Jazz Singer. A popular vocalist of the 1960s and 1970s, she is remembered as the lead singer and fifth wife of bandleader Louis Prima. Raised in South Jersey, she began vocal training at age four, graduated from Toms River High School in 1959, and was working as a waitress at a Howard Johnson's to save money for Juilliard when she was hired by Prima following a 1962 audition. Gia began touring with Prima's ensemble The Witnesses and in 1963 married him at Lake Tahoe and released her debut album entitled "This Is ...Gia" which earned her praise for her performances of such standards as "Moonglow", "My Funny Valentine", and "Unforgettable". Over the next 12 years Gia was to headline with Prima at the top night spots of New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and elsewhere, appear with him on the television variety shows hosted by Ed Sullivan, Merv Griffin, Dean Martin, Mike Douglas, Bob Hope, and others, sing on 14 albums including "Lake Tahoe Prima Style" and a 1965 collection of jazz arrangements of Disney tunes entitled "Let's Fly with Mary Poppins", and even play a waitress in a 1963 episode of "Kraft Mystery Theatre". After Prima was reduced to a permanent vegetative state by 1975 brain surgery, Gia assumed his care until his 1978 death, then engaged in 15 years of litigation with the Prima family over his estate. Following the 1994 settlement she supervised the re-release of his recorded legacy and appeared in at least two television retrospectives. Gia lived out her days in the Florida panhandle.
Jazz Singer. A popular vocalist of the 1960s and 1970s, she is remembered as the lead singer and fifth wife of bandleader Louis Prima. Raised in South Jersey, she began vocal training at age four, graduated from Toms River High School in 1959, and was working as a waitress at a Howard Johnson's to save money for Juilliard when she was hired by Prima following a 1962 audition. Gia began touring with Prima's ensemble The Witnesses and in 1963 married him at Lake Tahoe and released her debut album entitled "This Is ...Gia" which earned her praise for her performances of such standards as "Moonglow", "My Funny Valentine", and "Unforgettable". Over the next 12 years Gia was to headline with Prima at the top night spots of New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and elsewhere, appear with him on the television variety shows hosted by Ed Sullivan, Merv Griffin, Dean Martin, Mike Douglas, Bob Hope, and others, sing on 14 albums including "Lake Tahoe Prima Style" and a 1965 collection of jazz arrangements of Disney tunes entitled "Let's Fly with Mary Poppins", and even play a waitress in a 1963 episode of "Kraft Mystery Theatre". After Prima was reduced to a permanent vegetative state by 1975 brain surgery, Gia assumed his care until his 1978 death, then engaged in 15 years of litigation with the Prima family over his estate. Following the 1994 settlement she supervised the re-release of his recorded legacy and appeared in at least two television retrospectives. Gia lived out her days in the Florida panhandle.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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