Singer. She is best remembered for her noteworthy rendition of the jazz standard "All About Ronnie" (1953). Born Mary Loutsenhizer, the first of two daughters born unto a Western Union telegrapher and a housewife, while working as a secretary following her graduating from high school, she spent weekends singing with a Kenton-influenced college jazz band at the University of Missouri. In 1949, after moving to New York City, New York, she joined the Claude Thornhill Orchestra as a member of The Four Snowflakes where she happened to be discovered by fellow singer June Christy who overheard her on a radio broadcast from a New Orleans hotel and recommended her to the prominent band leader, Stan Kenton. In 1954, she recorded her first album, "Chris Connor Sings Lullaby's of Birdland" with the Ellis Larkins Trio. As a professional singer, Connor was often compared to fellow songstresses Carmen McRae, Anita O'Day, and Ella Fitzgerald, while being noted as possessing a voice which contained warm cello-like tones with minimal vibration. In 1953, she withdrew from Stan Kenton's Orchestra to embark upon a solo career. Already successful on record per her connections with Kenton, she was first contracted to Bethlehem Records. Her album with the pianist Ellis Larkins was highly acclaimed and she later transferred to Atlantic, making the charts in 1956 with the title track from the album "I Miss You So" and in 1957 with "Trust in Me". In a 50 year career, she recorded over 40 albums for the label, including "Chris Connor," "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not," "Chris Connor Sings the George Gershwin Almanac of Song" and "A Portrait of Chris." Instead of re-signing with Atlantic in 1963, having became nationally prominent, she chose to sign with her manager Monte Kay's lesser known label, FM. She managed to record two albums before the label declared bankruptcy in 1964. After years of obscurity and excessive drinking, from which she triumphantly recovered, she revived her career and freelanced as a recorder for a variety of labels, enjoying a successful comeback in the mid-1980s. She recorded the records, "Haunted Heart," "I Walk With Music," and "Everything I Love," on Highnote Records. During her career, she played such notable venues as Carnegie Hall and The Kennedy Center, was a regular parishioner of the Catholic church, was supportive of the Democratic party, was an activist for the LGBT community, presided as an honorary chairwoman for Music Heals, and was recognized as being the number ten Favorite Female Vocalist of 1957. In 2002, she retired from singing following the release of her final album "Everything I Love" and spent the final years of her life devoted to family, dividing time between her homes in New York City, New York, and Ocean County, New Jersey, and being a benefactor for several libraries, public schools, and colleges. A lifelong smoker, she died from complications of cancer.