Oklahoma native Patti Page was born Clara Ann Fowler, the second youngest of eleven children. She declined an art scholarship from the University of Tulsa in order to work in the art department of radio station KTUL. Shortly afterwards, the Page Milk Company’s local program “Meet Patti Page” needed a new singer – Clara Ann got the job and a new name…Patti Page. Jack Rael, a professional musician, recognized her star potential and became her manager. Many small theater performances later, Page appeared on Don McNeill’s “Breakfast Club” in Chicago. This break led to Page’s own program on CBS. Under contract to Mercury Records, budget problems in 1948 forced her to try her own overdubbing instead of using back-up singers – a first in the industry. During a New York engagement in 1950, she recorded a “throwaway” flip side titled “Tennessee Waltz.” This hit was a major crossover of pop and country music and established “The Singing Rage, Miss Patti Page.” Hit after hit followed with Mercury and Columbia and included “Doggie in the Window,” “Mockingbird Hill,” and “Little Green Apples.” Page appeared in every major night club in America, on every major TV show and starred in several of her own network television shows. She also starred in the movies Elmer Gantry, Dondi, and Boys Night Out and on the stage in Annie Get Your Gun. In 1980, she was presented the Pioneer Award by the Country Music Association.