Jill Corey (born Norma Jean Speranza; September 30, 1935 – April 3, 2021)[1] was an American popular standards singer.

Italian-American,[2] Corey was born in Avonmore, Pennsylvania, a coal mining community about forty miles east of Pittsburgh.

[5] Corey began singing as an imitator of Carmen Miranda at family gatherings, on amateur shows in grade school, and contralto in the local church choir.

She won first prize at a talent contest sponsored by the Lions Club, which entitled her to sing a song on WAVL in Apollo, Pennsylvania.

Miller had Life Magazine send over reporters and photographers, and had her audition with Arthur Godfrey and Dave Garroway.

[2] The Life photographers reenacted her signing a contract with Columbia, and all this happened in a single day, with her headed back to Avonmore that night.

[14] Corey was a regular on the television variety programs Robert Q's Matinee (1950–1956)[15] The Dave Garroway Show (1953–1954),[16][3][17] and the 1958–1959 version of Your Hit Parade.

[28] In 1959 she starred in a feature-length musical film for Columbia Pictures, entitled Senior Prom, which was co-produced by Moe Howard of The Three Stooges.