Meredith Howard
By Marv Goldberg
© 2026 by Marv Goldberg
Meredith Howard had a short career, with only six records to her credit (and two of those released under the name of a fictional character she played). She built slowly, blazed, and then left the business altogether. In addition, there's not a single mention or ad for any public appearance that wasn't a benefit show. Making my life more fun: a more famous Meredith Howard was a former Ziegfeld Girl and was all over the papers at the time. Note that there doesn't seem to be a single promo photo of Meredith.
Meredith Constance Howard was born on October 9, 1930 in New York City. Her father was Clarence Windfield Howard and her mother was Mabel Elise Carter. Singer/pianist Hazel Scott was a cousin.
Meredith had an older brother, Paul, born in 1922, who was actually more famous. As "Paul White", he was one of Ted Lewis' "Shadows" on and off for years and was in many movies. The first seven of those were made in New York between 1931-2. In 1937, he got his family to move to Los Angeles, where he made an additional 15 (including "Boy Of The Streets" with Jackie Cooper and the "Zoot Suit" Soundie with Dorothy Dandridge).
However, there's something strange here. In the 1930 census, taken before Meredith had been born, the family consisted of Clarence and Mabel Howard and Paul White. Nothing odd about that, except that Clarence was down as having been born in Pennsylvania (which is true), but the census also asked where each person's parents were born; the answer for Paul White was that his father was born in South Carolina. Since he was only six at the time, he wouldn't have given the answer. It's possible that he really was "Paul White" and not "Paul Howard".
An article in the October 28, 1937 California Eagle said that "Stymie Beard and Meredith White are back at Warners for retakes on "Too Much Of Everything", starring Beulah Granville and Delores Costello. From this, we learn that Meredith was calling herself "Meredith White", she was in a movie called "Too Much Of Everything" (which was re-titled "The Beloved Brat" when released), and that the writer had no idea who Bonita Granville was. While the full article was mostly about agent Ben Carter, it also mentioned Paul White:
Likely to prove the most spectacular youthful personality to enter films since Jeni LeGon was hailed a new find by RKO: little Paul White, aged 14, who came here 3 months ago from the New York Theatre Guild where Carter picked him for film work....
Paul's little sister, Meredith, also under Carter's management, is no small fry when it comes to screen acting herself. She made her debut with credit in "You Can't Have Everything". [True about the film, but she wasn't credited.]
In 1938, Meredith was in these movies:
The Beloved Brat (as Meredith White - released 4/30/38)
Penrod's Double Trouble (as Meredith White - released 7/23/38)
Kentucky (as Meredith Howard - released 12/30/38)
And, there was one more the next year:
Way Down South (uncredited - released 7/21/39)
The 1940 census shows Meredith as Clarence and Mabel's "son" (just as many males as females are named "Meredith"). This time, however, Paul is enumerated as "Paul Howard".
Meredith's last known film was "They Meet Again" (as Meredith Howard - released in July 1941).
The February 28, 1942 California Eagle had an article titled "Buffet Supper Honors Paul White, Popular Young Actor; Celebs Attend." While it was about Paul, I bring it up because agent Ben Carter managed to corral some interesting talent to attend (at mother Mabel's house): Kitty Bilbrew (whom you'd later know as "Kitty White" when she appeared singing with Elvis in "King Creole"), Stymie Beard (of the "Our Gang" films), Dorothy Dandridge, Judy Carol (who recorded with the 3 Peppers and Lucky Millinder), Lenny Bluett (from the Dreamers Quartet), Jeni LeGon, Mantan Moreland, and the Nicholas Brothers. Of course, Meredith was there; she sang "Take Another Guess".
The November 6, 1947 California Eagle had a small article about Mabel giving a birthday party for Meredith (and inviting 65 of her closest friends). This shows, if nothing else, that, although Meredith seemingly hadn't done anything since 1941, she was still considered newsworthy at this point.
On April 26, 1948, Meredith (called a "blues singer"), Paul, and Butterfly McQueen entertained at a community sing at Lafayette Junior High School. However, the highlight seemed to be Superior Court Judge Benjamin Scheinman playing boogie woogie piano.
