The Barry Sisters

Claire Barry (née Clara Bagelman, born 1920, died 2014) and Merna Barry (née Minnie Bagelman, born 1923, died 1976) were Jewish sisters from the Bronx, New York. Their career as Yiddish jazz singers stretched from the late 1930s until the early 1970s. When The Andrews Sisters' version of the Yiddish song, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön," became a hit, musician and composer Sam Medoff started his Yiddish Melodies in Swing radio program on New York's WHN. The Barry Sisters performed on the program from 1937 until the mid-1950s. On television they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Jack Parr Show and Tonight. The sisters were one of the few American acts to tour the Soviet Union in 1959 and they also entertained Israeli troops during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Signed to RCA in the 1930s as The Bagelman Sisters, they changed their stage name to The Barry Sisters for radio. They recorded numerous 78s and 45s as well as 11 LPs by 1973.