Ethel Merman

At 76 years old, Ethel Merman has this physical status:

Ethel Merman (born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann, January 16, 1908 to February 15, 1984) was an American actress, guitarist, and singer.

"I Got Rhythm" (from Girl Crazy); "Everybody's Coming Up Roses," "Some People," and "Rose's Turn" (from Gypsy); "I Get a Kick Out of You); and "Anything Goes) are among Merman's many benchmarks in Broadway musical performances include "I Got Rhythm" (from Girl Crazy); and "Anything Goes."

The Irving Berlin song "There's No Business Like Show Business," written for the musical Annie Get Your Gun, became Merman's signature song.

Early life

Merman, a young child, was born in Astoria, Queens, 1908, but later claimed that the year was 1912. Edward Zimmermann (1879–1977) was a schoolteacher with James H. Dunham & Company, a Manhattan wholesale dry-goods firm, and her mother, Agnes (Gardner) Zimmermann (1883–1974), was a schoolteacher. Edward Zimmermann had been raised in the Dutch Reformed Church, and his wife was a Presbyterian. They married at Church of the Redeemer, where their daughter was baptized shortly after. Merman's parents were stringent about church attendance, and she spent every Sunday on Sunday mornings, Sunday school, afternoon prayer meetings, and evening study groups for children. The mother of Merman said she had an education with instruction in clandestine forensic methods, so she would have a lot to lose if her hopes of becoming famous didn't come true. Merman was a student at the University of Pennsylvania. 4 and William Cullen Bryant High School (which later named its auditorium in her honor) where she pursued a business course that offered secretarial instruction.

She was involved in several extracurricular organizations, including the school newspaper, the speakers' club, and student council, and she shopped the local music store to peruse the new sheet music every week. On Friday nights, the Zimmermann family rode the subway into Manhattan to see the vaindeville show at the Palace Theatre, where Merman saw Blossom Seeley, Fanny Brice, Sophie Tucker, and Nora Bayes. She attempted to imitate their singing styles at home, but her own unique voice was impossible to disguise.

Merman was recruited as a stenographer by the Boyce-Ite Company after graduating from Bryant High School in 1924. Vic Kliesrath, who offered her a $5 increase over the Bragg-Kliesrath Corporation's weekly $23 salary, was a delight on her lunch break, was offered to her, and Merman accepted the job. She eventually became the company's personal secretary, Caleb Bragg, whose long absences from work and race vehicles enabled her to catch up on the sleep she had lost the night before being late performing at private parties. Merman also performed in nightclubs, first hired by Jimmy Durante's partner Lou Clayton. At this point, she decided that the name Ethel Zimmermann was too long for a theater marquee. Ethel was considered by her grandmother as a result of her grandmother's maiden name, and she was considering pairing her Ethel with Gardner or Hunter. These questions provoked her father's ire, and she escorted Zimmermann to Merman to appease him.

Personal life

Merman was married and divorced four times. William Smith, a theatre agent, was her first marriage, in 1940. They were divorced in 1941. Merman married newspaper executive Robert Levitt later that year. Ethel (born July 20, 1942) and Robert Jr. (born August 11, 1945). In 1952, Merman and Levitt were divorced. Merman married Robert Six, the president of Continental Airlines, in March 1953. They separated in December 1959 and divorced in 1960.

Ernest Borgnine, Merman's fourth and final marriage. They were married in Beverly Hills on June 27, 1964. They split on August 7, and Borgnine filed for divorce on October 21.

"We all make mistakes," she said of her many marriages in a radio interview. And that's why they glued rubber bands on pencils, which is what I did.

I made a few lulus!"

There is just one blank page in Merman's autobiography, "My Marriage to Ernest Borgnine" (page 78).

Ethel Levitt, her daughter, died of a drug overdose that was unintentional on August 23, 1967. Robert Jr. was married to actress Barbara Colby. Colby was shot and killed in a parking garage in Los Angeles in July 1975, although she was distant from Robert. James Kiernan, a fellow, was killed as a result. It was evidently gang members with no definite motives.

Merman was known for her brash demeanor and for delivering vulgar tales at public parties. During a formal reception, for example, she once yelled a vulgar word across the room at José Ferrer.

