Patricia Marie Andrews

 Patricia Marie Andrews (February 16, 1918 – January 30, 2013)

Her sisters were Lavern Sophie and Maxene Angelyn Andrews. Their father, Peter Andrews did not think it honorable to have his daughters in show business and decided they should go back to school and become secretaries. Maxine was only four when she first appeared on her first radio broadcast in Minneapolis. By the time she was six she was entertaining at veterans hospitals, for the Mayor of Minneapolis and at Daughters of American Revolution luncheons. Laverne started the trio of sisters and they appeared in kiddie revues on local radio stations and at the Orpheum in their hometown of Minneapolis. It was there they were discovered by Larry Rich, who offered them a job with his traveling revue. Patty was only ten at the time. They began their career in New York city with Jack Belasco's orchestra and later with Ted Mack making the Vaudeville circuit. In 1937 they were heard by recording executive, Dave Kapp and they began a long association with a string of hits. In 1953, the group broke up with Laverne going to New York to study dramatics. Laverne became a career housewife and Patti stayed in show business as a single after their hopes and ambitions clashed with one another. In 1956 they regrouped and sang in Las Vegas at the Flamingo Hotel along with a host of TV offers and a new Capitol recording contract. Their first major hit was "Bei Mir Bist Du Schon", was very well liked by Nazi Germany, until the discovery that the songwriters were a Jewish race. Other top hits included "Don't Fence Me In", "Apple Blossom Time", "Rum and Coca Cola", and "I Can Dream, Can't I?", in 1937.

Patty and Maxene's careers experienced a resurgence when Bette Midler covered "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" in 1973. The next year, the pair debuted on Broadway in the Sherman Brothers' nostalgic World War II musical: Over Here! which premiered at the Shubert Theatre to rave reviews. This was a follow-up to Patty's success in Victory Canteen, a 1971 California revue. Over Here! starred Maxene and Patty (with Janie Sell filling in for LaVerne and winning a Tony Award for her performance) and was written with both sisters in mind for the leads. Patty and Maxene were in attendance on October 1, 1987, when they received a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame (Their sister Lavern died in 1967). atty died of natural causes at her home in Northridge, California, on January 30, 2013 at the age of 94. Weschler, her husband of nearly 60 years, had died on August 28, 2010, at the age of 88. She is interred at Westwood Memorial Park.