Katherine Elaine Anderson Schaffner was born on January 16, 1944, and passed away on September 20, 2023. She was an American singer who became famous for being part of the Marvelettes.

Biography

Anderson was born in Inkster, Michigan, United States, and grew up in a housing project that Henry Ford built. She was one of four children. Her father was a cement finisher, and her mother was a nurse's aide. During her childhood, Anderson could not afford music records, but she sang in gospel groups and the high school glee club. She planned to become a legal secretary when she was young.

In 1960, Anderson co-founded a group called the Marvelettes (originally named the Casinyets) with four other students at Inkster High School. They wanted to enter a competition that could lead to an audition with Motown Records. Although they did not win the competition, a teacher persuaded Motown to give the group a chance. Their audition was successful, and in August 1961, the group released their first song, "Please Mr. Postman," on Motown Records. The song reached the top of the music charts six months later. During the 1960s, the Marvelettes recorded several other popular songs, including "Playboy," "Beachwood 45789," "Don’t Mess with Bill," and "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game."

After Motown Records moved from Detroit to Los Angeles, Anderson stopped working with the label. She moved to Las Vegas with her husband, Joe Schaffner, who had previously managed the Temptations and was studying lighting at the University of Nevada. The couple had three children together. Anderson co-wrote the hit song "I Don't Want to Do Wrong" for Gladys Knight & the Pips.

Later in life, Anderson returned to Inkster and worked with troubled teens in Detroit. She earned her high school diploma at age 52, which she had not been able to do earlier because of her touring career. In 2005, Anderson wrote a musical based on her life story called Now That I Can Dance 1962. In 2017, she formed a new version of the Marvelettes with three other singers and began performing again.

Anderson passed away in September 2023 at the age of 79 due to heart failure. At the time of her death, Juanita Cowart Motley was the only surviving original member of The Marvelettes.