77 Sunset Strip (1958)
      77 Sunset Strip
      7.7
      TV Series
      • performer: "Oh, But I Do", "I Get a Kick Out of You" (uncredited)
      • 1960

    Personal details

    Edit
    • Alternative name
      • Joanie Summers
    • Born
      • February 24, 1941
      • Buffalo, New York, USA
    • Spouse
      • Jerome Howard SteinerSeptember 1, 1962 - September 29, 1972 (his death, 3 children)
    • Other works
      • album: "Let's Talk About Love" - Warner Bros W1474

    FAQ

    Powered by Alexa
    • How old is Joanie Sommers?
      84 years old
    • When was Joanie Sommers born?
      February 24, 1941
    • Where was Joanie Sommers born?
      Buffalo, New York, USA
    • What is Joanie Sommers's birth name?
      Joan Drost
    • What is Joanie Sommers known for?
      Everything's Ducky, Burke's Law, The Lively Set, and I, Tonya

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