Edie Budd (born Edith Erdman) is an American singer and actress known for her powerful vocal style, early success as a teenage recording artist, and her later work on stage and in concert halls around the world. A former MGM recording artist and one of the youngest opening acts Frank Sinatra ever hired, Budd has maintained a long career as a concert performer while also appearing in film and regional theater.
Early Life and Education
Edie Budd was born Edith Erdman in Brooklyn, New York, the second of three daughters of Joan and Saul Erdman, a bottling-company executive. She attended Roy H. Mann Jr. High School before transferring in 1969 to a private academy in Manhattan.
Her vocal talent emerged early. At age twelve she won an amateur night competition at a resort camp, catching the attention of producer Herb Bernstein, who soon became her arranger and manager. Bernstein produced her demo recordings and secured a three-year contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Records.
Singing Career
Budd rose to national attention as a teenager. She became a regular on the NBC summer series Showcase ’68 and appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Tonight Show, The Carol Burnett Show, The Jim Nabors Hour, and The Merv Griffin Show. Her clear, resonant delivery led many critics to compare her to Barbra Streisand—so frequently, in fact, that some viewers mistakenly believed they were sisters.
At sixteen, Budd made Las Vegas history when she became the youngest opening act ever booked at Caesars Palace, supporting Frank Sinatra. She went on to share stages on the Vegas Strip with Sinatra, Liberace, George Burns, and Bob Hope. In 1972 she performed the title song for the film Living Free, heard over the opening credits.
Budd continues to perform in concert venues, nightclubs, and symphony halls, particularly in New York and Las Vegas. Her albums include Pure Imagination (1997), If You Could See Me Now (2000), and Remembering Mr. Sinatra (2015), released in honor of Sinatra’s centenary. She also teaches master classes in singing and interpretation.
Concert and Symphony Performances
Budd has appeared at major cultural institutions including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center. She has headlined shows at the London Palladium and the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center, and performed with numerous orchestras, including:
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Baltimore Symphony
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National Symphony
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Pittsburgh Symphony
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Austin Symphony
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Alabama Symphony
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Philadelphia Symphony
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Dallas Symphony
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Milwaukee Symphony
Acting
In addition to her singing career, Budd has worked as an actress with the Circle Repertory Company and Playwrights Horizons in New York City. She starred opposite Elliott Gould in the Walt Disney film The Devil and Max Devlin (1981), playing a 19-year-old high-school dropout who dreams of becoming a singer. Budd has often described her time with Disney as a transformative experience, saying, “At Disney they always do it right.”