On July 17, 1948, Meredith ("teenage popular vocalist") was one of those who entertained at an Outdoor Life & Health Association street carnival. Others who appeared (and had their names mangled by the report in the July 22 California Eagle) were drummer Zutty Singleton, trumpeter Karl George, and actor Dooley Wilson.
And then, a wondrous event (although it probably seemed perfectly normal at the time). Meredith, still a student at Belmont High School, was in a school show on December 3, 1948. The MC was actor Jack Webb, a Belmont alumnus, who was there for a reunion with his former classmates. We'll see how this plays out in a bit.
Since this is the point where former Ziegfeld Girl Meredith Howard was all over the news, she pushed "our" Meredith to the background.
In spite of that, through the efforts of Berle Adams (see a couple of paragraphs below), on July 14, 1949 Meredith got to record four songs for RCA Victor, backed by Benny Carter's band: "Cold Potato", "Home Cookin' Mama", "Easy Come, Easy Go Blues", and "Jelly And Bread". She was only 18, but sounded much more mature.
The last two were released in September and reviewed in the September 24 Billboard:
Jelly And Bread (71): New blues thrush shows some promise in her handling of a double entendre novelty.
Easy Come, Easy Go Blues (76): Miss Howard delivers this earthy blues with lots of body and feeling.
The October 8 California Tribune had a photo of Meredith, now enrolled at Los Angeles City College, singing for her classmates.
This was in the October 15, 1949 Billboard, titled "RCA Releases Adams's Blues":
RCA Victor is releasing some blues and rhythm disks by new performers thru a special arrangement with Berle Adams, it was learned this week [story dated Oct. 8]. Adams gets the artists and records them at his own expense, but gets the use of RCA's Coast studios. Victor then has the option of accepting or rejecting masters. Adams gets a flat percentage of the price of each sold, out of which he pays publisher and performer royalties. Victor also has the option to sign any of the Adams artists to a recording contract. So far, thrush Meredith Howard and warblers Gay Crosse and Joe Robinson are the Adams products whose disks have been accepted by Victor. [Adams seems to have discovered her singing at some school function.]
RCA agreed to release Meredith's songs, but never actually signed her. Her second RCA disc was the raunchy "Home Cookin' Mama", backed with "Cold Potato", in December 1949. It was first advertised on January 7, 1950 and reviewed in the January 21 Billboard:
Home Cookin' Mama (63): Spiritless ork backing hampers thrush here. In proper setting, a strong blues style might emerge.
Cold Potato (54): A forced novelty ditty has Miss Howard at complete disadvantage.
Meredith sang at a benefit Musical Tea on April 2. It was one of those Really Important Affairs: "The Tea is given by Mrs. Emma Carter Taylor for her infant daughter, Marilyn, a contestant in the Wilfandel Club Baby Contest [said the March 30 California Eagle]."
The 1950 census holds no real surprises. Paul and Meredith are living with their mother, Mabel, and her brother Walter Carter. Mabel says she's separated, Paul is an "Entertainer - Theatre Circuit", and Meredith shows no occupation.
This bizarre account was in the April 6, 1950 California Eagle: "Meredith Howard thought she was a broad jumper. Last week she made an attempt to jump from a running car, uninjured. Poor child almost went to heaven." I'll let you interpret that any way you want.
Another benefit. On April 14, she ("Capitol record vocalist") performed at the annual YWCA benefit dance at the Elks Ballroom. I don't understand the reference to Capitol, for whom she would record, but not for over a year in the future.
Another benefit. On May 18, she was at the El Sombrero for the Boy Scouts Of Los Angeles. Also present were Hattie McDaniel, Helen Humes, and the Ravens (who were appearing at the Oasis at the time).
In early 1951, Meredith recorded four songs for Mercury: "Am I To Blame", "Goodbye", "Ten Minutes More (And I'll Be Gone)", and "Just Kiss Me Once". You'll see a recording date of June 14, but that's totally wrong. She was called a Mercury recording artist in the April 7, 1951 Billboard and the April 14 Cash Box. The band on the session consisted of Maxwell Davis (tenor sax), Marshall Royal (alto sax), Jack McVea (baritone sax), Art Farmer (trumpet), Willard McDaniel (piano), Billy Hadnott (bass), and Oscar Lee Bradley (drums).
