 During this early part of her career, she became Marian Montgomery, having previously gone by the nickname of Pepe.In 1965, she came to Britain to play a season with John Dankworth and met and married English pianist and musical director Laurie Holloway, thus beginning a long and productive association in which they both became well known to British jazz, cabaret and television audiences.She numbered amongst her admirers Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra and British chat show host Michael Parkinson, on whose show she became resident singer in the 1970s.