The Andrews Sisters the group was formed, and 12 when they won first prize at a talent contest at the local Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, where LaVerne played piano accompaniment for the silent film showings in exchange for free dancing lessons for herself and her sisters. Following the collapse of their father's Minneapolis restaurant, the sisters went on the road to support the family. They started their career as imitators of an earlier successful singing group, the Boswell Sisters, who were popular in the 1930s. After singing with various dance bands and touring in vaudeville with the likes of Leon Belasco (and his
The Dinning Sisters Dinning; 1918–2000) (died as Marvin Smith), was a vocalist with Wally Stoefler "(né" Wallace Udell Stoeffler; 1906–1979) and His Orchestra from the late 1930s through the early 1950s. She had married Harry Smith "(né" Harry Franklin Smith) — a featured trumpeter with the Stoefler Orchestra — on January 3, 1942, in Shawnee, Oklahoma. The Dinning Sisters The Dinning Sisters were an American sisters singing group, active from 1941 to 1955. The trio consisted of Ella Lucille "Lou" Dinning (September 29, 1920 – April 28, 2000), Jean Dinning (March 29, 1924 – February 22, 2011) and Virginia "Ginger" Dinning (March 29,