July 16, 2025 • 45 mins
Are you ready to be inspired by a journey of perseverance and reinvention? In our new episode of Late Boomers, Cathy and Merry dive into the remarkable life of Grammy and Academy Award-nominated Jan Daley. Join us as we explore Jan's early days in music, her rise to fame, and her courageous battle with stage four cervical cancer. Discover how a chance encounter with a Motown producer reignited her passion for music, leading to new albums that resonate with women everywhere. Jan's story is a testament to pursuing dreams at any age. Tune in for an unforgettable conversation!
Jan Daley's Bio:
Early Life and Beginnings
Jan Daley, born and raised in Inglewood, California, showed an early passion for music and performance. She began taking piano and singing lessons as a child and participated in various musical productions, setting the stage for a lifelong career in entertainment.
Career Breakthrough
Daley's big break came when she joined Bob Hope's USO tours, performing for American troops around the world. Her participation in these tours, including the famous "Bob Hope Christmas Shows" in Vietnam, brought her significant exposure and acclaim. She performed for over 100,000 GIs, earning a place in the hearts of many servicemen and women.
Music Career
Adored for her singular magic of making what’s classic contemporary again, Jan Daley is the most multi-talented and beautiful "Best Kept Secret" in entertainment today. The multi-talented singer-songwriter and actress is well known as one of the music industry's “best-kept secrets.” Taking the iconic sound of traditional Jazz and reinventing it for the modern audience to enjoy, her impact has been global. She hits the sweet spot between authentic, personal presentation with just the right amount of razzle-dazzle.
Jan is a highly prolific artist, often juggling multiple projects at once. She’s currently working on a “Best of” album which pulls a number of smash hits from her top-selling CDs. The versatile singer has already landed a Billboard No. 1 for her album “The Way of a Woman,” (penned by Jan herself, among 5 other songs), including tracks from her acclaimed “Where There’s Hope” CD which was backed by the Les Brown Jr. Swinging Big Band and the Springfield Symphony. Not to mention featuring songs from her “Broadway Memories” CD that Broadway World Magazine raves, “Daley is a mastery of dynamic vocal range… she delivers these gems in a whole new & refreshing way… Be prepared to be enthralled!” Jan has a few surprises for us, similarly from her “Live” CD, with the beautiful “The Prayer” duet and to top it off, a few Christmas Songs from her Billboard’s No. 4 "Home for Christmas" CD. Expect timeless tracks, beautiful duets, and an impressive vocal range in this show-stopping CD that shows us why Jan remains center stage in the traditional Jazz world. “The Best of Jan Daley CD” has something for everyone!
Miss Daley made her major breakthrough in the music industry in 2017 and 2018. Working with legendary Motown producer and writer Michael B. Sutton, she put out her first EP “When Sunny Gets Blue.” It was a worldwide hit, landing her a top spot on the AOL Smooth Music Jazz Chart. She followed it up with Billboard No. 1, “The Way of a Woman” and months later “Home for Christmas,” which rode No. 4 on the Billboard Top 10 Jazz Charts for over two months — receiving rave reviews on radio stations across the world.
Recent Accomplishments
In 2023, Jan Daley was inducted into The Women Songwriters Hall of Fame in Washington DC. Her song "Way of a Woman" became their official song for 2023, riding the Pop charts for three months alongside Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, and Miley Cyrus. Her album, "Way of a Woman," became Billboard’s No.1 album on the Traditional Jazz Chart. The dance remix of "Way of a Woman" went global, further cementing her inter
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Merry (00:01):
This is the EWN Podcast Network.
Cathy (00:14):
Welcome to late boomers, our podcast guide to creating
your third act with style,power, and impact. Hi. I'm Cathy
Worthington.
Jan Daley (00:24):
And I'm Merry Elkins. Join us as we bring you
conversations with successfulentrepreneurs, entertainers, and
people with vision who aremaking a difference in the
world.
Cathy (00:34):
Everyone has a story, and we'll take you along for the
ride on each interview,recounting the journey our
guests have taken to get wherethey are, inspiring you to
create your own path to success.Let's get started. Hi. I'm Kathy
Worthington. Welcome to ourlatest late boomers episode.
(00:57):
I'm here with my cohost, MaryElkins, and we're excited to
bring you Grammy and AcademyAward nominated singer
songwriter and actress Jan Daly.
Merry (01:08):
And I'm Merry Elkins. Jan is celebrating the success of
her new country album, The Girlsin Love, and we will be chatting
with her all about herfascinating life and her gift
for defying ageism and being atrue Renaissance woman, an
inspiration for the boomers inour audience. Thank you, Jan,
(01:29):
for being here, and welcome.
Jan Daley (01:31):
Thank you. And I'm just delighted to be here, and
and nobody knows what we've gonethrough to actually put this
together, but we're here andalive. I'm talking and, you
know, yeah, let's do it. Well,tell us a
Cathy (01:45):
little bit about how you began your career and the early
experiences you had that definedyou.
Jan Daley (01:53):
Wow. You have an hour just on that, right? Of course.
You know, I always lovedsinging. I started out piano,
you know, with the piano,classical piano, all that whole
thing.
And I think just one thing leadsto another, but I was as a kid,
(02:14):
I was on this beam. I had thesebig dreams, and I had no
connections. I lived in a ruralarea outside of Los Angeles, and
I I think if there was a talentshow, Jan Daly was there. And I
everything I learned from,everything I did, I like, oh,
(02:36):
I'll never do that again, or,oh, I should I smiled better on
this, you know. You just learnby doing, and I think that's
what I did.
Nobody taught me how to get intothe business. I knew no one, as
I said before, but I think Ithink I auditioned started
auditioning maybe later when Iwell, actually, I I went to
(03:01):
college, to a junior college.Was gonna go to UCLA, and but in
the meantime, I had a girlfriendwho said, hey, Jim, there's miss
Glendale, and it goes to missAmerica. Why don't we do that
together? And I was like,really?
And so she convinced me to go.Well, lo and behold, I became
(03:22):
miss long story short, MissCalifornia. Oh. So yeah. So it
that opened a lot of doors, andI was exposed to people in the
business, and I think that's howeverything started to roll.
But in in, you know, in college,I was singing for every event.
Oh, get Jan. She'll do it. Youknow, that kind of thing. And so
(03:45):
I I was just always plugged in.
You know, I took theater artsand so I was learning to act and
all that. And but really theMiss California really opened
the doors. And as as I was goingyou know, as I was finishing the
JC, the junior college, I get acall and asked if I would, you
(04:12):
know, audition for for a newshow television show. And but it
was an MGM production, and fourstar was the other, you know,
the other studio doing this, andso I had to go there. And I
literally just sang in in thepresident's room, the president
(04:33):
of Four Star's, and and theysaid, oh, so we hear you sing.
So why don't you sing something?You know? And of course this is
my very first kind of audition.I didn't know what I was
responsible to do. So I juststarted singing I think
Somewhere Over the Rainbow, andand he sat there and he went,
(04:54):
that's very nice.
And I thought, oh, boy. I'veblown it, you know. So I walked
down, and and I did get a call,and I didn't have a second
audition. And if you're anactress, you know, you you hope
for a second audition. But theysaid you're hired.
And I went, oh my god. So it waslike it's probably not a way to
(05:17):
get into show business becausethen you think everything's
going to be easy. Right? Mhmm.But that's what happened.
So I did this show that wascalled Here Come the Stars. And
George Jessel you're way tooyoung to even know who he was. I
was way too young to know who hewas. But he was kind of like the
(05:38):
host, and it was every week wasa we were celebrating one star,
and then they would have a panpanel like the Friars Club,
which the Friars Club in BeverlyHills would do this. And so I I
met everybody.
I met Bing Crosby, AnthonyQuinn, all these stars, and I
(06:00):
was sitting next to him, andDebbie Reynolds, who was my
idol, and just all these people,and lo and behold, Bob Hope. And
there's a picture of us on thiswall somewhere of me sitting
next to Bob Hope. And, you know,I have to backtrack. Actually, I
(06:21):
went on tour with five guysright out of college before I
did this in before I did thisaudition. I just remember.
I went, no. No. That's I didthat first because when I look
at the pictures, I'm about fortypounds heavier, and that just
reminded me. Oh, yes. That wasthe tour where you eat at two in
(06:42):
the morning, and you know,you're starving and you're
living at a dollar 50 a day.
So the tour came first, andwell, you know, I was never
exposed to five guys, andthey're all like very, you know,
they've been on tours before,and this was like my first tour,
and I was the girl singer. And Ialways felt like, you know, I
(07:05):
was kind of square, and theywere like hip. And but we did
that for like nine months. Andso when I came back, that's when
I got the audition. And it wasperfect because then I had a
little more savvy of what whatthe business was about and what
audiences liked.