Mercury released "Just Kiss Me Once" and "Am I To Blame" in late March 1951.
Another benefit. On April 6, she "Mercury Recording artist" appeared at the Santa Ana high school auditorium in a benefit for the Educational Extension Club of Orange County to raise money for scholarships for deserving students. Also there were Hattie McDaniel and Ernest "Bubbles" Whitman.
The Mercury disc was reviewed in the April 28, 1951 Cash Box:
Meredith Howard has two ballads which she sends off on this disc. On either end, she displays a fine delivery that makes a song sound very important. She gets some interesting backing on these sides which helps out also and makes this platter a good bet for ops [juke box operators - owners of juke boxes].
In May, Mercury issued "Ten Minutes More (And I'll Be Gone)", coupled with "Goodbye". Billboard had an ad for it in their June 2 edition. They reviewed it on June 30, and Cash Box's review appeared on June 23:
Cash Box: A cute ditty ["Goodbye"] that's been getting some attention is offered on the top half by Meredith Howard. With a good orchestral backing, this side makes for fine juke box fare. The lower half is another jumpy item with a grand vocal and backing to match. Ops oughta tune in.
Ten Minutes More (BB; 63): Okay bounce ditty gets a so-so reading from the Howard gal.
Goodbye (BB; 63): More of the same here.
And then, the Big Time. Remember that Jack Webb heard her perform at Belmont High School back in December 1948. He was now a star with his "Dragnet" radio program (which had aired since June 1949, when it began life as a summer replacement for "Life Of Riley"), and he decided to add another show, to be called "Pete Kelly's Blues". Although there was plenty of crime in it, and although Webb narrated it in the same first-person style as Sgt. Friday's on "Dragnet", it was totally different. This time, Webb was "Pete Kelly", a 1920s Kansas City cornet player fronting a band called Pete Kelly's Big 7. Webb needed someone to be a speakeasy singer and he remembered Meredith. Soon she was cast as "Maggie Jackson", who sang at a place called "Fat Annie's".
"Pete Kelly's Blues" became an unsponsored series on Wednesday nights, on NBC, from July 4 through September 26, 1951 (13 episodes). It replaced Ronald Coleman's "Halls Of Ivy" show for the summer; Coleman would return on October 3.
The band you heard on the show was led by cornet player Dick Cathcart, who had become friends with Webb during WWII. Other members of the Big 7 were: Morty Corb (bass), Matty Matlock (clarinet), Ray Sherman (piano), Elmer "Moe" Schneider (trombone), Bill Newman (guitar), and Nick Fatool (drums). Along the way, Bill Newman was replaced by George Van Eps.
The July 4 Los Angeles Evening Citizen News muddied the waters, saying: "Meredith Howard as Maggie Jackson, a speakeasy entertainer, will sing blues songs. Miss Howard and Webb were at Belmont High School at the same time." While they were both graduates of Belmont, Webb was 10 years older than Meredith. The September 2 Kansas City Star almost got it right:
A few years ago, at his alumni meeting in Los Angeles' Belmont High School, Webb heard 19-year-old Maggie Jackson sing [except "Maggie Jackson" was a fictional character and Meredith was 18 at the time], and when he assembled the Pete Kelly band, he signed her as regular vocalist on the show.
The show became very popular and Capitol Records put out a couple of discs with vocals by "Maggie Jackson" on one side and instrumentals by "Pete Kelly's Big 7" on the other. The musicians backing her were Dick Cathcart (cornet), George Van Eps (guitar), Morty Corb (bass), and Ray Sherman (piano). The instrumental sides had all seven musicians, including Nick Fatool (drums), Matty Matlock (clarinet), and Elmer Schneider (trombone).
The first release, from August 1951 was "Funny Man". The second, from September, was "He Needs Me". These were songs that she'd sung on the show and both evoke the ambiance of a smoky speakeasy.
