Wini Shaw

Wini Shaw, born Winifred Lei Momi in approximately 1907 in San Francisco, was an American actress, dancer, and singer of Hawaiian descent. The youngest of 13 children, she died on May 2, 1982. Some sources place her birth year as 1910, though the Social Security Death Index, which lists her under her married name Wini O'Malley, indicates 1907. She was also credited professionally as Winifred Shaw.

Shaw's performing career began in childhood, when she appeared in her parents' vaudeville act. She later became a fixture in Warner Brothers musical films during the 1930s, with her most enduring contribution being the introduction of the song "Lullaby of Broadway" in Gold Diggers of 1935. Her only commercial recording, made on February 28, 1935 with Dick Jurgens and His Orchestra, captured that song alongside "I'm Goin' Shoppin' with You," both drawn from the same film.

In 1935 she also appeared in In Caliente, starring Dolores del Río, performing "The Lady in Red," a song that later gained additional recognition when Bugs Bunny, voiced by Mel Blanc, parodied it in a cartoon. Two years later, Shaw filmed a live duet on the sound stage with Ross Alexander for the finale of Ready, Willing, and Able (1937), performing "Too Marvelous for Words" while Alexander recited and spoke alongside her singing.

Shaw's Broadway credit was a brief revival of the musical Simple Simon in 1931 in New York City. During World War II, she traveled to service camps and Red Cross clubs as part of USO tours, on some occasions performing with the Jack Benny or Larry Adler troupes.