(07:26):
And so even though I did Overthe Rainbow, which was, you
know, kind of a lot of auditionsongs, think that gave me the,
you know, the advantage of maybesomeone who's just starting out
or hadn't traveled. You know, Ithink that's why I got it.
(07:47):
Because I thought, Wait, wasthat the first? You know. But
it's so long ago.
Cathy (07:52):
But then I also read in your bio where you had a really
kind of sad thing that happenedto you that kind of changed your
trajectory, and it became ahappy thing. Why don't you talk
about that, too?
Jan Daley (08:06):
And, you know, I didn't. I just went in for a
regular checkup, and sureenough, I went stage four Oh
cervical gosh. Oh my Oh gosh. Soit was like a real, what?
Merry (08:24):
What a wake up call that is.
Jan Daley (08:27):
Yeah. It was. And in those days, I say, in the
pioneer days, they didn't havewhat they have now. And they
said, well, we'll give you ahysterectomy. I was like, wait a
minute.
I don't even have a boyfriend.
Cathy (08:43):
I would love to have a family.
Jan Daley (08:44):
And so I went to four doctors, and each one that was
the the fix, you know. Knowhysterectomy perfect, and you
don't have to worry. And so, youknow, I was still having hope.
And I went to the fifth doctor,and he said, You know, he said,
(09:05):
You're healthy, other thanhaving cancer. You're a healthy,
sturdy person.
And he said, I have somethingthat is experimental, but I
think it will help you and giveyou at least one in a million
chances of having a child. So, Isaid, absolutely, I'm on board.
(09:26):
And it was some a little bit ofan operation called a cold cone.
I I didn't know what it was, butI didn't care. It was at least
giving me a chance, and wasn'tgoing to have a hysterectomy.
So that really ended up curingthe cancer. And yeah. So then
(09:49):
you had a baby. Well, and then II got pregnant. And, of course,
you have to backstep that I didget married in in the meantime.
And someone in Orange County andvery different, you know,
Midwestern, grew up on a dairyfarm, know, completely opposite.
(10:09):
But being in the business by bythe time I got pregnant, it it
was like I think I got pregnantin like when I was 29. So I had
been in the business and openedfor Don Rickles and opened for
all these legendary comedians.
Cathy (10:25):
And
Jan Daley (10:27):
so I I was ripe for finding a real person who was
faithful, who was who wastruthful, you know, and not
showbiz kind of person.
Merry (10:41):
But then you were a stay at home mom, though, for a long
time, weren't you?
Jan Daley (10:45):
Well, so there's the next part of the story. So we
were married, and I got pregnantlike, the next year, and so we
were really excited, and I lostit. So we were still excited,
because we said, Well, at leastI got pregnant. And sure enough,
(11:08):
second pregnancy came along,like maybe five, six months
later. And even though I I'msorry, I get emotional.
Cathy (11:23):
Even though
Jan Daley (11:24):
I really it's a girl's thing. Okay. I was
bleeding the first five months.So I was literally they were
waiting if I was going to abortthis, you know, this child, this
human little child. And so thefifth month was what I was
(11:44):
waiting for.
In the middle of this, was doingthe Sanyo commercials and all
this stuff, I was like runningto the bathroom, you know, doing
my thing. And anyway, after thefifth month, she hung in there,
and I had a baby girl. And so itwas my miracle baby. And so of
(12:09):
course, I'm in the middle of avery big career at this point.
And I'm doing this, and I'macting here, and I'm, you know,
I'm contracted to MGM, and justa whole bunch of stuff was going
on.
And yet I thought I could do itall as a mom, But you one
instance where I was, I think inNew York, and we were having a
(12:32):
family get together, reunion,and that was in Wisconsin. So I
flew there, and I'm standingthere waiting for my husband and
my daughter. Golly. When you getolder, cry a lot. Anyway So I'm
waiting for them, and my husbandkind of stains back, and my
(12:55):
daughter just walked right pastme that she didn't she didn't
recognize me.
And I went, okay. That's notgonna that's not gonna happen.
She was two, I had been away,you know, on and off, on and
off. And I don't think it, youknow, calculated in her mind
that I was her mom. And so atthat point, I knew that I had to
(13:20):
change my life.
And so I said, I'm I told myagent and my manager, and I
said, you know, I I need to dothis. So I walked away. But I
continued to act because I knewI could choose if it was going
to be here, could do it. If itwas going to be on location, I
couldn't. So I continued to actand did a 150 commercials.
(13:44):
And I did Muriel. I did Sanyofor five years. You know, it was
a blessing, and it alsofurnished my home. And so
anyway, so I did that, and Itook off twenty years. And, you
know, so that's you went toNashville.
Merry (14:01):
Right? You didn't you go to So that's then.
Jan Daley (14:04):
So then I began to I knew what I wanted to do because
while I was a mom, startedwriting songs. So I'd write a
song a week, and then I wasgoing to class, with Jack
Siegel, who wrote When SunnyGets Flu, which ironically is
one of the first songs that wasa big hit on my my first album,
(14:27):
and it became my number one jazzalbum. And so so I started to go
to Nashville when she went offto college, and it was
wonderful. It was just awonderful songwriting community
in Nashville, and and I really II got hooked. And, we I I still
(14:50):
am in contact with a couplewriters, but I don't I I started
writing out of convenience justwith myself, you know.
So, So yeah, carry me that's howthe songwriting started.
Cathy (15:04):
That's great. We want to hear a little bit more about
your travels with Bob Hope, ifthere are any more tidbits with
that, because it led toreceiving the prestigious
Presidential Award from theVietnam Veterans of America.
Now, what's the time gap inthere? When was the award? The
(15:24):
award was just this last year.
Oh, my. Yeah. Just '24. So Andthe travels are what? Like in
the sixties?
Jan Daley (15:33):
Oh, in the seventies. I I was doing Seventies.
Cathy (15:36):
Seventies. Seventies.
Jan Daley (15:37):
Wind down wind down from Wind down of Bob Hope.
Cathy (15:41):
Yep. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Jan Daley (15:43):
And the war.
Cathy (15:44):
Well, there was a lot of war in in the seventies. I
remember the protests.
Jan Daley (15:48):
Oh, yeah. In fact, there's one story that I do tell
that is Bob Hope was reallygreat in that the whole crew
never told us if we came closeto any kind of disastrous
meaning a bomb over here, or orVietnam come, you know, just
around the corner, that kind ofthing.
Cathy (16:08):
They Mhmm.
Jan Daley (16:08):
They kept us ignorant of that, which was a good idea
because you can't go on stageand be, you know, your eyes
jetting everywhere thinking,well, there's, you know, there's
the enemy. So it one day inparticular, we were in Da Nang,
and Da Nang has a big hill in inno. It was in front of us. So
(16:30):
you would see all all the guys,probably 30,000. And you had,
you know, the playing groundhere, and then you could see
them.
They were sitting on this hill.And, you know, I I would close
the show. I mean, I sang in thebeginning, and then I closed the
show with Silent Night, and as Iwas singing it, I thought, well,
(16:52):
that's strange. Look at allthose guys. They're getting up,
and they're going to the back ofthat hill.
And I said, well, maybe they'regoing for a smoke or, you know,
I didn't know. And so by thetime I closed the show, usually
after that, we would, you know,assign autographs to the GIs.
And all of a sudden, our crewcame back and they said, come
(17:15):
on, we're taking you off stage.Well, I said, we haven't
finished. And all our makeup andstuff, he said, no.
No. We'll we'll take all that.So they threw us in the
helicopters, and as we pulledup, we could see the Vietcong
that had surrounded our show,our entire show. I mean, you
(17:35):
know, the stage, the wholething. And the guys were
evidently were geared in tosaying, hey.
You know, we've got a problem inthe back of this mountain. And
so they were going and startingto do their thing with the Viet
Cong, whether it was shooting. Idon't know what they were doing,
but they were leaving, andthat's what I was seeing when I
(17:57):
was singing.
Merry (17:57):
Yeah. You couldn't hear anything? You couldn't hear
bombs or guns or anything?
Jan Daley (18:02):
No. No. No. So it was, you know, it was a very
tall hill. I don't you wouldthink you'd see a bomb, but I
don't think they were I think itwas a hand to hand thing.
That's how they could get inthere without anybody else
noticing them. They weren't Idon't know where they were
coming from. But anyway, we gotoff stage, and that was the
(18:24):
first time that we really youknow, we went, Oh, that's right.
We're in the middle of a war.Because they kept it so up and
so positive that we didn'tworry.
And that was a good thing.
Merry (18:35):
Yeah. That's
Cathy (18:36):
a good
Merry (18:37):
thing. Boy. Who was on stage with you besides Bob Hope?
Did you have any other singersor dancers or actresses? Yeah.
Jan Daley (18:45):
A good friend of mine, Jim Neighbors, was on with
me. And golly, there was a MissWorld Jane God, I've forgotten
her name. And then of course theGold Diggers. There was there
was would happen Yes. We wouldgo to different sites,
obviously.
