Eileen Barton was an American singer best known for her 1950 hit song, "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake."
Early years
Barton was born in Brooklyn, New York. Her birthdate is often given as 1929, but a certified copy of her birth certificate shows that she was born in 1924. This was done commonly, to shave a few years from a performer's age. Eileen's parents, Benny and Elsie Barton, were vaudeville performers. She first appeared in her parents' act in Kansas City at age 2½, singing "Ain't Misbehavin'," as a dare to her parents from columnist Goodman Ace. At 3½, she appeared at the Palace Theater, doing two shows a day as part of comedian Ted Healy's routine.
Radio
Barton soon became a child star. By age 6, she appeared on The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour, a radio program sponsored by Horn & Hardart's Automat, a then-well-known restaurant chain, and, by age 7, in 1936-37, she was working with Milton Berle on his Community Sing radio program, using the name "Jolly Gillette" and playing the sponsor's "daughter". She would ask to sing, he would tell her she couldn't, and she would remind him that her daddy was the sponsor, so he'd let her sing a current hit song. She also was a regular on The Milton Berle Show in 1939. At 8, she had a daily singing program of her own on radio station WMCA, Arnold's Dinner Club. At 10, she appeared twice on Rudy Vallée's network radio program in 1936. She also acted on radio series such as Death Valley Days. At age 11, she left show business briefly. At age 14 she went on the Broadway stage as an understudy to Nancy Walker in Best Foot Forward, followed by an appearance under her own name with Elaine Stritch in Angel in the Wings. At age 15, she appeared as a guest singer on a Johnny Mercervariety series, leading to her being noticed by Frank Sinatra, who took her under his wing and put her in a regular spot on the CBS radio show that he hosted in the 1940s. She co-starred on Sinatra's show beginning August 16, 1944, and was also part of Sinatra's act at the Paramount Theater in 15 appearances there. She also appeared on her own and as a guest performer with such stars as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Nat King Cole, and Danny Kaye. In 1945, Barton had her own radio program, Teen Timers. That November, the program's name was changed to The Eileen Barton Show. It was broadcast Saturday mornings on NBC. In 1954, she starred in The Eileen Barton Show, a 13-episode transcribed program for the United States Marine Corps.
Television
Barton was a regular performer on The Swift Show in 1948, on Broadway Open House in 1951, and on The Bill Goodwin Show in 1951-52. She also appeared in 1961-62 as the "assistant mayor" of the TV game shows "Video Village" and "Video Village, Jr.".
Recording
Her first record, for Capitol Records, was "Would You Believe Me?", with the orchestra of Lyle "Skitch" Henderson, in 1948. In 1949, she recorded "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake" and introduced it on Don McNeill's radio program, The Breakfast Club.On the record, Trace's band musicians backed her, but were given billing as "The New Yorkers." It was first released by National Records, a small New York–based label, mostly specializing in rhythm & blues records, as catalog number 9103. When National's owner, Al Green, decided it had become too big a seller for National to handle, the record was later distributed by Mercury Records, whose co-owner was Al Green's son, Irving Green. The record became one of the best-selling records on an independent label of all time, charting at #1 best selling in stores for 2 weeks and most played by jockeys for 10 weeks, and altogether on the Billboard charts for over four months. In a 2005 interview for the liner-notes of her Jasmine Records CD release, Eileen indicated that she never received a penny in royalties from either National or Mercury for her record's success, although by contract she was supposed to receive 5% of each sale. After the success of this record, she became a night club and stage performer, appearing at all the important clubs in New York City and many others. In the 1950s, she was a featured singer with Guy Lombardo and his orchestra. In 1956, Barton began recording for Epic Records. She continued to record for both National and Mercury, making "Honey, Won't You Honeymoon with Me?" and "May I Take Two Giant Steps?" for National and "You Brought a New Kind of Love" for Mercury. Later she moved over to Coral Records, and charted with some cover versions of songs that were bigger hits for other artists, such as "Cry", "Sway", and others. She also appeared in motion pictures and television, working the restaurant and night club circuit until around 1980.
Personal life
Barton married industrialist Dan Shaw in Juarez, Mexico, April 15, 1961. She divorced from Lawrence Kaye, a salesman and career criminal who was a suspect in the Zodiac Killer murders.
Death
Barton died at her West Hollywood home from ovarian cancer at the age of 81. She had no children and was not married at the time of her death.
