Song:Paper Roses
Album:Red Feather Girl: The Ultimate Collection
Today Anita Bryant evokes orange juice commercials and her controversial views on homosexuality. But she was a 1958 beauty queen and Paper Roses was a top five hit in 1959. The problem was her music was already outdated and the British Invasion killed her singing career. She was born Mar. 25, 1940 in Barnsdall, OK. Anita appeared on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts and then was Miss Oklahoma. She was second runner up in the 1959 Miss America pageant. Then she signed with Carlton Records. Paper Roses was her fourth single and it reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959. The song was written by veteran songwriter Fritz "Fred" Spielman and Janice Torre. They had written songs mostly for movies. Paper Roses was their biggest hit. Monty Kelly conducted the orchestra. Anita's only other top ten hit was In My Little Corner Of the World in 1960. She signed with Columbia but didn't have the same success there. You can get all her hits on this comp. Of course Marie Osmond's 1972 cover of Paper Roses was an even bigger hit. By the late 60s, she started doing those commercials for Florida Orange Juice. She left Columbia to record religious music for Word Records in 1970. Her anti-gay campaign made her somewhat of a pariah. She was dropped by the Florida Orange Juice people in 1979. In the 90s, she had her own theater in Branson , MO. After declaring bankruptcy in 1997, Anita and her husband moved back to Oklahoma where she runs her own ministry. Plans for an Anita Bryant biopic starring Uma Thurman were announced at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Sex and the City producer Darren Star will produce. Here's Anita Bryant performing Paper Roses on Dick Clark's Beech Nut Show July 23, 1960.
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