(19:05):
And sometimes we would pick upstars, and then somebody else
would leave. But I stayedthrough, you know, the entire
thing because I was the Goylesinger again. And think Bob
hired me because I reminded himof Dolores, his wife. And she
(19:27):
was a great singer and had thislow voice as I did, and I think
he kept kept me on because ofthat, you know.
Merry (19:34):
You were the star. You were their Renaissance woman. So
Yes. I mean, talk about that.You've done so much.
Talk about being that type ofwoman who's a Renaissance You
Jan Daley (19:47):
know, I guess, these last three years now, a record
producer from Motown evidentlywas going through the Grammy
list of singers and so forth,and he came upon My Name, and he
listened to When Sunny GetsBlue. Right? And I hit this
(20:09):
amazing note. Have to say I'mvery proud that I hit this note.
And he just fell in love with myvoice.
And they gave him myinformation. He called me one
day and said, Where have youbeen? I said, Well, I had a
baby. All over the planet. Allover.
(20:31):
Right. Exactly. And so he kindof took me under his wing and
said, Hey, you know, I haven'theard anybody with this kind of
voice in a long time. Let's dosomething. I said, Okay.
Know, was ready
Merry (20:45):
for Not going to say no.
Jan Daley (20:47):
Exactly. No. Never. And so he really kind of led me.
His name is Michael B.
Sutton, and he's written withMichael Jackson. I mean, had a
long career as a songwriter, butalso as a musician and producer.
And so we put out a song that Ihad recorded with Jack Segal,
(21:09):
wrote When Sunny Gets Blue, andit became a number one
traditional jazz album. I didn'teven know I was a jazz singer. I
just loved music, you know.
So Fantastic. Yeah. And then wehad singles out of that. We had
that particular, Way of a Woman,the name of the album, went up
(21:32):
the charts, and it was justamazing. Things, things, and
they were always, Oh, how aboutthis?
How about that? And so I becamevery busy with doing all this
promotion, And then finally, hesaid, you know, you write songs
and you've got a couple of thesesongs on on this jazz album. So
why don't do you have any more?And of course, I wrote a song a
(21:52):
week for how many years? Twentyyears.
So I said, yeah. I just have afew. And so I sent him about 10,
I think, 10 songs, and he sentthem down to Nashville. I don't
know where he decided that, youknow I I think because we'd
already done the jazz thing, andI forgot to tell you that Way of
(22:14):
a Woman, we they at one pointthey wanted to promote that as a
single, and they said, this isnot really a jazz song. This is
a pop song, and this is the onethat's rode between Taylor Swift
and Lady Gaga on the pop chartsfor three months.
Merry (22:33):
Not bad.
Jan Daley (22:34):
Yeah. It was just amazing. I was like, and then he
takes my songs and takes them toNashville. I go, wait a minute.
So they loved my songs and said,wow.
You should do an album. Thiswill do well. And the first two
songs that they chose out of thealbum went to number one on the
(22:56):
country international country
Cathy (22:58):
the charts.
Jan Daley (22:59):
And so, I mean, I must give him a lot of credit in
that he kind of resurrected mysinging career, and because by
the time you know, I was kind ofin cabaret and doing a Broadway
album and that kind of thing,but I really, really wasn't
completely satisfied with what Iwas doing. And he, you know,
(23:22):
really led me in the rightdirection, and gave me kind of a
new life in two fields, and nowwe're pushing this new country
album, The Girls in Love.
Merry (23:32):
It's great. And you have a great YouTube video on that
with you singing it and lookingwith the cowboy hat and boots.
Jan Daley (23:40):
I had to go out and buy that, of course, in my cute
now though I love wearing mycowboy boots because yeah, I
think we both all know that ourfeet start I love all that.
Cathy (23:55):
Oh, yeah. I wore cowboy boots last night, I was really
happy I had gotten them down andput them back on.
Jan Daley (24:01):
Exactly. Yeah.
Cathy (24:02):
You've been nominated a Grammy and an Academy Award as a
singer and recording artist, andthat must feel so good. Right?
You know, I guess I don't lookat those things until
Jan Daley (24:16):
my publicist Cheryl Kagan put them all into this
bio, and I'm like, wow, I guessI did do a lot of stuff. And the
Academy Award came from a moviethat that I sang in the movie.
And so that that was the songthat was, you know, nominated
(24:37):
for an Academy Award. Mhmm. Soand and that was, you know, a
long time ago.
But it gives me that credit, andhopefully something else that I
write will be in a movie. Maybea movie that I want to make,
which is I'll touch on myfather, who I'm yes. One of the
(25:01):
songs on this country album isdedicated to my mom and dad. Oh,
here I go again. Okay.
So Aw. I always get emotional,you know, with my father
especially, because my father Iwas born in March of nineteen
forty five, and my father well,the war was over, and they were
(25:25):
all waiting to come back, allthe GIs. And my father
volunteered to pick up POWs. Andthat was in May, and he was shut
down in May.
Merry (25:35):
Yeah.
Jan Daley (25:36):
And I never got to meet him. And so I mean, I knew
I had one picture of my father,and that was it. And most women
in those days remarried, andthey remarried within three
years. Because if they hadchildren, you know, women were
women that are women today. Andnot that they couldn't have
(25:58):
been, but it just wasn't forwomen to do, to have careers and
so forth.
And so so my mom remarried, andI never got to really talk to
her because my stepfather wasvery jealous, so we never talked
about him. But nineeleven yeah,nineeleven came along, and both
(26:22):
my parents had died then, mystepfather and my mom. And I
said, I know what I want to do.I'm going to their house, and we
are going to look foreverything, you know, that that
I know my mother must have savedsomething. And sure enough, she
did.
Two boxes filled with loveletters and photos. And it was
(26:43):
just I sat on the floor andcried while I'm opening up all
these things. And I found Ifound my father was very close
to my my well, my grandmother,my mother's grandmother mother,
and and they were very close,and he was writing letters to
her during the war, and when Iwas born, he sent a letter to my
(27:07):
Nana, and it said, Nana, I havea girl, and she's gonna be a
superstar. I never ever hadknown this. And knowing my
grandmother, I'm surprised thatshe didn't tell me years later.
(27:27):
You know, she she nevermentioned. She probably forgot,
you know. But so so
Merry (27:33):
Or watched her become a superstar.
Jan Daley (27:36):
Well, I'm working on it. But
Cathy (27:39):
Well, you know, speaking of that, tell us about your new
country album, The Girls inLove, and why your songs
resonate so much with women.
Jan Daley (27:49):
I think because the Girls in Love was a younger I
think every girl has been inlove. And then there are girls
that haven't been in love. So Ithink that's my youngest song on
there, and how I was feelingwhen I was just young in love.
Cathy (28:12):
You're you're delving like back into Right, early
Jan Daley (28:17):
right. How wonderful it feels. And if you think about
your first love, or it can beyour third love or fifth love,
but there's one love that justgenerates that feeling of, Oh my
God, I'm in euphoria. I'm inheaven, and he's saying the
right things, and I'm holding onto him, and we're watching
(28:38):
football. You know, that kind ofthing, and that's what the
song's about.
Whereas The Way of a Woman,which is also on on the album,
is about a little later love,maybe thirties, forties,
whatever. It can be all the way,you know, into later later time
where the man is not beingtruthful. And she's talking
(29:01):
about you know the way of awoman, what we put up with, and
what we go through when we knowdeep in our heart that that's
not the truth that you'rehearing from Him. And so I think
that resonated with a lot ofwomen. And I think there isn't
probably one woman that hasn'tgone through an unhappy
(29:22):
relationship or someone who wasnot truthful to them.
And so that really yeah. Thatresonated.
Merry (29:31):
So you have to write a boomer song now about love late
in life.
Jan Daley (29:36):
Yes. And I do have one. You know, I met my
boyfriend fourteen years ago. Wefinally figured out how long ago
it was. But what's interestingis that we've known each other
for forty years, and he managedme.
I mean, they've managed everyonefrom Julie Andrews, Carol
Burnett, but they managed a lotof people, and a lot of big
(29:59):
stars, Neil Diamond, all that.And and he was just a
whippersnapper coming into thisfor lawyers. He was a lawyer,
but that's not what he wanted.He said, I practiced for three
and a half minutes. But he wasthe one that was assigned to me.
Well, we've got this new artistJan Daly, and so and he always
tells the story. Oh, that's soromantic. Yeah. Yeah. But he
(30:23):
tells the story.
He said, she would walk into myhome. I'm walking to my office,
and I I didn't hear anything,see anything, except this
floating blonde coming into myoffice. And all I wanted to do
is get a cheap motel.
Cathy (30:37):
Oh dear.
Merry (30:37):
So was not the first sight.