Merman yelled "Where the hell does this go?" during rehearsing a guest appearance on The Loretta Young Show. "Come on, Ethel," the young, devout Catholic, yelled at Merman waving a full cup of coffee. You know my rules. It'll cost you a penny. "Tell me, Loretta, how much money will it cost me to tell you to go fuck yourself?" Merman replied, "Tell me, Loretta."

Merman, a lifelong Republican, was a frequent visitor to the Eisenhower White House. "Eisenhower was my war hero and the President I adore and respect the most," Merman said. Merman performed "Everybody's Coming Up Roses" at Ronald Reagan's inauguration on January 20, 1981. She had performed the same song at an inaugural gala for John F. Kennedy, but it had never been broadcast.

Later life and death

Merman began to forget as aging, and had problems with her speech on occasion. At times, her behavior was erratic, causing anxiety among her friends. She was planning to fly to Los Angeles on April 7, 1983, when she collapsed in her apartment. Merman was admitted to Roosevelt Hospital (Mount Sinai West), where doctors had feared she had suffered a stroke. However, Merman was diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma after undergoing exploratory surgery on April 11. According to the New York Times, she underwent brain surgery to have the tumor removed, but the surgery was inoperable and her disease was considered terminal (doctors gave Merman eight and a half months to live). Merman's illness made her hair fall out, and her face swelled. Merman's family and manager did not want the real truth of her illness to be revealed to the public, according to Merman biographer Brian Kellow. Robert Jr., Merman's son who was in charge of her care, later said he did not reveal his mother's true illness because Merman fought to keep her personal life private. "Mom truly appreciated [her fans'] presence and applause," he said. However, you shouldn't try to be personal; she drew lines, and she could depose you."

Merman's health eventually improved enough for her to return to her Manhattan apartment. Merman died in Manhattan at the age of 76 on February 15, 1984, ten months after she was diagnosed with brain cancer. All 36 theaters on Broadway dimmed their lights at 9 p.m. on the evening of Merman's death. On February 27, Merman's private funeral service was held in a chapel at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, after which Merman was cremated at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel. Merman's remains were donated to her son Robert Jr. Merman's son Robert Jr., who was next to her daughter Ethel, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in accordance with her wishes.

Merman left an estate worth US$1.5 million (equivalent to $3.9 million in 2021) to be divided between her son and two grandchildren on her death.

Christie's East auction of her personal effects, including furniture, paintings, and theatre memorabilia, received over $120,000 (equivalent to $313,000 in 2021). The 56th Academy Awards, which were held on April 2, 1984, concluded with the theme "There's No Business Like Show Business" in honor of Merman.

Merman was one of hundreds of artists whose work was destroyed in the 2008 Universal Studios fire.

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Career

Merman met agent Lou Irwin, who arranged for her to audition for Archie Mayo, a film director under Warner Bros' contract. Merman left her day job and found herself idle for weeks as she waits to be cast in a film. She eventually begged Irwin to cancel her Mayo contract with Mayo; instead, he negotiated a better deal that allows her to play in clubs while still on the Warners' payroll. Merman was hired as a torch singer at Les Ambassadeurs, where Jimmy Durante was the headliner, and the two became lifelong friends. She attracted the attention of columnists like Walter Winchell and Mark Hellinger, who began to spread the word. Merman underwent a tonsillectomy fearing that it might have damaged her voice, but after recovering, she found it was more effective than ever.

Merman was signed to substitute Ruth Etting in the Paramount film Follow the Leader (1930), starring Ed Wynn and Ginger Rogers, while on the prestigious Keith Circuit. She had been hired to appear at the Palace for $500 a week after a successful seven-week stint at the Brooklyn Paraphrasedoutput. Vinton Freedley, a theatre producer, saw her performer and invited her to audition for the role of San Francisco café singer Kate Fothergill in the forthcoming George and Ira Gershwin musical Girl Crazy. Merman juggling daytime rehearsals with her matinee and evening performance schedule at the Palace after hearing her sing "I Got Rhythm." "Sam and Delilah" and "Boy! Merman performed the songs "Sam and Delilah" and "Boy!

What Love Has Done to Me!"

In the episode, "I Got Rhythm" as well as "I Got Rhythm."

