Song:Sunday
Album:Flower Drum Song: Original Broadway Cast
Most fans are probably familiar with the film version of Flower Drum Song and Nancy Kwan as Linda Low singing I Enjoy Being A Girl and Sunday. But Nancy wasn't in the original Broadway show. Pat Suzuki played Linda Low. I don't think most fans are familiar with her. She was born Sept. 22, 1939 in Cressy, CA. Her family was in a WWII internment camp. In the early 50s, Pat graduated from San Jose State with a teaching degree. She was planning to travel to Europe but she ran out of money in New York. After appearing in a touring production of The Teahouse of the August Moon, she moved to Seattle and sang in the Colony Club for three years. Bing Crosby spotted her and got her a deal with RCA. Her 1958 album Pat Suzuki won a Downbeat Disc Jockey poll for best new singer of the year. So she was probably going to be a jazz singer. After an appearance on The Tonight Show starring Jack Paar, Rodgers and Hammerstein cast her as Linda Low in Flower Drum Song. Most fans saw Larry Blyden on game shows. He hosted What's My Line from 1972-75. But he started out on Broadway. The role of Sammy Fong in Flower Drum Song was probably his biggest role. He was nominated for a Tony. But Blyden left the show and Jack Soo was in the film. Pat Suzuki was pregnant when the film version of Flower Drum Song was being cast. Pat continued to appear on stage and in nightclubs. You may have seen her in the 70s sitcom Mr. T and Tina with Pat Morita. With a little luck Pat Suzuki could have been a big star. Here's Pat Suzuki and Larry Blyden performing Sunday on a 1958 episode of The Ed Sullivan Show.
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