Jan Daley (30:40):
It was weird. I had no clue. I was married. I had my
two, three year old
Merry (30:44):
kid And
Jan Daley (30:46):
so, you know, I I knew nothing of this until
fourteen years ago. I was in NewYork singing at Feinstein's. And
and he was in the audience. Andsomebody said, oh, let's go to
the, you know, let's go toFeinstein's. And and he goes,
oh, who's playing?
And he saw Jan Daly, and hewent, you're kidding. So we
(31:07):
hadn't talked for, you know,maybe twenty years. So he was
sitting in the audience. I didmy whole, you know, show. And
then I got this note sayingthere's someone in the audience.
His name is Steve maybe Ishouldn't
Cathy (31:25):
mention his name. But anyway It's fine to mention his
name if you're comfortable, ifhe's okay
Jan Daley (31:31):
with it. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Steve Sauer. And and I
went, Oh my God, I've talked tohim forever.
And at that time I was reallylooking for another manager. And
so of course I went up there.And no, he came up to me. That's
what it was. And I didn't evenrecognize him because when I
(31:52):
knew him, had long hair and abeard.
This time he's got a little saltand pepper going through and
short hair. And so it's SteveSouard. I went, oh my god. How
are you? So long story shortWow.
He said, let's get together, andI said, great. I'm thinking
again business only, and he'sthinking monkey business. And so
(32:14):
so anyway
Merry (32:16):
Well, that is an that
Cathy (32:17):
that is an inspiration for
Merry (32:19):
I do too. And that's an inspiration for all the boogers
out there who are looking tofind a relationship in their
older years. And but you knowwhat? Looking at you, you look
like you've been able to combatageism and
Jan Daley (32:35):
I'm trying.
Merry (32:35):
To keep going. Well, how do you do that?
Jan Daley (32:39):
You know, I must say I think everyone has to have
something to get up to. And likelike when I get up in the
morning, I'm gonna go for a run.Okay. So but I also have an
agenda of what I need to do forthe day. And because I have this
re energized career, it's allabout my career.
(33:01):
But I can say to the all theladies out there, all the guys,
is that don't retire too soon.And if you do, choose something
that you've never done before,or have a list of things that is
in your on your bucket list, andand decide, and say, oh, okay.
I'm gonna take six months onthis one and six months on that
(33:24):
one. But have something thatmakes you interesting and
excited about life. And I think,you know, because I've had this,
you know, resurgence, I'mexcited about life.
And I never know what's going tohappen. And I think really
that's the key, that you have tonot look for retirement. I have
(33:46):
a girlfriend that's I said,well, how's retirement going?
She went, well, I'm bored. Isaid, well, you know, because
when you work so hard, whichmost people do, you look forward
to just relaxing and not havingthis tension and stress, but you
have to say, Okay, I can do thatfor six months, and then have a
(34:07):
B plan and a C plan so that yougo If you've got a spouse
Cathy (34:12):
Otherwise, you're just going to end up lying in bed all
Jan Daley (34:14):
day. Exactly. Don't You're watching TV or something.
Cathy (34:18):
Right. Right. Well, you know, Leigh, tell us a little
bit about your acting career andwho your favorite people were to
work with. Some highlights fromthat.
Jan Daley (34:30):
Okay. I won't the lowlights. Okay. I won't mention
those people. The highlights Iloved Anthony Quinn.
Yeah, Anthony Quinn. I don'twant to bad mouth anybody. But
Anthony Quinn was great, and hewas interested in people. He's a
very interesting person, and andhe's the kind of he was the kind
(34:55):
of person who was alwaysinvolved. He was involved in
art, so it wasn't just theacting.
Yeah. He painted, didn't Yes. Hewas a painter, and so I loved
working with him. LawrenceHarvey. Okay.
So Lawrence
Merry (35:09):
Oh, Harvey my mother loved him.
Jan Daley (35:12):
Yes. Wow. Lawrence Harvey was big. He was this
enormous and yet personableactor, and really into the other
actor. You know?
He would say, give me more. Youknow? Give me more. What do you
(35:34):
want to say? What is it that youhave to say?
And so he was almost like acoach in in a lot of things
because I was still, you know,making my way through it. Must
have been very young. I was. Iwas. And that was before I
really went to Darryl Hickmanhad the best, best, and I
learned the most from him in hisclasses, believe it or not.
(35:57):
And he was wonderful. So I wishthat I'd been doing those
classes when I was doing, youknow, a scene with Laurence
Harvey. But he was reallyinteresting, an interesting
person, and always had a youngactress as his girlfriend.
Merry (36:17):
Yeah. Well, being the actress and songwriter and
singer and Renaissance womanthat you are, talk about perhaps
what you feel proudest of inyour variegated and exciting
career.
Jan Daley (36:38):
Well, know I'm the proudest of my daughter, and now
I'm the proudest of mygranddaughter. Yeah. I think
really having a family andhaving that time. And I'm glad
that I you know, sometimes I wassaying, oh, why did I take all
those years, you know, trying toget back into the business? I
sometimes question it.
(36:59):
But I will never trade thattime. And and that's really what
I'm most proud of. I mean, mostof my project, I'm always proud
of my projects. My Anyparticular one? Standout?
Well, I mean, I think Way of aWoman's jazz album was great,
because I have four of my songson there as well. But I think
(37:21):
this this one is My Country ofAmendment, and I think I will be
very proud of it because all thesongs are written by me, and
represent a lot of differentstages of my life. And I think
they will speak to a lot ofpeople. I write I have a song
about my mom. She was a dreamer.
Then I have a song I I don'thave I have two songs that I
(37:45):
wrote, one for my daughter, onefor my granddaughter, but
they're not on this. But maybeon another another album, they
will be. And both of them havetheir own video on my YouTube
channel. Oh.
Cathy (37:57):
Did your daughter did your daughter have a career? She
Jan Daley (38:00):
she did, and she kind of pulled the jam daily as as it
was. Oh, worked for Lion yeah.But she was very successful. She
worked for MGM. She was amarketing and promoter for
movies, and sometimes would youknow, premieres and stuff.
So she was, you know, go, go,you know. She was really loving
(38:22):
all that. And at one point shewas I think she was working for
Lionsgate at this point. She'dbeen with them a year and a
half, and she got sick. It's adisease I'd never heard of, and
it's called SIBO.
It attacks the small intestines,and it took her down. And I
(38:48):
think nobody believed her when,you know, she wouldn't show up
because she she couldn't move.She couldn't move out of bed.
It's so bad. And you learn tocope with it.
And I think she you know, theyfired her right away, of course,
and because they couldn't figureit out. You know? I think that
(39:13):
led her at this point, she had aher daughter was maybe kind of
the same age, two or three. Andwhen she was coping with this
and trying to figure out how tolive with this disease, that I
think it went through her mind,you know. And I had told her
what I had done, and we you havean know, and I didn't tell you
(39:38):
that after Aubrey, my daughter,I got pregnant again five months
later and then lost that child,unfortunately.
I'm an only child. She's an onlychild, and then her daughter's
an only child. It's not what weplanned, but that's we will be
blessed with what we have. So Ithink she I think she kind of
(40:03):
saw the writing on the wall andjust thought, you know, the more
I get to know my child, the moreI don't want to be away from
her, and I don't want to her notto know me and not to have my
input into her life. Yeah.
Right. So that's what she'sdoing, and my granddaughter oh,
she's 15, and she's travelingThat's wonderful. Yeah. She's
(40:25):
traveling across the country.She's a six foot and a
volleyball player.
Oh, wonderful. That's terrific.
Cathy (40:32):
Yeah. That's exciting. Yeah. Well, Jan, what would you
like our Late Boomers podcastaudience to have as their
takeaway today?
Jan Daley (40:42):
I've got just the thing. Thought you were right.
It's never too late. You'renever too old or young to
realize your dreams or to make anew one.
Merry (40:57):
Ah, I love that. I love that.
Jan Daley (41:00):
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, that's what my life represents
at this point. And I just youknow, at 30 I thought my life
was over. You know, in thisbusiness you think you're old at
30. And so, you know, and I'veheard 30 year olds or 35 year
(41:22):
olds saying, Oh, yeah, nah, nah,And they're giving up.
And I'm like, no. No. If youwant to give it up and do
something, you know, reallygood, you know, raise children,
that's great. Do charity,whatever. But don't give up
because there's more to yourlife than right now, and there's
more coming.
(41:43):
And it's just going to be, youknow, things that you don't
expect, and just take them onhead on.
Merry (41:49):
What's your
Jan Daley (41:49):
What's next my what?
Merry (41:52):
Your next dream.
Jan Daley (41:53):
Well, really want to finish. During COVID, I wrote
about my father and learning allabout him. And then reading all
the letters and seeing all thepictures, how our lives
intertwined and how so much thatI took after him, but also how
(42:16):
much we thought alike. And Ijust want to show, you know, two
generations coming togetherwithout ever knowing each other.
