Marjorie Latzko, the last surviving member of 1950s vocal group the Chordettes, died on 22 August 2025 at her home in Saratoga Springs, New York, aged 96. The group's biggest hit, "Mr Sandman", written by Pat Ballard, became a chart-topping standard and has since featured in numerous films and television shows, cementing the quartet's lasting influence on popular culture decades after their initial success.

Born in 1929 in Hinsdale, Illinois, Latzko worked as a United Airlines stewardess before joining the Chordettes in 1953 after a chance call from barbershop singer Bob Haeger. During her three years with the group she performed for President Eisenhower and Vice President Nixon and appeared on major television programmes including the Ed Sullivan Show. She left in 1956 to raise a family, later earning a sociology degree and running an elder-care management service from 1987 to 2014. "Mr Sandman" has since appeared in films and shows such as Halloween II, Deadpool and Stranger Things.