| Helen Morgan |
Article Index for Helen |
Limousines in Helen |
Articles about Helen Morgan |
Website Links For Helen |
Information AboutHelen Morgan |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT HELEN MORGAN | |
| american film actors | |
| morgan, helen | |
| american stage actors | |
| people from vermilion county, illinois | |
| 1900 births | |
| 1941 deaths | |
|
, 1935]] Helen Morgan ( August 2 , 1900 - October 9 , 1941 ) was a singer and actress in film and on stage. She was born on 2 August 1900 in rural Danville, Illinois . She was born 'Helen Riggins' to a farmer and schoolteacher but became 'Morgan' when her mother remarried. By 20 she had taken voice lessons and was singing in speakeasies in Chicago. Neither her large bosom, nor her deep voice were fashionable during the '20s, but nevertheless she became a wildly popular Torch Singer . Her heart bled about hard living and heartbreak onto her accompanist's piano. This draped-over-the-piano look became her signature look while performing at Billy Rose's Backstage Club in 1925. Morgan drank too much and was often drunk during these performances, despite the National Prohibition Enforcement Act passed in 1919 . During this period several Chicago gangsters tried to help fund her various attempts to open her own nightclub. However, Prohibition agents kept too strict an eye on her and her attempts failed. '' Show Boat '' is one of Morgan's best-known appearances. As Julie La Verne she sang ''Bill'' (lyrics by P.G. Wodehouse and Oscar Hammerstein ) and ''Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man'' in two stage runs and two film productions over a span of 11 years. Morgan was noticed by Florenz Ziegfield while dancing in the chorus of his production of ''Sally'' in 1923 and she went on to perform with the '' Ziegfield Follies '' in 1931 , the Follies' last active year. During this period she studied music at the Metropolitan Opera in her free time. In the late '30s Morgan was signed up for a show at Chicago's Loop Theater. However, her alcoholism began to affect her work and she died at 41 of cirrhosis of the liver on 8 October 1941 in Chicago, Illinois . Morgan was played by Ann Blyth in a 1957 biographical film, titled ''The Helen Morgan Story'' or ''Why was I born?'' in the US and ''Both Ends Of The Candle'' in the UK. FILMOGRAPHY
STAGE
BIBLIOGRAPHY EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|