Dinah Shore Net Worth | Celebrity Net Worth

What is Dinah Shore’s Net Worth?

Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and radio and television personality who had a net worth of $20 million at the time of her death in 1994. That’s the same as $40 million today after adjusting for inflation. Dinah Shore rose to fame during the Big Band era of the 1940s. One of the most successful solo recording artists of the time, she had a string of popular hits from 1940 to 1957, including “I’ll Walk Alone,” “The Gypsy,” “Buttons and Bows,” and “Sweet Violets.” Shore became even more popular as the host of a number of television variety shows in the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s.

Early Life and Education

Dinah Shore was born as Frances Shore on February 29, 1916 in Winchester, Tennessee to Russian-Jewish immigrants Anna and Solomon. She had an older sister named Elizabeth, better known as Bessie. As an infant, Shore was stricken with polio, giving her a permanent deformed foot and a limp. Growing up, she found joy in singing, and often performed songs for customers of her father’s shop. In 1924, the family moved to McMinnville, Tennessee; a few years later, they moved to Nashville. There, Shore was educated at Hume-Fogg High School. She went on to attend Vanderbilt University, from which she graduated with a degree in sociology in 1938.

Career Beginnings

After graduating from college, Shore moved to New York City to audition for radio stations and orchestras. She often auditioned with the song “Dinah,” which she eventually took as her stage name. Hired at the radio station WNEW, Shore sang with Frank Sinatra and recorded and performed with Xavier Cugat’s orchestra. In 1939, she made her national radio debut on the CBS Radio show “Ben Bernie’s Orchestra,” and a year later she was made a featured vocalist on the NBC Radio program “The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street.”

Success as a Solo Artist

In 1940, Shore was signed as a regular on Eddie Cantor’s radio show “Time to Smile.” On the show, she introduced the song “Yes, My Darling Daughter,” her first solo record. It peaked at number 10 on the Billboard chart. In 1941, Shore had two big hits with her versions of “I Hear a Rhapsody” and “Jim,” the latter reaching number five on the Billboard chart. Subsequent successful singles included “Miss You,” “Blues in the Night,” “Skylark,” “One Dozen Roses,” “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To,” “I’ll Walk Alone,” and “Candy.” With her success, Shore continued appearing on radio shows throughout the 1940s, including “Paul Whiteman Presents” and “Ford Radio Show.” She was also a hit with troops during World War II, and toured the European Theater of Operations.

Shore enjoyed her greatest commercial success after moving to Columbia Records in 1946. That year, she had such hit songs as “Shoo-Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy,” “The Gypsy,” and “Doin’ What Comes Natur’lly.” Over the subsequent years, she had hits with “(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons,” “The Anniversary Song,” “I Wish I Didn’t Love You So,” and “Buttons and Bows,” among other songs. In 1950, Shore returned to RCA Victor and had a hit with her cover of “My Heart Cries for You.” The next year, she found success with her cover of “Sweet Violets.” Shore also did a number of duets with Tony Martin, with the most popular being “A Penny a Kiss.” She had her last top-20 hit, “Chantez, Chantez,” in 1957.

Later Recording Career

Shore stayed at RCA Victor until 1958, and then signed with Capitol Records. At the label, she released collaboration albums with such artists as André Previn and Red Norvo. After being dropped by Capitol in 1962, Shore became much less prolific as a recording artist, releasing only a smattering of albums over the next two decades. Her final studio album, “Dinah!: I’ve Got a Song,” came out in 1979.

Television Career

Following her many radio successes, Shore transitioned to television in the late 1940s, making guest appearances on various shows. In 1951, she began hosting her own program, “The Dinah Shore Show,” on NBC. Hugely popular, the variety show ran through the summer of 1957. Meanwhile, in 1956, Shore started hosting a monthly series of hour-long, full-color specials as part of NBC’s “The Chevy Show.” The specials were so popular that the show was renamed “The Dinah Shore Chevy Show”; it ran until 1961. Shore subsequently hosted a series of monthly programs sponsored by the American Dairy Association and Green Stamps.

In the 1970s, Shore hosted the daytime variety talk shows “Dinah’s Place” and “Dinah!,” the latter of which was renamed “Dinah and Friends” in 1979. The programs featured such guests as Ginger Rogers, Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, and Frank Sinatra. Shore also acted in the 1979 television film “Death Car on the Freeway.” In the 1980s, she appeared in episodes of “Hotel,” “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” and “Murder, She Wrote.” Shore also began hosting the cable show “A Conversation with Dinah,” which ran from 1989 to 1992. During that time, in 1991, she hosted her final television special, “Dinah Comes Home.”

Film Career

In the 1940s, Shore appeared in a number of musical films. After making her film debut in the 1943 musical comedy “Thank Your Lucky Stars,” she appeared in such films as “Up in Arms,” “Follow the Boys,” “Belle of the Yukon,” and “Till the Clouds Roll By.” Shore also narrated the Disney animated musical anthology films “Make Mine Music!” and “Fun and Fancy Free.” She didn’t appear much on the big screen after the 1940s, but did have a role in the 1952 musical “Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick.” Later on, Shore had cameos in the comedies “Oh, God!” (1977) and “HealtH” (1980).

(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Golf

An avid golfer and proponent of women’s professional golf, Shore helped found the Colgate Dinah Shore Golf Tournament, which became one of the major golf tournaments on the LPGA Tour. In honor of her contributions to the world of golf, she was made an honorary member of the LPGA Hall of Fame in 1994.

Personal Life and Death

In 1943, Shore married actor George Montgomery. The couple had a daughter named Missy and an adopted son named Jody. In 1962, they divorced. Shore was subsequently married to professional tennis player Maurice Smith from 1963 to 1964. Later, in the 1970s, she was in a six-year relationship with actor Burt Reynolds.

In 1993, Shore was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She passed away from the disease on February 24, 1994 at her home in Beverly Hills, California. A couple of years later, a Golden Palm Star was dedicated to her on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars in Palm Springs, California, where she used to live.