Jean Dinning, who wrote 'Teen Angel,' dies at 86By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSPublished: March 10, 2011 
GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (AP) — Jean Dinning, who wrote the hit high school tragedy song “Teen Angel,”
died here on Feb. 22. She was 86.
Her death was confirmed by her daughter Cynthia Wygal, The Orange County Register said.
Ms. Dinning’s younger brother Mark performed “Teen Angel,” which is about an untimely death. A
couple’s car stalls on railroad tracks and they safely get out, but the girl runs back to get the boy’s
high school class ring and a train hits the car. The song was released in October 1959 and became
an instant hit.
Some sources credit her husband Red Surrey as co-writer, but Ms. Dinning is quoted in “The Billboard
Book of No. 1 Hits” as saying she wrote it by herself after reading a magazine article about juvenile
delinquency. The author of the article had suggested that upstanding young people should be called
“teen angels.”
“Being a songwriter, I said that’s a title. What can I do with it?” she is quoted as saying in the
Billboard book.
Although some radio stations banned the song because of the girl’s violent end, it shot up to No. 1.
The song was later used in the soundtrack of the 1973 film “American Graffiti.”
In the 1930s and ’40s, Ms. Dinning performed with her sisters as The Dinning Sisters, making records
and appearing on the radio and in the movies. Their biggest hit was the song “Buttons and Bows”
from the film “The Paleface,” starring Bob Hope and Jane Russell.
Besides her daughter Cynthia, Ms. Dinning is survived by her sisters Ginger and Dolores, her children
Shay Edwards, Howard Mack, Ronald Surrey and David Surrey; eight grandchildren; and eight great
grandchildren.
Jean is on the left.
Source : HERE
Sujet: Jean Dinning, who wrote 'Teen Angel,' dies at 86 
