The "Songbird of the South," vocalist Kate Smith was one of the most popular stars of the pre-World War II era; she remains best remembered for her definitive version of the patriotic anthem "God Bless America," which became a hit on no less than three separate occasions. Born Kathryn Elizabeth Smith in Washington, D.C. on May 1, 1907, she initially trained to be a nurse but began singing professionally during the early 1920s, soon relocating to New York to pursue roles in vaudeville and on Broadway, where she appeared in Honeymoon Lane in 1926.