Cathy (42:27):
Nice. I love that.
Merry (42:29):
So thank you so much, Jan.
Jan Daley (42:32):
Thank you, guys. Yeah. Thank you.
Merry (42:35):
It's great talking to you. And our guest today on Late
Boomers has been singer,songwriter, actress Jan Daly, an
award winner. You can check outher website jandaly.com. That's
j a n d a l e y. And listen toher music wherever you listen.
And stay stay with us for a fewmore minutes and listen to Sure.
(42:59):
One of one one of her songs,which you're going to play right
here on Late Boomers. Thank youagain, Jan.
Cathy (43:06):
Please tell friends uh-huh. Yes. Yeah. Thank you.
Please tell your friends aboutour Late Boomers podcast and
visit our new website,lateboomers.us, where you can
easily see all our episodes andfind an interview that resonates
with you.
And next week, we'll be talkingwith Joe Owens, author of
Feeling Groovy, A Boomer Guideto Ageless Aging. We're on
(43:30):
Instagram iamkathywarthingtonand iammariealkinson
lateboomers. Please subscribe toour YouTube channel as well. We
do appreciate our listeners somuch, and stay tuned now for one
of Jan's songs. Thanks again,Jan.
Thank you. Thank you for joiningus on late boomers, the podcast
(44:42):
that is your guide to creating athird act with style, power, and
impact. Please visit our websiteand get in touch with us at
lateboomers.us. If you wouldlike to listen to or download
other episodes of late boomers,go to ewnpodcastnetwork.com.
Jan Daley (45:02):
This podcast is also available on Spotify, Apple
Podcast, and most other majorpodcast sites. We hope you make
use of the wisdom you've gainedhere and that you enjoy a
successful third act with yourown style, power, and impact.
This is the EWN Podcast Network.
Cathy (00:14):
Welcome to late boomers, our podcast guide to creating
your third act with style,power, and impact. Hi. I'm Cathy
Worthington.
Jan Daley (00:24):
And I'm Merry Elkins. Join us as we bring you
conversations with successfulentrepreneurs, entertainers, and
people with vision who aremaking a difference in the
world.
Cathy (00:34):
Everyone has a story, and we'll take you along for the
ride on each interview,recounting the journey our
guests have taken to get wherethey are, inspiring you to
create your own path to success.Let's get started. Hi. I'm Kathy
Worthington. Welcome to ourlatest late boomers episode.
(00:57):
I'm here with my cohost, MaryElkins, and we're excited to
bring you Grammy and AcademyAward nominated singer
songwriter and actress Jan Daly.
Merry (01:08):
And I'm Merry Elkins. Jan is celebrating the success of
her new country album, The Girlsin Love, and we will be chatting
with her all about herfascinating life and her gift
for defying ageism and being atrue Renaissance woman, an
inspiration for the boomers inour audience. Thank you, Jan,
(01:29):
for being here, and welcome.
Jan Daley (01:31):
Thank you. And I'm just delighted to be here, and
and nobody knows what we've gonethrough to actually put this
together, but we're here andalive. I'm talking and, you
know, yeah, let's do it. Well,tell us a
Cathy (01:45):
little bit about how you began your career and the early
experiences you had that definedyou.
Jan Daley (01:53):
Wow. You have an hour just on that, right? Of course.
You know, I always lovedsinging. I started out piano,
you know, with the piano,classical piano, all that whole
thing.
And I think just one thing leadsto another, but I was as a kid,
(02:14):
I was on this beam. I had thesebig dreams, and I had no
connections. I lived in a ruralarea outside of Los Angeles, and
I I think if there was a talentshow, Jan Daly was there. And I
everything I learned from,everything I did, I like, oh,
(02:36):
I'll never do that again, or,oh, I should I smiled better on
this, you know. You just learnby doing, and I think that's
what I did.
Nobody taught me how to get intothe business. I knew no one, as
I said before, but I think Ithink I auditioned started
auditioning maybe later when Iwell, actually, I I went to
(03:01):
college, to a junior college.Was gonna go to UCLA, and but in
the meantime, I had a girlfriendwho said, hey, Jim, there's miss
Glendale, and it goes to missAmerica. Why don't we do that
together? And I was like,really?
And so she convinced me to go.Well, lo and behold, I became
(03:22):
miss long story short, MissCalifornia. Oh. So yeah. So it
that opened a lot of doors, andI was exposed to people in the
business, and I think that's howeverything started to roll.
But in in, you know, in college,I was singing for every event.
Oh, get Jan. She'll do it. Youknow, that kind of thing. And so
(03:45):
I I was just always plugged in.
You know, I took theater artsand so I was learning to act and
all that. And but really theMiss California really opened
the doors. And as as I was goingyou know, as I was finishing the
JC, the junior college, I get acall and asked if I would, you
(04:12):
know, audition for for a newshow television show. And but it
was an MGM production, and fourstar was the other, you know,
the other studio doing this, andso I had to go there. And I
literally just sang in in thepresident's room, the president
(04:33):
of Four Star's, and and theysaid, oh, so we hear you sing.
So why don't you sing something?You know? And of course this is
my very first kind of audition.I didn't know what I was
responsible to do. So I juststarted singing I think
Somewhere Over the Rainbow, andand he sat there and he went,
(04:54):
that's very nice.
And I thought, oh, boy. I'veblown it, you know. So I walked
down, and and I did get a call,and I didn't have a second
audition. And if you're anactress, you know, you you hope
for a second audition. But theysaid you're hired.
And I went, oh my god. So it waslike it's probably not a way to
(05:17):
get into show business becausethen you think everything's
going to be easy. Right? Mhmm.But that's what happened.
So I did this show that wascalled Here Come the Stars. And
George Jessel you're way tooyoung to even know who he was. I
was way too young to know who hewas. But he was kind of like the
(05:38):
host, and it was every week wasa we were celebrating one star,
and then they would have a panpanel like the Friars Club,
which the Friars Club in BeverlyHills would do this. And so I I
met everybody.
I met Bing Crosby, AnthonyQuinn, all these stars, and I
(06:00):
was sitting next to him, andDebbie Reynolds, who was my
idol, and just all these people,and lo and behold, Bob Hope. And
there's a picture of us on thiswall somewhere of me sitting
next to Bob Hope. And, you know,I have to backtrack. Actually, I
(06:21):
went on tour with five guysright out of college before I
did this in before I did thisaudition. I just remember.
I went, no. No. That's I didthat first because when I look
at the pictures, I'm about fortypounds heavier, and that just
reminded me. Oh, yes. That wasthe tour where you eat at two in
(06:42):
the morning, and you know,you're starving and you're
living at a dollar 50 a day.
So the tour came first, andwell, you know, I was never
exposed to five guys, andthey're all like very, you know,
they've been on tours before,and this was like my first tour,
and I was the girl singer. And Ialways felt like, you know, I
(07:05):
was kind of square, and theywere like hip. And but we did
that for like nine months. Andso when I came back, that's when
I got the audition. And it wasperfect because then I had a
little more savvy of what whatthe business was about and what
audiences liked.
(07:26):
And so even though I did Overthe Rainbow, which was, you
know, kind of a lot of auditionsongs, think that gave me the,
you know, the advantage of maybesomeone who's just starting out
or hadn't traveled. You know, Ithink that's why I got it.
(07:47):
Because I thought, Wait, wasthat the first? You know. But
it's so long ago.
Cathy (07:52):
But then I also read in your bio where you had a really
kind of sad thing that happenedto you that kind of changed your
trajectory, and it became ahappy thing. Why don't you talk
about that, too?
Jan Daley (08:06):
And, you know, I didn't. I just went in for a
regular checkup, and sureenough, I went stage four Oh
cervical gosh. Oh my Oh gosh. Soit was like a real, what?
Merry (08:24):
What a wake up call that is.
Jan Daley (08:27):
Yeah. It was. And in those days, I say, in the
pioneer days, they didn't havewhat they have now. And they
said, well, we'll give you ahysterectomy. I was like, wait a
minute.
I don't even have a boyfriend.
Cathy (08:43):
I would love to have a family.
Jan Daley (08:44):
And so I went to four doctors, and each one that was
the the fix, you know. Knowhysterectomy perfect, and you
don't have to worry. And so, youknow, I was still having hope.
And I went to the fifth doctor,and he said, You know, he said,
(09:05):
You're healthy, other thanhaving cancer. You're a healthy,
sturdy person.
And he said, I have somethingthat is experimental, but I
think it will help you and giveyou at least one in a million
chances of having a child. So, Isaid, absolutely, I'm on board.
(09:26):
And it was some a little bit ofan operation called a cold cone.
I I didn't know what it was, butI didn't care. It was at least
giving me a chance, and wasn'tgoing to have a hysterectomy.
So that really ended up curingthe cancer. And yeah. So then
(09:49):
you had a baby. Well, and then II got pregnant. And, of course,
you have to backstep that I didget married in in the meantime.