This was in the September 20, 1951 Los Angeles Sentinel:
Twenty-one year old Meredith Howard, who plays the role of blues singer Maggie Jackson on NBC's "Pete Kelly's Blues", is still walking in a daze. In just a few short weeks she jumped from being a student in a Los Angeles trade school to feature billing on the NBC radio shows and star status on Capitol records - and all because Jack Webb once heard her sing two years ago. [I guess we can let this pass: she was actually a few weeks shy of her 21st birthday.]
It was back in 1949 [nope; 1948] during Alumni Week at Belmont High School, Meredith, a senior student, sang a few numbers in the school's "Hi-Jinks" production. Emceeing the show was Jack Webb, Belmont alumnus and rising young radio star. The two met very briefly and that was it, or so it seemed. When two years later, in 1951, Webb was searching for a genuinely different voice to play the speakeasy blues singer on his "Pete Kelly's Blues" series, he recalled the young girl he'd heard at Belmont high, Webb tracked her down, offered her the radio job and arranged for her to cut some sides for Capitol with the "Pete Kelly and his Big Seven" combo and now there seems to be no telling just how high the girl with rocket.
Her brother, Paul White, is also in show business. He's a dancer in the Ted Lewis aggregation and does the famous "Me and My Shadow" dance with the veteran showman. In fact, it was because of Paul that the Jackson family left New York for California in 1937. Paul, then a very young boy, was signed to a Universal Pictures contract and worked in films for three years.
Meredith, a big girl of 5' 5" and 163 lbs., says she may finally have the secret of losing weight. "Just get a sudden phone call from Jack Webb, jump into a whirl of rehearsing, singing, acting, recording, then stay up all night, wondering how it all came about."
In August, Capitol released "Funny Man", with the instrumental "Louisiana" as the flip. Remember, the artist was "Maggie Jackson". It was reviewed in the August 25, 1951 Billboard and the September 21 Down Beat:
Billboard (77): A new thrush with a fresh glowing style which is a cross between Sarah Vaughan's, Peggy Lee's, and Ella Fitzgerald's makes an auspicious debut with a rather arty ballad. She sounds like a potent talent.
Down Beat (7 out of 10): Funny Man is well presented by the vocalist on the radio show with very good accompaniment.... Miss Jackson has a good voice and an intelligent way of projecting it mood-wise.
On September 7, Meredith sang "Would I Love You" at the Utopians' "Plaid And Fashions Ball" at Park View Manor.
The second Capitol record, "He Needs Me", was issued in September 1951, with the instrumental "Till We Meet Again" by "Pete Kelly's Big 7" as the flip. The review was in the September 22 Billboard and the October 5 Down Beat:
Billboard (73): Gal has a fine torch style. Tune is a quality ballad, backed with a modern combo style. Good kicks for a limited audience.
Down Beat (5 out of 10): We were disappointed in the Maggie Jackson rendition of He Needs Me. It is a torch-like ballad with nothing in particular wrong, yet nothing happens.
Another benefit. On September 30, 1951, she joined Lionel Hampton, Ginger Smock, and Joe Lutcher at the Outdoor Life And Health Tuberculosis Sanatorium.
While "Pete Kelly's Blues" was a popular show, Jack Webb abandoned it after its summer run, in order to concentrate on the TV version of "Dragnet", which first aired on December 16, 1951. I don't know how many songs Meredith had recorded for Capitol, but with the death of the show, only the two were ever released.
Another benefit. On December 15, at the Lincoln Theater, Meredith was part of the Lincoln's annual Christmas Benefit to collect canned goods for needy families. Appearing were the Nicholas Brothers, Louis Armstrong, Joyce Bryant, Lillian Randolph, Ethel Waters, Crip Heard, Nat King Cole, Johnny Otis, Sherman Williams, the Shades Of Rhythm, Little Esther, Joe Liggins, and Helen Humes. Oh, yes, Pete Kelly's Big 7 also performed. Meredith was keeping great company.
