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Jane Harvey

American jazz singer

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 4, 2026
Entity authorityQ14618674
Source-derived summary

Jane Harvey (born Phyllis Taff, January 6, 1925 – August 15, 2013) was an American jazz singer, known for recording several tracks with musicians such as Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman during the 1940s.

Phyllis Taft was born on January 6, 1925, in Jersey City, New Jersey. She auditioned for Barney Josephson, who offered her an opportunity to perform at his Greenwich Village's nightclub, Café Society. Prior to performing, Taft changed her name to Jane Harvey.

In 1946, she joined Desi Arnaz's Orchestra, until she left in 1958 to raise her son, Bob Thiele Jr. She also entertained at military bases overseas with Bob Hope. During the late 1950s, she joined Duke Ellington's Orchestra. Around the time of her death, she performed locally in the Los Angeles area.

She was married to record producer Bob Thiele and had two children, her son Robert and a daughter. She later married William King.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Jane Harvey” as american jazz singer. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Jane, Harvey and American.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1925, 2013, 1946, 1958—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1925-01-06. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Jane, Harvey and American providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Jane Harvey”, the useful work is to connect “american jazz singer” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q14618674. VIAF identifies the subject as 1648854. The Library of Congress control number is n91056536. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1925, 2013, 1946 and 1958.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Jane Harvey”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Jane Harvey primary sources, Jane Harvey archive and Jane research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Jane Harvey”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Jane Harvey” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.