Ethel Merman

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Ethel Merman

Ethel Merman , actually Ethel Zimmermann (born January 16, 1908 in Astoria , Queens , New York City , † February 15, 1984 in New York City) was an American actress and singer .

Life

Ethel Merman began singing as a child. During the First World War , she first appeared in entertainment programs in barracks. After high school , she trained as a secretary, but in her spare time she sang in nightclubs and vaudeville shows. This led them to Broadway .

Merman became one of Broadway's great stars. In 1930 she made her debut there in the musical Girl Crazy . Numerous musical comedies ( Musical Comedy ) became box-office hits, some of which were filmed. Equipped with a large voice volume, she was a predecessor of later stars such as Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand . The composers Irving Berlin and Cole Porter wrote numerous songs especially for them.

After she reached the age of 60, Merman - after more than 30 years on Broadway - rarely appeared. From then on she was mainly seen at galas or in television shows. In the 1970s, she recorded a studio version of Annie Get Your Gun . Merman received a lot of attention, but bad reviews, for her attempt to conquer the disco scene : her The Ethel Merman Disco album flopped in 1979. She made her last major appearance in 1982 with a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

For her cinematic work Merman received a Golden Globe Award in 1954 for the film Madame makes history (s) .

Private

Merman was married three times and was the mother of two children from their first marriage. Her last marriage, in 1964 with actor Ernest Borgnine , lasted only 32 days. She also had a passionate affair with the writer Jacqueline Susann .

Two years after her Carnegie Hall concert, she died of a brain tumor at the age of 76 .

Broadway productions

Filmography

Discography

  • 1963: Merman in Vegas
  • 1972: Merman sings Merman
  • 1973: Annie Get Your Gun
  • 1975: Ethel's Riding High
  • 1979: The Ethel Merman Disco Album

Web links

Commons : Ethel Merman  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ [1] Brass Diva: The Life and Legends of Ethel Merman , Caryl Flinn, University of California Press 2009, pages 401-3, ISBN 978-0-520-22942-6
personal data
SURNAME Merman, Ethel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Carpenter, Ethel (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actress and singer
DATE OF BIRTH January 16, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Astoria , Queens, New York City, New York, United States
DATE OF DEATH February 15, 1984
Place of death New York City , New York, United States