And someone in Orange County andvery different, you know,
Midwestern, grew up on a dairyfarm, know, completely opposite.
(10:09):
But being in the business by bythe time I got pregnant, it it
was like I think I got pregnantin like when I was 29. So I had
been in the business and openedfor Don Rickles and opened for
all these legendary comedians.
Cathy (10:25):
And
Jan Daley (10:27):
so I I was ripe for finding a real person who was
faithful, who was who wastruthful, you know, and not
showbiz kind of person.
Merry (10:41):
But then you were a stay at home mom, though, for a long
time, weren't you?
Jan Daley (10:45):
Well, so there's the next part of the story. So we
were married, and I got pregnantlike, the next year, and so we
were really excited, and I lostit. So we were still excited,
because we said, Well, at leastI got pregnant. And sure enough,
(11:08):
second pregnancy came along,like maybe five, six months
later. And even though I I'msorry, I get emotional.
Cathy (11:23):
Even though
Jan Daley (11:24):
I really it's a girl's thing. Okay. I was
bleeding the first five months.So I was literally they were
waiting if I was going to abortthis, you know, this child, this
human little child. And so thefifth month was what I was
(11:44):
waiting for.
In the middle of this, was doingthe Sanyo commercials and all
this stuff, I was like runningto the bathroom, you know, doing
my thing. And anyway, after thefifth month, she hung in there,
and I had a baby girl. And so itwas my miracle baby. And so of
(12:09):
course, I'm in the middle of avery big career at this point.
And I'm doing this, and I'macting here, and I'm, you know,
I'm contracted to MGM, and justa whole bunch of stuff was going
on.
And yet I thought I could do itall as a mom, But you one
instance where I was, I think inNew York, and we were having a
(12:32):
family get together, reunion,and that was in Wisconsin. So I
flew there, and I'm standingthere waiting for my husband and
my daughter. Golly. When you getolder, cry a lot. Anyway So I'm
waiting for them, and my husbandkind of stains back, and my
(12:55):
daughter just walked right pastme that she didn't she didn't
recognize me.
And I went, okay. That's notgonna that's not gonna happen.
She was two, I had been away,you know, on and off, on and
off. And I don't think it, youknow, calculated in her mind
that I was her mom. And so atthat point, I knew that I had to
(13:20):
change my life.
And so I said, I'm I told myagent and my manager, and I
said, you know, I I need to dothis. So I walked away. But I
continued to act because I knewI could choose if it was going
to be here, could do it. If itwas going to be on location, I
couldn't. So I continued to actand did a 150 commercials.
(13:44):
And I did Muriel. I did Sanyofor five years. You know, it was
a blessing, and it alsofurnished my home. And so
anyway, so I did that, and Itook off twenty years. And, you
know, so that's you went toNashville.
Merry (14:01):
Right? You didn't you go to So that's then.
Jan Daley (14:04):
So then I began to I knew what I wanted to do because
while I was a mom, startedwriting songs. So I'd write a
song a week, and then I wasgoing to class, with Jack
Siegel, who wrote When SunnyGets Flu, which ironically is
one of the first songs that wasa big hit on my my first album,
(14:27):
and it became my number one jazzalbum. And so so I started to go
to Nashville when she went offto college, and it was
wonderful. It was just awonderful songwriting community
in Nashville, and and I really II got hooked. And, we I I still
(14:50):
am in contact with a couplewriters, but I don't I I started
writing out of convenience justwith myself, you know.
So, So yeah, carry me that's howthe songwriting started.
Cathy (15:04):
That's great. We want to hear a little bit more about
your travels with Bob Hope, ifthere are any more tidbits with
that, because it led toreceiving the prestigious
Presidential Award from theVietnam Veterans of America.
Now, what's the time gap inthere? When was the award? The
(15:24):
award was just this last year.
Oh, my. Yeah. Just '24. So Andthe travels are what? Like in
the sixties?
Jan Daley (15:33):
Oh, in the seventies. I I was doing Seventies.
Cathy (15:36):
Seventies. Seventies.
Jan Daley (15:37):
Wind down wind down from Wind down of Bob Hope.
Cathy (15:41):
Yep. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Jan Daley (15:43):
And the war.
Cathy (15:44):
Well, there was a lot of war in in the seventies. I
remember the protests.
Jan Daley (15:48):
Oh, yeah. In fact, there's one story that I do tell
that is Bob Hope was reallygreat in that the whole crew
never told us if we came closeto any kind of disastrous
meaning a bomb over here, or orVietnam come, you know, just
around the corner, that kind ofthing.
Cathy (16:08):
They Mhmm.
Jan Daley (16:08):
They kept us ignorant of that, which was a good idea
because you can't go on stageand be, you know, your eyes
jetting everywhere thinking,well, there's, you know, there's
the enemy. So it one day inparticular, we were in Da Nang,
and Da Nang has a big hill in inno. It was in front of us. So
(16:30):
you would see all all the guys,probably 30,000. And you had,
you know, the playing groundhere, and then you could see
them.
They were sitting on this hill.And, you know, I I would close
the show. I mean, I sang in thebeginning, and then I closed the
show with Silent Night, and as Iwas singing it, I thought, well,
(16:52):
that's strange. Look at allthose guys. They're getting up,
and they're going to the back ofthat hill.
And I said, well, maybe they'regoing for a smoke or, you know,
I didn't know. And so by thetime I closed the show, usually
after that, we would, you know,assign autographs to the GIs.
And all of a sudden, our crewcame back and they said, come
(17:15):
on, we're taking you off stage.Well, I said, we haven't
finished. And all our makeup andstuff, he said, no.
No. We'll we'll take all that.So they threw us in the
helicopters, and as we pulledup, we could see the Vietcong
that had surrounded our show,our entire show. I mean, you
(17:35):
know, the stage, the wholething. And the guys were
evidently were geared in tosaying, hey.
You know, we've got a problem inthe back of this mountain. And
so they were going and startingto do their thing with the Viet
Cong, whether it was shooting. Idon't know what they were doing,
but they were leaving, andthat's what I was seeing when I
(17:57):
was singing.
Merry (17:57):
Yeah. You couldn't hear anything? You couldn't hear
bombs or guns or anything?
Jan Daley (18:02):
No. No. No. So it was, you know, it was a very
tall hill. I don't you wouldthink you'd see a bomb, but I
don't think they were I think itwas a hand to hand thing.
That's how they could get inthere without anybody else
noticing them. They weren't Idon't know where they were
coming from. But anyway, we gotoff stage, and that was the
(18:24):
first time that we really youknow, we went, Oh, that's right.
We're in the middle of a war.Because they kept it so up and
so positive that we didn'tworry.
And that was a good thing.
Merry (18:35):
Yeah. That's
Cathy (18:36):
a good
Merry (18:37):
thing. Boy. Who was on stage with you besides Bob Hope?
Did you have any other singersor dancers or actresses? Yeah.
Jan Daley (18:45):
A good friend of mine, Jim Neighbors, was on with
me. And golly, there was a MissWorld Jane God, I've forgotten
her name. And then of course theGold Diggers. There was there
was would happen Yes. We wouldgo to different sites,
obviously.
(19:05):
And sometimes we would pick upstars, and then somebody else
would leave. But I stayedthrough, you know, the entire
thing because I was the Goylesinger again. And think Bob
hired me because I reminded himof Dolores, his wife. And she
(19:27):
was a great singer and had thislow voice as I did, and I think
he kept kept me on because ofthat, you know.
Merry (19:34):
You were the star. You were their Renaissance woman. So
Yes. I mean, talk about that.You've done so much.
Talk about being that type ofwoman who's a Renaissance You
Jan Daley (19:47):
know, I guess, these last three years now, a record
producer from Motown evidentlywas going through the Grammy
list of singers and so forth,and he came upon My Name, and he
listened to When Sunny GetsBlue. Right? And I hit this
(20:09):
amazing note. Have to say I'mvery proud that I hit this note.
And he just fell in love with myvoice.
And they gave him myinformation. He called me one
day and said, Where have youbeen? I said, Well, I had a
baby. All over the planet. Allover.
(20:31):
Right. Exactly. And so he kindof took me under his wing and
said, Hey, you know, I haven'theard anybody with this kind of
voice in a long time. Let's dosomething. I said, Okay.
Know, was ready
Merry (20:45):
for Not going to say no.
Jan Daley (20:47):
Exactly. No. Never. And so he really kind of led me.
His name is Michael B.
Sutton, and he's written withMichael Jackson. I mean, had a
long career as a songwriter, butalso as a musician and producer.
And so we put out a song that Ihad recorded with Jack Segal,
(21:09):
wrote When Sunny Gets Blue, andit became a number one
traditional jazz album. I didn'teven know I was a jazz singer. I
just loved music, you know.
