Singer helen morgan biography

An emotive soprano voice, heartrending melodies about unrequited love, and a draped-over-the-piano persona made Helen Morgan (1902–1941) the original torch singer, but she was so much more. The versatile actress appeared on Broadway, in film, and on radio. In a number of stage revues, she danced, sang, and excelled in sketch comedy. She played Julie in Kern and Hammerstein's Broadway musical Show Boat (1927) and also starred in the duo's Sweet Adeline in 1929. That same year, Morgan appeared in Rouben Mamoulian's classic film Applause. When the Great Depression made theater roles scarce, she headed the CBS radio program Broadway Melodies and worked in the emerging medium of television.

Yet Morgan's life was one of extremes. She earned a million dollars throughout her career but remained in constant debt. She was one of the most universally beloved people in her profession, but a stable romantic relationship eluded her until the very end of her life. She was a

•

Past Articles

What's New on the Rialto

Helen Morgan: The Original Torch Singer and Ziegfeld's Last Star
by Christopher S. Connelly
Book Review by Mark Dundas Wood

If the name Helen Morgan means anything to people today, it's likely for three salient things. First, there's her captured-for-posterity portrayal of mixed-race singer Julie LaVerne in the James Whale-directed 1936 film version of the musical Show Boat (a part she originated on Broadway in 1927). Second, there's her reputation as the quintessential "torch singer," a claim to fame evidenced in large part by popular songs not only from Show Boat ("Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man," "Bill") but also from the score of a follow-up Jerome Kern / Oscar Hammerstein II show, Sweet Adeline ("Why Was I Born?" "Don't Ever Leave Me"). Finally, Morgan is remembered for being a big-time lush.

As Christopher S. Connelly shows in his impressive but sometimes frustrating new biography, Helen Morgan: The Original Torch Singer

•

Morgan, Helen (1900–1941)

American singer and actress best known for her role as Julie in the landmark musical Show Boat.Born Helen Morgan (birth name sometimes given as Helen Riggins) on August 21, 1900; birthplace variously given as Danville, Illinois, and Toronto, Ontario; died on October 5, 1941, of cirrhosis of the liver; daughter of Lulu Morgan and probably Thomas Morgan; left high school before her sophomore year; married Maurice Mashke, Jr., in 1933 (divorced 1935); married Lloyd Johnson, in 1941.

Began singing in small Chicago cabarets, where she established a reputation as a torch singer; became a star with her creation of the role of Julie in huvudgata production of Show Boat (1927), which she recreated on screen and in a huvudgata revival (1932); had active nightclub career in New York and Chicago speakeasies during prohibition and was acquitted of federal charges filed beneath the Volstead Act after several raids by government agents; career declined afterward d