Another benefit. There was a Big Easter Parade at the Shrine Auditorium for the benefit of the St. Augustine Westview Hospital. Meredith got to share the stage with Scatman Crothers, Ginger Smock, Redd Foxx & Slappy White, and Louise Beavers. Other, lesser known entertainers who'd been invited were Bob Hope, Joan Crawford, Tony Martin, Burns & Allen, Jack Benny, Danny Kaye, Danny Thomas, Bing Crosby, Jerry Colonna, Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis, Donald O'Connor, and Dinah Shore.
A Big Day. On June 22, 1952, Meredith Constance Howard married Benjamin William Livingston in Los Angeles. Well, actually, according to the marriage certificate, she married Flax Livingston.
Benjamin was born in Pittsburgh on August 26, 1926, but, in order to enlist in World War 2, he lied and told them it was July 13, 1925. In the Navy, one of his duties was to raise and lower the flag. Because of this, he was nicknamed "Flags", which he decided to keep, but changed to "Flax". Unusual for me, there was never anyone else named Flax Livingston.
By 1950, he had adopted the name "Flax" and never used Benjamin again. Flax Livingston came up a few times in 1950 as a not-very-successful boxer (I couldn't find a single bout that he'd won). He was in the 1950 census (L.A.) as "Flax Livingston" with no occupation. By April 1950, he'd also changed his name with Social Security to "Flax Livingston".
He and Meredith would remain married until his death, but they had no children.
The only mention of Meredith in 1953 is when she ("Capitol recording artist") sang at Rev. Clayton D. Russell's Sunday morning service at the Church Of Divine Guidance on November 29. She sang there again on March 14, 1954, this time (and the only time) named as "Meredith Howard Livingston".
This appeared in the January 13, 1955 California Eagle (date verified):
Gladys Bentley on Pete Kelly's Blues TV show staring Jack "Dragnet" Webb. Her jazz piano will be heard behind the scenes and Meredith Howard will be a featured performer.
It's incredible how wrong that was. There was no "Pete Kelly's Blues" TV show until 1959 (and that one didn't have either Meredith or Jack Webb). However, July 1955 saw a "Pete Kelly's Blues" movie with Jack Webb, but in it, "Maggie Jackson" was played by Ella Fitzgerald. Wrong though it was, this is the last mention of Meredith Howard in the press.
By 1956, Flax and Meredith had become involved with the Jehovah's Witness ministry full time. In August 1961, Flax addressed a Jehovah's Witness meeting in Oakland, California; they said he was a "leader from L.A." After that, they moved east and Flax became a "circuit supervisor of the Watchtower Bible Society" from 1962-1972. Along the way, they would live in the Bronx and in High Point, North Carolina.
But mother Mabel was getting older (she'd die in 1987), so Meredith and Flax moved back to L.A., continuing their religious work there.
Flax Livingston died, in Compton, California, on June 9, 1990. Sometime after that, Meredith moved to Shreveport, LA, since she had friends there (that is, she went from L.A. to LA).
I don't have an exact date of death, but Meredith Constance Howard Livingston passed away in June 2015.
Meredith Howard was certainly a good singer, although she left us precious little to judge her by.
Special thanks to Meredith's niece, Laura Burton-Shadowen
RCA (with Benny Carter's band)
22-0044 Jelly And Bread / Easy Come, Easy Go Blues - 9/49
also 50-0028 (45 RPM)
22-0060 Home Cookin' Mama / Cold Potato - 12/49
also 50-0044 (45 RPM)
MERCURY
8233 Just Kiss Me Once / Am I To Blame - 3/51
8237 Ten Minutes More (And I'll Be Gone) / Goodbye - 5/51
CAPITOL (as "Maggie Jackson", the role she played on "Pete Kelly's Blues")
1753 Funny Man / [Louisiana - Pete Kelly's Big 7] - 8/51
1780 He Needs Me / [Till We Meet Again - Pete Kelly's Big 7] - 9/51
MOVIES
You Can't Have Everything (uncredited - released 8/3/37)
The Beloved Brat (as Meredith White - released 4/30/38)
Penrod's Double Trouble (as Meredith White - released 7/23/38)
Kentucky (as Meredith Howard - released 12/30/38)
Way Down South (uncredited - released 7/21/39)
They Meet Again (as Meredith Howard - released 7/11/41)