On October 14, 1930, Girl Crazy opened at the Alvin Theatre, where it had been on display for 272 performances. Merman sang "with depth, authority, good voice, and just the right knowing style," according to The New York Times, who compared her to "no one." Merman was blasé about her notices, causing George Gershwin to ask her mother, "Have you ever seen a person so unconcerned as Ethel?"

Paramount bought Merman to appear in a sequence of ten short musical films, the bulk of which allowed her to perform as well as a ballad. She has appeared at the Central Park Theatre, the Paramount Theatre, as well as a return to the Palace. As Girl Crazy finished, her parents and she headed to Lake George, New York, for a much-needed holiday, but Merman was summoned to Atlantic City, New Jersey, to help with the tumultuous new iteration of George White's Scandals. White was compelled to pay the producer $10,000 for her services because she was still under her Freedley contract, in lieu of her regular $1,500 salary. The show appeared in Newark, New Jersey, and then Brooklyn, before the show's opening on Broadway, where it ran for 202 performances.

Humpty Dumpty began rehearsals in August 1932 and then closed in Pittsburgh the next month. Producer Buddy DeSylva, who had also written the book and lyrics, was optimistic that it would be revived into a success, and that the new title, Take a Chance, opened on November 26 at the 42nd Street Apollo Theatre, where it had been on sale for 243 performances. It was "fast, loud, and funny," according to Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times, Merman "has never loosened herself with so much abandon." Following the Broadway performance, she decided to attend the show on the road, but shortly after the Chicago opening, she discovered the chlorine in the city's water supply was irritating her throat and returned to Manhattan.

Merman returned to Hollywood to appear in We're Not Dressing (1934), a screwball comedy based on the J.M. Barrie plays The Admirable Crichton. Merman, despite working with an ensemble starring Bing Crosby, Carole Lombard, and Burns and Allen, was dissatisfied with the results, and she was dismayed to learn one of her musical numbers had been cut while attending the New York premiere with her family and friends. She appeared on screen with Eddie Cantor in Kid Millions (also 1934), but her return to Broadway established her as a leading actress and solidified her reputation as a tough girl.

Anything Goes was the first of five Cole Porter musicals in which Merman appeared. In addition to the title song, "I Get a Kick Out of You," "You're the King," and "Blow Gabriel Blow" were included in the score. Merman was "vivacious and ingratiating in her comedy appearances, as well as the embodiment of poise and technical adroitness" when singing "as only she knows how to do," the Alvin Theatre and the New York Post described her. Merman stayed with a show until its conclusion, but she left Anything Goes after eight months to appear with Eddie Cantor in the film Strike Me Pink. Benay Venuta replaced her, with whom she had a long but often tense relationship.

Merman was initially turned down for the film version of Anything Goes (1936). Bing Crosby requested that his wife Dixie Lee be portrayed as Reno Sweeney opposite Billy Crocker, but Merman was cast in the role she had never imagined on stage. Merman knew it would not be the enjoyable movie she had hoped for from the start. The focus was moved to Crosby, leaving her largely in a supporting role. Many of Porter's ribald lyrics were changed to comply with the Motion Picture Production Code's guidelines, and "Blow Gabriel Blow" was dropped, replaced by a song, "Shang Hai-de-Ho," which states that Merman was forced to perform in a peacock feather headdress surrounded by dancers dressed as Chinese slave girls. The film was completed $201,000 over budget and 17 days behind schedule. Richard Watts Jr. of the New York Herald Tribune described it as "dull and commonplace," with Merman doing "as well as possible" but "on screen as well as on stage," but she is unable to register "as well as on stage."

Merman appeared in another Porter revival, but Red, Hot and Blue closed after less than six months, despite Jimmy Durante and Bob Hope in the cast. Merman appeared in Happy Landing, one of the top ten box-office hits of 1938 comedy with Sonja Henie, Cesar Romero, and Don Ameche; another popular and commercial success starring the Ritz Brothers aspires. She returned to the stage in Stars in Your Eyes, which struggled to survive after the public returned to the 1939 New York World's Fair instead, and finally closed short of four months after being homeless. Merman performed two more Porter musicals after this one. DuBarry Was a Lady, starring Bert Lahr and Betty Grable, lived for a year, and Panama Hattie with Betty Hutton (whose musical numbers were cut from the show on opening night at Merman's insistence) fared much better, lasting less than 14 months.

