'Sioux City Sue' writer dies at 88
By Bret Hayworth, Journal staff writer | Posted: Wednesday, November 26, 2003
The composer who penned "Sioux City Sue," a song that brought acclaim to the area he had not yet visited when he wrote it, has died.
Pennsylvania native Dick Thomas hit gold with the popular song, which cited a red-haired lass that none other could match. The song, co-written in 1943 with Philadelphia radio announcer Ray Freedman, was covered by a host of other performers, including Bing Crosby and Gene Autry, who also starred in a "Sioux City Sue" movie. Thomas, 88, died Saturday, Nov. 22, at an Abington, Pa., hospital.
Longtime Sioux City radio and television personality Don Stone said he first heard the song when he was in the Army. Those in the service from the town "took a lot of razzing about it," Stone said, but the fact was that it brought acclaim to Sioux City. "It was widely known all over the world," Stone said.
Added Stone, "It had stature across the country, at least, if not the world, because of its melody and catchy rhythms."
Thomas began his entertainment career as a singer and yodeler in Philadelphia in 1934. A few years later he went to California, where he landed in western movies and had his own radio show. It was while awaiting a call by the U.S. Army in World War II that he and Freedman wrote "Sioux City Sue." His recording of the song was made in 1943, but not released until 1945, when it first appeared on sheet music, too.
The following year Thomas came to Grandview Park in Sioux City to judge 23 women who sought to be named "Sioux City Sue." Said Thomas on seeing the nominees, "When Ray Freedman and I wrote the song we had no idea that there were so many beautiful girls in Sioux City, but now I know that Sioux City deserves its reputation for having more good-looking women to the square block than any other city in the United States."
Life magazine sent a reporter to that contest, which drew 25,000 people to the park and was broadcast on radio by Stone. Gayle Jean Hofstad won the first contest and a Republic Studio screen test. She talked excitedly about meeting Autry, Roy Rogers, Shirley Temple, Cary Grant and Rudy Vallee on the trip. That contest resulted in Sioux City native Daisy Dean Crookham writing the song "We've Found Our Sioux City Sue."
Other Sioux City Sue contests were held in subsequent years. The women had to be blue-eyed, red-haired gals, as per the song lyrics:
"Sioux City Sue, Sioux City Sue
Your hair is red, your eyes are blue
I'd swap my horse and dog for you
Sioux City Sue, Sioux City Sue
There ain't no gal as true
As my Sioux City Sue."
The Journal reported some prospective contestants held "back for fear that their hair is not red enough or their eyes not blue enough." Hofstad held the title until 1950, when Beverly Johnson won the second title and got to visit Max Factor's Hollywood make-up studio, a place that designed a new lipstick scheme for her.
As an example of the reach of the song, a B-17 plane was named Sioux City Sue in 1946.
Thomas wrote and recorded extensively through the mid-1950s. On his Web site (www.siouxcitysue.com) several people have posted remembrances of Thomas.
Bret Hayworth may be reached at (712)293-4203 or brethayworth@siouxcityjournal.com
Pennsylvania native Dick Thomas hit gold with the popular song, which cited a red-haired lass that none other could match. The song, co-written in 1943 with Philadelphia radio announcer Ray Freedman, was covered by a host of other performers, including Bing Crosby and Gene Autry, who also starred in a "Sioux City Sue" movie. Thomas, 88, died Saturday, Nov. 22, at an Abington, Pa., hospital.
Longtime Sioux City radio and television personality Don Stone said he first heard the song when he was in the Army. Those in the service from the town "took a lot of razzing about it," Stone said, but the fact was that it brought acclaim to Sioux City. "It was widely known all over the world," Stone said.
Added Stone, "It had stature across the country, at least, if not the world, because of its melody and catchy rhythms."
Thomas began his entertainment career as a singer and yodeler in Philadelphia in 1934. A few years later he went to California, where he landed in western movies and had his own radio show. It was while awaiting a call by the U.S. Army in World War II that he and Freedman wrote "Sioux City Sue." His recording of the song was made in 1943, but not released until 1945, when it first appeared on sheet music, too.
The following year Thomas came to Grandview Park in Sioux City to judge 23 women who sought to be named "Sioux City Sue." Said Thomas on seeing the nominees, "When Ray Freedman and I wrote the song we had no idea that there were so many beautiful girls in Sioux City, but now I know that Sioux City deserves its reputation for having more good-looking women to the square block than any other city in the United States."
Life magazine sent a reporter to that contest, which drew 25,000 people to the park and was broadcast on radio by Stone. Gayle Jean Hofstad won the first contest and a Republic Studio screen test. She talked excitedly about meeting Autry, Roy Rogers, Shirley Temple, Cary Grant and Rudy Vallee on the trip. That contest resulted in Sioux City native Daisy Dean Crookham writing the song "We've Found Our Sioux City Sue."
Other Sioux City Sue contests were held in subsequent years. The women had to be blue-eyed, red-haired gals, as per the song lyrics:
"Sioux City Sue, Sioux City Sue
Your hair is red, your eyes are blue
I'd swap my horse and dog for you
Sioux City Sue, Sioux City Sue
There ain't no gal as true
As my Sioux City Sue."
The Journal reported some prospective contestants held "back for fear that their hair is not red enough or their eyes not blue enough." Hofstad held the title until 1950, when Beverly Johnson won the second title and got to visit Max Factor's Hollywood make-up studio, a place that designed a new lipstick scheme for her.
As an example of the reach of the song, a B-17 plane was named Sioux City Sue in 1946.
Thomas wrote and recorded extensively through the mid-1950s. On his Web site (www.siouxcitysue.com) several people have posted remembrances of Thomas.
Bret Hayworth may be reached at (712)293-4203 or brethayworth@siouxcityjournal.com
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