Katy de la Cruz

Katy de la Cruz (born Catalina de la Cruz; February 13, 1907 – November 10, 2004) was a leading Filipino singer who specialized in jazz vocals and torch songs in a performing career that lasted eight decades. Hailed as "The Queen of Filipino Jazz" and as "The Queen of Bodabil", she was, by the age of 18, the highest paid entertainer in the Philippines. De la Cruz also appeared in films and received a FAMAS Best Supporting Actress Award in 1953. De la Cruz was born on February 13, 1907, in Intramuros, Manila. Even as a young child, de la Cruz would be hired to sing at town fiestas, and at intermissions during cockfights and boxing matches. Her formal schooling ended at the third grade. In 1914, when de la Cruz was seven, she was hired by...