So Fantastic. Yeah. And then wehad singles out of that. We had
that particular, Way of a Woman,the name of the album, went up
(21:32):
the charts, and it was justamazing. Things, things, and
they were always, Oh, how aboutthis?
How about that? And so I becamevery busy with doing all this
promotion, And then finally, hesaid, you know, you write songs
and you've got a couple of thesesongs on on this jazz album. So
why don't do you have any more?And of course, I wrote a song a
(21:52):
week for how many years? Twentyyears.
So I said, yeah. I just have afew. And so I sent him about 10,
I think, 10 songs, and he sentthem down to Nashville. I don't
know where he decided that, youknow I I think because we'd
already done the jazz thing, andI forgot to tell you that Way of
(22:14):
a Woman, we they at one pointthey wanted to promote that as a
single, and they said, this isnot really a jazz song. This is
a pop song, and this is the onethat's rode between Taylor Swift
and Lady Gaga on the pop chartsfor three months.
Merry (22:33):
Not bad.
Jan Daley (22:34):
Yeah. It was just amazing. I was like, and then he
takes my songs and takes them toNashville. I go, wait a minute.
So they loved my songs and said,wow.
You should do an album. Thiswill do well. And the first two
songs that they chose out of thealbum went to number one on the
(22:56):
country international country
Cathy (22:58):
the charts.
Jan Daley (22:59):
And so, I mean, I must give him a lot of credit in
that he kind of resurrected mysinging career, and because by
the time you know, I was kind ofin cabaret and doing a Broadway
album and that kind of thing,but I really, really wasn't
completely satisfied with what Iwas doing. And he, you know,
(23:22):
really led me in the rightdirection, and gave me kind of a
new life in two fields, and nowwe're pushing this new country
album, The Girls in Love.
Merry (23:32):
It's great. And you have a great YouTube video on that
with you singing it and lookingwith the cowboy hat and boots.
Jan Daley (23:40):
I had to go out and buy that, of course, in my cute
now though I love wearing mycowboy boots because yeah, I
think we both all know that ourfeet start I love all that.
Cathy (23:55):
Oh, yeah. I wore cowboy boots last night, I was really
happy I had gotten them down andput them back on.
Jan Daley (24:01):
Exactly. Yeah.
Cathy (24:02):
You've been nominated a Grammy and an Academy Award as a
singer and recording artist, andthat must feel so good. Right?
You know, I guess I don't lookat those things until
Jan Daley (24:16):
my publicist Cheryl Kagan put them all into this
bio, and I'm like, wow, I guessI did do a lot of stuff. And the
Academy Award came from a moviethat that I sang in the movie.
And so that that was the songthat was, you know, nominated
(24:37):
for an Academy Award. Mhmm. Soand and that was, you know, a
long time ago.
But it gives me that credit, andhopefully something else that I
write will be in a movie. Maybea movie that I want to make,
which is I'll touch on myfather, who I'm yes. One of the
(25:01):
songs on this country album isdedicated to my mom and dad. Oh,
here I go again. Okay.
So Aw. I always get emotional,you know, with my father
especially, because my father Iwas born in March of nineteen
forty five, and my father well,the war was over, and they were
(25:25):
all waiting to come back, allthe GIs. And my father
volunteered to pick up POWs. Andthat was in May, and he was shut
down in May.
Merry (25:35):
Yeah.
Jan Daley (25:36):
And I never got to meet him. And so I mean, I knew
I had one picture of my father,and that was it. And most women
in those days remarried, andthey remarried within three
years. Because if they hadchildren, you know, women were
women that are women today. Andnot that they couldn't have
(25:58):
been, but it just wasn't forwomen to do, to have careers and
so forth.
And so so my mom remarried, andI never got to really talk to
her because my stepfather wasvery jealous, so we never talked
about him. But nineeleven yeah,nineeleven came along, and both
(26:22):
my parents had died then, mystepfather and my mom. And I
said, I know what I want to do.I'm going to their house, and we
are going to look foreverything, you know, that that
I know my mother must have savedsomething. And sure enough, she
did.
Two boxes filled with loveletters and photos. And it was
(26:43):
just I sat on the floor andcried while I'm opening up all
these things. And I found Ifound my father was very close
to my my well, my grandmother,my mother's grandmother mother,
and and they were very close,and he was writing letters to
her during the war, and when Iwas born, he sent a letter to my
(27:07):
Nana, and it said, Nana, I havea girl, and she's gonna be a
superstar. I never ever hadknown this. And knowing my
grandmother, I'm surprised thatshe didn't tell me years later.
(27:27):
You know, she she nevermentioned. She probably forgot,
you know. But so so
Merry (27:33):
Or watched her become a superstar.
Jan Daley (27:36):
Well, I'm working on it. But
Cathy (27:39):
Well, you know, speaking of that, tell us about your new
country album, The Girls inLove, and why your songs
resonate so much with women.
Jan Daley (27:49):
I think because the Girls in Love was a younger I
think every girl has been inlove. And then there are girls
that haven't been in love. So Ithink that's my youngest song on
there, and how I was feelingwhen I was just young in love.
Cathy (28:12):
You're you're delving like back into Right, early
Jan Daley (28:17):
right. How wonderful it feels. And if you think about
your first love, or it can beyour third love or fifth love,
but there's one love that justgenerates that feeling of, Oh my
God, I'm in euphoria. I'm inheaven, and he's saying the
right things, and I'm holding onto him, and we're watching
(28:38):
football. You know, that kind ofthing, and that's what the
song's about.
Whereas The Way of a Woman,which is also on on the album,
is about a little later love,maybe thirties, forties,
whatever. It can be all the way,you know, into later later time
where the man is not beingtruthful. And she's talking
(29:01):
about you know the way of awoman, what we put up with, and
what we go through when we knowdeep in our heart that that's
not the truth that you'rehearing from Him. And so I think
that resonated with a lot ofwomen. And I think there isn't
probably one woman that hasn'tgone through an unhappy
(29:22):
relationship or someone who wasnot truthful to them.
And so that really yeah. Thatresonated.
Merry (29:31):
So you have to write a boomer song now about love late
in life.
Jan Daley (29:36):
Yes. And I do have one. You know, I met my
boyfriend fourteen years ago. Wefinally figured out how long ago
it was. But what's interestingis that we've known each other
for forty years, and he managedme.
I mean, they've managed everyonefrom Julie Andrews, Carol
Burnett, but they managed a lotof people, and a lot of big
(29:59):
stars, Neil Diamond, all that.And and he was just a
whippersnapper coming into thisfor lawyers. He was a lawyer,
but that's not what he wanted.He said, I practiced for three
and a half minutes. But he wasthe one that was assigned to me.
Well, we've got this new artistJan Daly, and so and he always
tells the story. Oh, that's soromantic. Yeah. Yeah. But he
(30:23):
tells the story.
He said, she would walk into myhome. I'm walking to my office,
and I I didn't hear anything,see anything, except this
floating blonde coming into myoffice. And all I wanted to do
is get a cheap motel.
Cathy (30:37):
Oh dear.
Merry (30:37):
So was not the first sight.
Jan Daley (30:40):
It was weird. I had no clue. I was married. I had my
two, three year old
Merry (30:44):
kid And
Jan Daley (30:46):
so, you know, I I knew nothing of this until
fourteen years ago. I was in NewYork singing at Feinstein's. And
and he was in the audience. Andsomebody said, oh, let's go to
the, you know, let's go toFeinstein's. And and he goes,
oh, who's playing?
And he saw Jan Daly, and hewent, you're kidding. So we
(31:07):
hadn't talked for, you know,maybe twenty years. So he was
sitting in the audience. I didmy whole, you know, show. And
then I got this note sayingthere's someone in the audience.
His name is Steve maybe Ishouldn't
Cathy (31:25):
mention his name. But anyway It's fine to mention his
name if you're comfortable, ifhe's okay
Jan Daley (31:31):
with it. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Steve Sauer. And and I
went, Oh my God, I've talked tohim forever.
And at that time I was reallylooking for another manager. And
so of course I went up there.And no, he came up to me. That's
what it was. And I didn't evenrecognize him because when I
(31:52):
knew him, had long hair and abeard.
This time he's got a little saltand pepper going through and
short hair. And so it's SteveSouard. I went, oh my god. How
are you? So long story shortWow.
He said, let's get together, andI said, great. I'm thinking
again business only, and he'sthinking monkey business. And so
(32:14):
so anyway
Merry (32:16):
Well, that is an that
Cathy (32:17):
that is an inspiration for
Merry (32:19):
I do too. And that's an inspiration for all the boogers
out there who are looking tofind a relationship in their
older years. And but you knowwhat? Looking at you, you look
like you've been able to combatageism and
Jan Daley (32:35):
I'm trying.
Merry (32:35):
To keep going. Well, how do you do that?