Merman's mother, William Smith, married her first husband shortly after the latter's opening, although she was still upset about the consequences of her affair with Stork Club owner Sherman Billingsley. She later claimed she had made "a terrible mistake" on their wedding night and filed for divorce due to desertion two months later. Robert D. Levitt, the New York Journal-American's promotions director, was hired and married shortly after she met and married him. In 1952, the couple had two children and divorced due to their heavy drinking and erratic behavior.

Merman appeared in Stage Door Canteen and opened in another Porter film, Something for the Boys, directed by Michael Todd in 1943. Merman was supposed to appear as the title character in the musical play Sadie Thompson directed and produced by Rouben Mamoulian in 1944. The musical play was based on W. Somerset Maugham's short story "Rain." The seriousness of the performance was a departure from Merman's string of entertaining musical comedies. In addition, Merman had trouble memorizing the songs during rehearsals, and she blamed Dietz for his use of sophisticated and foreign words. Some of the lyrics were sung by her husband. Dietz protested Merman's altered songs and gave her the opportunity to perform his original lyrics or leave the program. Merman retaliated about the absence of the product in a note. Merman's departure was reportedly due to her reluctance to play such a prominent role in her first dramatic musical role, according to commentators, who guessed that Merman was largely responsible for her departure. Sadie Thompson debuted on Broadway on November 16, 1944, to mixed reviews. Havoc has received almost universally favorable feedback. However, the book and the score received mixed feedback, with the author's score describing the show as "undistinished."

Merman was visited by Dorothy Fields, who suggested she appear as Annie Oakley in a musical her brother Herbert's second child's hospital, in August 1945. She was writing with Jerome Kern. Merman accepted, but Kern died a few days later while in New York City visiting Rodgers and Hammerstein (the show's designers). Irving Berlin was invited by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II to replace him, and the result was Annie Get Your Gun, which opened at the Imperial Theatre on May 16, 1946, where it lasted for almost three years and 1,147 performances. Merman took only two vacations and missed only two performances due to sickness during this period. Judy Garland, who was eventually replaced by Betty Hutton, died in the film version, but her friend, Annie Oakley, appeared in a Broadway revival two decades later at Lincoln Center with Bruce Yarnell, who spent 27 years as Frank E. Butler, Annie Oakley's faithful husband and boss.

Merman and Berlin reunited in 1950, winning the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, and she appeared in the 1953 film version as well as winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for her role. In There's No Business Like Show Business, a Berlin film with a Berlin score, she appeared as the matriarch of the singing and dancing Donahue family.

Merman returned to Broadway with the behest of her third husband, Continental Airlines executive Robert Six, who was furious she had chosen Colorado to be a housewife after their marriage in 1953. He hoped that her public appearances would help the airline gain attention, but her decision not to move away from the limelight didn't go well with him. With a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse (who had written Call Me Madam) and a score by Harold Karr and Matt Dubey's unidentified team, he urged her to take the lead in Happy Hunting. Merman obliged her husband's wishes, but she and his co-star Fernando Lamas and his wife Arlene Dahl, who often attended rehearsals, fell in line with her husband's. The show opened in New York with a $1.5 million advance sale, and despite the actor's dissatisfaction with it, garnered positive feedback. Despite Brooks Atkinson's comment that the score was "hardly more than adequate," he referred to Merman "as brassy as ever," and she flashed like a neon light when she steps on stage. Several months into the program, she insisted that two of her least-favorite numbers be replaced by songs written by her sister Roger Edens, who owed them to Kay Thompson. Merman and the Tony Award to Judy Holliday in Bells Are Ringing, and the show closed after 412 performances, with Merman enjoying what she called "a dreary job" coming to an end.

Gypsy was based on Gypsy Rose Lee's memoirs and starred Merman as her domineering stage mother Rose Hovick, possibly Merman's best-remembered appearance. The musical opened at The Broadway Theatre on May 21, 1959. Richard Watts called Merman "a brilliant actor," and Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times wrote, "She gives an indomitable show, both as actor and singer." Despite the acclaim, Merman lost the Tony Award to her close friend Mary Martin in The Sound of Music and jokingly asked, "How can you buck a nun?" despite the apclaim. Audrey Meadows, a television actress, was spotted solace in her work shortly after she divorced Robert Six.

Mervyn LeRoy attended Gypsy on several occasions and informed Merman that he wanted to cast her in the film version he was planning. Rosalind Russell, on the other hand, had been signed to perform before the show's conclusion. Russell's husband, theatre director Frederick Brisson (whom Merman later called "the lizard of Roz") had sold the film rights to Leonard Spigelgas' play A Majority of One to Warner Bros, with the promise that his wife would appear in both films. Russell was still a big box-office draw with Auntie Mame's success a few years ago, and Merman never had a strong screen presence, and the studio accepted Brisson's terms. Merman was devastated by the turn of events, and he dubbed the situation "the biggest professional disappointment of my life."

Merman halfheartedly began on the national tour after Gypsy's closing on March 25, 1961. She had a back injury in San Francisco but continued to play in packed houses. LeRoy accompanied Russell on stage and announced that Russell was so ill that "I think you're going to end up getting this part." She was generously offering him the many house seats he requested for colleagues and coworkers in the hopes of finding she had been duped, despite realizing it was not within her reach. Merman made more than $100,000 per year in Gypsy during her tenure as the head of the box-office.

Merman appeared in the ensemble comedy film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World in 1963. Spencer Tracy, Sid Caesar, Jonathan Winters, Phil Silvers, Buddy Hackett, and Mickey Rooney appeared. Mrs. Marcus, the loudmouthed, battle-axe mother in Milton Berle's law, was played by Merman. The film was a huge box office hit, grossing $60 million off a budget of $9.4 million and becoming the third highest-grossing film of 1963. The film received 6 Academy Award nominations and one award.

She appeared in The Art of Love (1965), which was also starring. She appeared on hundreds of television shows hosted by Perry Como, Red Skelton, Judy Garland, Ed Sullivan, Ed Sullivan, and others, as well as in episodes of That Girl, The Lucy Show, Match Game, Batman, Tarzan, and others.

Jerry Herman was encouraged by producer David Merrick to write Hello, Dolly! Merman's vocal range was key, but she turned down the opportunity when he was offered her the role. She appeared in the cast on March 28, 1970, six years after it had opened. Merman's debut came to a halt due to a continuous round of applause, and the critics overwhelmingly lauded her return to the New York stage. Walter Kerr of The New York Times portrayed her voice: "Just as trumpet-clean, as penny whistle-piercing, so much as Wurlitzer-wonderful as it ever was." "Her comedic sense is every bit as authoritative, as well as high-handed, really," he said. She was the seventh actress to appear in the original Broadway revival. Merman received the Drama Desk Award for her outstanding performance in what was to be her last appearance on Broadway.

Merman continued to work as often as offers were made during the remainder of her career. She appeared on Match Game 76 in the spring of this year, reportedly telling Match Game regular Brett Somers to "shut down" in one of the series's self-proclaimed "Gold Star" episodes.

She released The Ethel Merman Disco Album in 1979, with several of her signature songs set to a disco smash. She appeared on stage in season 1 of The Muppet Show as a guest host on a memorable episode. In the 1980 comedy film Airplane!, she played Lieutenant Hurwitz, a shell-shocked soldier who mistakenly believes he is Ethel Merman. As orderlies sedate her, Merman leaps out of bed, "Everything's Coming Up Roses" is heard. Carroll O'Connor, appeared on several episodes of The Love Boat (playing Gopher's mother), hosted a two-week visit to George Gershwin, performed with Mary Martin in a concert to support the Museum of the City of New York's collection of symphony orchestras, and regularly appeared as a soloist with symphony orchestras. She also worked at Mount Sinai West, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center (now Mount Sinai West), either working in the gift shop or visiting patients.

Merman was known for her pronounced, belting mezzo-soprano voice, as well as precise enunciation and pitch. Despite never taking singing lessons, Merman had a huge advantage when performing professionally. Since she began in his Girl Crazy, a Broadway lore says George Gershwin advised her never to take a singing lesson.

Caryl Flinn's 2007 biography contains a number of excerpts from Merman's books, the bulk of which were compliments to her.

Brooks Atkinson summed up her talent:

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