Description
An emotive soprano, heartrending melodies about unrequited love, and a draped-over-the-piano persona made Helen Morgan (19021941) 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 protofeminist who aided women