Jan Daley (32:39):
You know, I must say I think everyone has to have
something to get up to. And likelike when I get up in the
morning, I'm gonna go for a run.Okay. So but I also have an
agenda of what I need to do forthe day. And because I have this
re energized career, it's allabout my career.
(33:01):
But I can say to the all theladies out there, all the guys,
is that don't retire too soon.And if you do, choose something
that you've never done before,or have a list of things that is
in your on your bucket list, andand decide, and say, oh, okay.
I'm gonna take six months onthis one and six months on that
(33:24):
one. But have something thatmakes you interesting and
excited about life. And I think,you know, because I've had this,
you know, resurgence, I'mexcited about life.
And I never know what's going tohappen. And I think really
that's the key, that you have tonot look for retirement. I have
(33:46):
a girlfriend that's I said,well, how's retirement going?
She went, well, I'm bored. Isaid, well, you know, because
when you work so hard, whichmost people do, you look forward
to just relaxing and not havingthis tension and stress, but you
have to say, Okay, I can do thatfor six months, and then have a
(34:07):
B plan and a C plan so that yougo If you've got a spouse
Cathy (34:12):
Otherwise, you're just going to end up lying in bed all
Jan Daley (34:14):
day. Exactly. Don't You're watching TV or something.
Cathy (34:18):
Right. Right. Well, you know, Leigh, tell us a little
bit about your acting career andwho your favorite people were to
work with. Some highlights fromthat.
Jan Daley (34:30):
Okay. I won't the lowlights. Okay. I won't mention
those people. The highlights Iloved Anthony Quinn.
Yeah, Anthony Quinn. I don'twant to bad mouth anybody. But
Anthony Quinn was great, and hewas interested in people. He's a
very interesting person, and andhe's the kind of he was the kind
(34:55):
of person who was alwaysinvolved. He was involved in
art, so it wasn't just theacting.
Yeah. He painted, didn't Yes. Hewas a painter, and so I loved
working with him. LawrenceHarvey. Okay.
So Lawrence
Merry (35:09):
Oh, Harvey my mother loved him.
Jan Daley (35:12):
Yes. Wow. Lawrence Harvey was big. He was this
enormous and yet personableactor, and really into the other
actor. You know?
He would say, give me more. Youknow? Give me more. What do you
(35:34):
want to say? What is it that youhave to say?
And so he was almost like acoach in in a lot of things
because I was still, you know,making my way through it. Must
have been very young. I was. Iwas. And that was before I
really went to Darryl Hickmanhad the best, best, and I
learned the most from him in hisclasses, believe it or not.
(35:57):
And he was wonderful. So I wishthat I'd been doing those
classes when I was doing, youknow, a scene with Laurence
Harvey. But he was reallyinteresting, an interesting
person, and always had a youngactress as his girlfriend.
Merry (36:17):
Yeah. Well, being the actress and songwriter and
singer and Renaissance womanthat you are, talk about perhaps
what you feel proudest of inyour variegated and exciting
career.
Jan Daley (36:38):
Well, know I'm the proudest of my daughter, and now
I'm the proudest of mygranddaughter. Yeah. I think
really having a family andhaving that time. And I'm glad
that I you know, sometimes I wassaying, oh, why did I take all
those years, you know, trying toget back into the business? I
sometimes question it.
(36:59):
But I will never trade thattime. And and that's really what
I'm most proud of. I mean, mostof my project, I'm always proud
of my projects. My Anyparticular one? Standout?
Well, I mean, I think Way of aWoman's jazz album was great,
because I have four of my songson there as well. But I think
(37:21):
this this one is My Country ofAmendment, and I think I will be
very proud of it because all thesongs are written by me, and
represent a lot of differentstages of my life. And I think
they will speak to a lot ofpeople. I write I have a song
about my mom. She was a dreamer.
Then I have a song I I don'thave I have two songs that I
(37:45):
wrote, one for my daughter, onefor my granddaughter, but
they're not on this. But maybeon another another album, they
will be. And both of them havetheir own video on my YouTube
channel. Oh.
Cathy (37:57):
Did your daughter did your daughter have a career? She
Jan Daley (38:00):
she did, and she kind of pulled the jam daily as as it
was. Oh, worked for Lion yeah.But she was very successful. She
worked for MGM. She was amarketing and promoter for
movies, and sometimes would youknow, premieres and stuff.
So she was, you know, go, go,you know. She was really loving
(38:22):
all that. And at one point shewas I think she was working for
Lionsgate at this point. She'dbeen with them a year and a
half, and she got sick. It's adisease I'd never heard of, and
it's called SIBO.
It attacks the small intestines,and it took her down. And I
(38:48):
think nobody believed her when,you know, she wouldn't show up
because she she couldn't move.She couldn't move out of bed.
It's so bad. And you learn tocope with it.
And I think she you know, theyfired her right away, of course,
and because they couldn't figureit out. You know? I think that
(39:13):
led her at this point, she had aher daughter was maybe kind of
the same age, two or three. Andwhen she was coping with this
and trying to figure out how tolive with this disease, that I
think it went through her mind,you know. And I had told her
what I had done, and we you havean know, and I didn't tell you
(39:38):
that after Aubrey, my daughter,I got pregnant again five months
later and then lost that child,unfortunately.
I'm an only child. She's an onlychild, and then her daughter's
an only child. It's not what weplanned, but that's we will be
blessed with what we have. So Ithink she I think she kind of
(40:03):
saw the writing on the wall andjust thought, you know, the more
I get to know my child, the moreI don't want to be away from
her, and I don't want to her notto know me and not to have my
input into her life. Yeah.
Right. So that's what she'sdoing, and my granddaughter oh,
she's 15, and she's travelingThat's wonderful. Yeah. She's
(40:25):
traveling across the country.She's a six foot and a
volleyball player.
Oh, wonderful. That's terrific.
Cathy (40:32):
Yeah. That's exciting. Yeah. Well, Jan, what would you
like our Late Boomers podcastaudience to have as their
takeaway today?
Jan Daley (40:42):
I've got just the thing. Thought you were right.
It's never too late. You'renever too old or young to
realize your dreams or to make anew one.
Merry (40:57):
Ah, I love that. I love that.
Jan Daley (41:00):
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, that's what my life represents
at this point. And I just youknow, at 30 I thought my life
was over. You know, in thisbusiness you think you're old at
30. And so, you know, and I'veheard 30 year olds or 35 year
(41:22):
olds saying, Oh, yeah, nah, nah,And they're giving up.
And I'm like, no. No. If youwant to give it up and do
something, you know, reallygood, you know, raise children,
that's great. Do charity,whatever. But don't give up
because there's more to yourlife than right now, and there's
more coming.
(41:43):
And it's just going to be, youknow, things that you don't
expect, and just take them onhead on.
Merry (41:49):
What's your
Jan Daley (41:49):
What's next my what?
Merry (41:52):
Your next dream.
Jan Daley (41:53):
Well, really want to finish. During COVID, I wrote
about my father and learning allabout him. And then reading all
the letters and seeing all thepictures, how our lives
intertwined and how so much thatI took after him, but also how
(42:16):
much we thought alike. And Ijust want to show, you know, two
generations coming togetherwithout ever knowing each other.
Cathy (42:27):
Nice. I love that.
Merry (42:29):
So thank you so much, Jan.
Jan Daley (42:32):
Thank you, guys. Yeah. Thank you.
Merry (42:35):
It's great talking to you. And our guest today on Late
Boomers has been singer,songwriter, actress Jan Daly, an
award winner. You can check outher website jandaly.com. That's
j a n d a l e y. And listen toher music wherever you listen.
And stay stay with us for a fewmore minutes and listen to Sure.
(42:59):
One of one one of her songs,which you're going to play right
here on Late Boomers. Thank youagain, Jan.
Cathy (43:06):
Please tell friends uh-huh. Yes. Yeah. Thank you.
Please tell your friends aboutour Late Boomers podcast and
visit our new website,lateboomers.us, where you can
easily see all our episodes andfind an interview that resonates
with you.
And next week, we'll be talkingwith Joe Owens, author of
Feeling Groovy, A Boomer Guideto Ageless Aging. We're on
(43:30):
Instagram iamkathywarthingtonand iammariealkinson
lateboomers. Please subscribe toour YouTube channel as well. We
do appreciate our listeners somuch, and stay tuned now for one
of Jan's songs. Thanks again,Jan.
Thank you. Thank you for joiningus on late boomers, the podcast
(44:42):
that is your guide to creating athird act with style, power, and
impact. Please visit our websiteand get in touch with us at
lateboomers.us. If you wouldlike to listen to or download
other episodes of late boomers,go to ewnpodcastnetwork.com.
Jan Daley (45:02):
This podcast is also available on Spotify, Apple
Podcast, and most other majorpodcast sites. We hope you make
use of the wisdom you've gainedhere and that you enjoy a
successful third act with yourown style, power, and impact.
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