Profile of Helen Morgan on Famous Like Me

Helen Morgan was an born 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.

Helen Morgan should not be confused with another woman of the same name, who was a runner-up in the 1974 Miss Universe pageant representing Wales, and the winner of the 1974 Miss World representing the United Kingdom.

Filmography

• Six-Cylinder Love, 1923
• The Heart Raider, 1923
• Scandals, 1925
• Show Boat, 1929 (as Julie La Verne she sang Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man and Bill)
• Applause, 1929 (sang What Wouldn't I Do For that Man and Give Your Little Baby Lots of Lovin')
• Glorifying the American Girl, 1930 (sang What Wouldn't I Do For that Man)
• Roadhouse Nights, 1930 (sang It Can't Go On Like This)
• The Gigolo Racket, 1931 (sang Nobody Breaks My Heart and I Know He's Mine)
• Manhattan Lullaby, 1933 (sang The Stork Song)
• The Doctor, 1934 (sang One Little Smile)
• Frankie and Johnnie, 1934 (sang Give Me a Heart to Sing To and If You Want My Heart)
• You Belong to Me, 1934 (sang When He Comes Home to Me)
• Marie Galante, 1934 (sang Song of a Dreamer and Serves Me Right for Treating You Wrong)
• Sweet Music, 1935 (sang I See Two Lovers)
• Go Into Your Dance, 1935 (sang The Little Things You Used to Do)
• Show Boat, 1936 (as Julie La Verne she sang Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man and Bill)

Stage

• Sally, 1923 (chorus)
• Scandals,1925-1926 (first principal role)
• Americana, 1926
• American Grand Guignol, 1927 (sang Nobody Wants Me)
• Show Boat, 1927-1929 (as Julie La Verne she sang Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man and Bill)
• Sweet Adeline, 1929-1931 (starring role singing T'was Not So Long Ago, Here am I, Why Was I Born?, The Sun About to Rise and Don't Ever Leave Me!)
• Ziegfeld Follies, 1931 (sang Half-Caste Woman, lyrics by Noel Coward)
• Show Boat, 1932-1933
• Memory, 1934 (starring role singing A Fool There Was)
• A Night at the Moulin Rouge, 1939
• Show Boat, 1940 (as Julie La Verne she sang Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man and Bill)

Bibliography

• Helen Morgan, Her Life And Legend by Gilbert Maxwell

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