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In the fifties, a Peruvian singer made a name for herself with her voice that could cover five octaves. Her name was Yma Sumac. Or was it? Her official biography was so outrageous that a reporter started saying that Yma Sumac was in fact a jewish girl from Brooklyn whose real name was Amy Camus. Was that true? I personnally tend to doubt it, and think she really was Peruvian, but I don't give any credit about her being a high priestress abducted by anthropologists. So, what is Snopes' take on this? True, false or undetermined?
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The IMDB (sorry I can provide a link -- my Internet is all screwed up -- just look up her name) addresses the rumor. Sumac was indeed from Peru (though the "high priestess" business was just Hollywood hype). She recorded records under a different name (Ima Sumick, IIRC), before moving to Hollywood and getting renamed.
The "Amy Camus" story was evidently made up by a bunch of band members as a joke; Walter Winchell picked it up and broadcast it. The fact that the name she originally recorded under was not an anagram of "Amy Camus" tends to discredit it.
Posts: 675 | From: Schenectady, NY | Registered: Nov 2003
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