Fran Warren Dies: ‘Sunday Kind Of Love’ Singer Dead At 87

Fran Warren, a singer and actress best remembered for her 1947 recording of “A Sunday Kind of Love,” died earlier this month at her home in Brookfield, Connecticut.

Alan Eichler, a spokesman for the singer, said Tuesday that Warren passed away on March 4 of natural causes.

Born Frances Wolfe, Fran kicked off her music career while still in her early teens, performing at local clubs and dancing in the chorus line at the Roxy Theater.

At the age of 16, Fran auditioned for legendary Big Band orchestrator Duke Ellington. Though she never made it into Ellington’s group, Fran soon began performing with bands led by Randy Brooks, Art Mooney, Charlie Barnet, Claude Thornhill and Billy Eckstine.

Wikipedia notes that it was Eckstine who gave her the stage name of Fran Warren. In 1947, Warren landed on the music charts for the first time, with the Claude Thornhill band’s recording of A Sunday Kind Of Love on Columbia Records.

A year later, Warren decided to become a solo artist and released a number of hits — her biggest being “I Said My Pajamas (and Put On My Pray’rs), “a duet with Tony Martin that reached No. 3 on the charts.

In addition to her musical talents, Warren also was a gifted actress, appearing in the 1952 comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd and also as a guest on numerous television variety programs in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

In the early 80s, Warren joined forces with trumpet player Joe Cabot and the two toured together with the musical review The Big Broadcast of 1944.

Warren is survived by her two daughters and two nieces.

In memory of Fran Warren, watch the video tribute dedicated to her below: