Valerie Swift Bird is a singer, actress, dancer and writer. She has performed with Aretha Franklin and opened for the Pointer Sisters, Al Green, Bill Withers and Sister Sledge, to name a few. Her first Broadway show was at the Roseland Ballroom with the Duke Ellington Band conducted by Mercer Ellington.

Born in Boston, Valerie was a member of the Marla Blakey Dance Company, which launched her career. While in New York, she was cast on the popular soap opera The Guiding Light, played Curley’s wife in Of Mice and Men and Elaine in Last of the Red Hot Lovers. She played Cassie in A Chorus Line, and Anybodys and Anita in the international tour of West Side Story.

In Las Vegas, she headlined at the Sands Hotel in the show Top Secret. For the opening of the renowned Crystal Room Theater in Tokyo, Valerie had a nightclub act developed around her. Upon moving to L.A., she was immediately cast in Sam Shepard’s Action at the Court Theater, John Ford Noonan’s My Daddy’s American Gift at the Tiffany Theater, and Woody Allen’s Central Park West at the St. Genesius Theatre, just to name a few.

Reviewing the independent feature Hollywood, the LA Times’ Kevin Thomas said, “The prestigious, imperious Violet Boudreaux is played by a vivid, shrewd Valerie Swift Bird.” Director Rick Rose said, “The scene-stealing part of larger-than-life acting guru Violet Boudreaux was written with Valerie in mind. I knew what she was capable of, and she was definitely my muse for the character of Violet.” Hollywood premiered at Laemmle’s Sunset 5 and was accepted into the Palm Beach International Film Festival.

Valerie attended the Cabaret Conference at Yale University, which inspired the writing of her first cabaret act. Sister Moon debuted at the Gardenia Room Supper Club and then moved to Sheila E.’s E Spot Lounge to sold-out audiences and rave reviews. Cabaret Scenes magazine said, “A dancer dances, but if the dancer is Valerie Swift Bird, she also sings and bubbles and keeps an audience thoroughly entertained.”

With Broadway, pop, rock and blues solidly in her wheelhouse, she’s been moving more into jazz for the past few years, with multiple performances at the Catalina Jazz Club, the Edgemar Theater Jazz Series, Julie Kelly’s jazz concerts and the Gardenia Supper Club. Currently in the works are a new show, One Thing Leads to Another, and an EP, My Eclectic Heart.