Helen Morgan Biography
Helen Riggins, 2 August 1900, Danville, Ohio, USA, d. 8 October 1941, Chicago, Illinois, USA. One of the first, and certainly one of the most accomplished torch singers in the history of popular music. After working at a number of unskilled jobs, Morgan began singing in small Chicago clubs. She graduated to revue, appearing in New York in George White's Scandals (1925), and Americana (1926) in which she was noticed by Florenz Ziegfeld, who signed her to play the role of Julie La Verne in the original production of Jerome Kern's Show Boat (1927). Her performance of "Bill" (lyric by P.G. Wodehouse and Oscar Hammerstein II) was a show-stopper. In fact, the song had been cut from Oh Lady! Lady!! (1918) and Zip, Goes A Million (1919), before Morgan gave it immortality in Show Boat. In the same show she also sang "Can't Help Lovin Dat Man", and, 10 years later, introduced "Why Was I Born?" and "Don't Ever Leave Me" in another Kern-Hammerstein show, Sweet Adeline. She later appeared on Broadway in Ziegfeld Follies (1931) and the 1932 revival of Show Boat, and was in the 1929 and 1936 screen versions of Show Boat. Here other film appearances included Applause, Roadhouse Nights, Glorifying The American Girl, Marie Galante, You Belong To Me, Sweet Music, Go Into Your Dance, and Frankie And Johnny (1936). As well as the above songs from the shows, she had several hit records in the late 20s and early 30s, such as "A Tree In The Park", "Mean To Me", "Body And Soul". She is also particularly remembered for her version of George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin's "The Man I Love". By the late 30s her career was in disarray and she was heavily dependent upon alcohol. As owner of a number of Prohibition-era speakeasies she had ready access to liquor and her health rapidly deteriorated until she died of cirrhosis of the liver. Her life story was the subject of a 1957 biopic, The Helen Morgan Story (UK title: Both Ends Of The Candle), in which she was played by Ann Blyth. In 1998, with Show Boat back in the West End, Helen Morgan's unique interpretations of "Bill" and "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", along with other ballad classics such as "Why Was I Born", were re-issued on a celebratory album.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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