Julie Budd

Every once in a blue moon a spectacular young singing voice comes out of nowhere and immediately blows away the listening audience with its sheer range, strength, clarity, purity and maturity. While such remarkable adolescent talents such as Judy Garland, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Tanya Tucker, and Charlotte Church initially come to mind, one must include in this distinctive company a young Brooklyn wisp of a girl then-named "Little" Julie Budd, who took to a microphone on TV for the first time as a young teen on "The Merv Griffin Show" and received a standing ovation by song's end. Since that phenomenal reception in 1968, Julie has continued to command with her own cabaret shows, and in showrooms and symphonic halls as well as in her many recordings of pop songs, show music and lush standards. Julie Budd continues to be a force to be reckoned with. Born Edie Erdman on May 4, 1954, of Jewish descent, New Yorker Julie's vocal skills were tapped into quite early. While participating in (and winning) a talent contest in the Catskill Mountains, the 12-year-old singing prodigy was spotted by producer/arranger Herb Bernstein, who would become her longtime friend, conductor, pianist, songwriter and mentor. It would not be long before the girl with the throbbing, powerful belt was dubbed "The Mini-Girl with the Maxi-Voice" and "The Young Barbra Streisand." Signed to a recording contract with MGM, she released her first album at age 13 with 1968's "Child of Plenty" and was pointed towards TV starting with Merv Griffin who was impressed after Bernstein sent him Julie's demo. Steered for a time by Griffin after her 1968 TV debut on his program (she made about 40 Griffin appearances in all), Julie proceeded to become a regular fixture on the variety and talk show circuit -- "Della," "The Ed Sullivan Show," "The Kraft Music Hall," "The Jim Nabors Show" (his first show), "The Carol Burnett Show," "The David Frost Show," "The Tonight Show" and "Entertainment Tonight". The teen phenom went on to serve as the opening act for such top entertainment icons as Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Bill Cosby, Joan Rivers, George Burns and Liberace. Around this time Julie was asked to sing the title song for the film Living Free (1972), the sequel to the hit wildlife movie classic Born Free (1966). While the transition from child to adult star can be a rocky and often unsuccessful road, the grown-up Julie, having endured the expected ups and downs of a career, remains the showstopper she has always been and has an extremely devoted following. Considered one of the great Amerian female singers still performing today, she continues to tour the club and concert circuit with her own one-woman shows both here (Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Algonquin Hotel, Savoy Room, various Las Vegas/Atlantic City showrooms) and occasionally abroad (The London Palladium, Israeli Arts Center). While Julie has branched out on occasion into acting work both on stage and in film, she prefers "live" concerts where she can feel her audience. She did appear in Neil Simon's "They're Playing Our Song" and in the revue "Catskills on Broadway". As for film, she had a showy vehicle in the Disney film feature The Devil and Max Devlin (1981) co-starring with Elliott Gould and Bill Cosby in which she sang "Any Fools Can See" and, what would become her signature song, "Roses and Rainbows." While this opportunity led initially to a three-picture deal with Disney, the contract was canceled before it started when the company changed hands. Julie would not make another film until decades later when she played the minor role of a Brooklyn mother in Two Lovers (2008) which starred Joaquin Phoenix, Isabella Rossellini and Gwyneth Paltrow. Known for her grandly theatrical and emotionally vibrant performances, Julie enjoyed an enduring working relationship with conductor/composer/musical director Marvin Hamlisch that lasted until his death in August of 2012. It was Hamlisch and Carole Bayer Sager who wrote Julie's movie theme song "Roses and Rainbows". As a favor to Hamlisch, Julie performed "The Barbra Streisand Songbook" for the Seattle Symphony in 2011. She has also been from time to time back in the recording studio ("Pure Imagination," "The New Classics"). In addition to the Seattle Symphony, Julie has performed as a soloist with such other preeminent classical orchestras including the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, The Kennedy Center with the National Symphony, The Austin Symphony, the Philadelphia Pops, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.