Rediscovered
Talent:
The Incomparable Hildegarde
Each month, musicbizadvice.com profiles an artist from the past. Some you may have
heard of, some not, but we hope you'll take time to check out their music...especially if
it's something different than you usually listen to. This month, we rediscover the
Incomparable Hildegarde, who is credited as being the 4th most prolific recording artist
in the world.
Hilegarde's life and career reads like a cross between Who's Who and A History of the
Modern Recording Industry: Irving Berlin discovered she could sing. In the roaring 20's,
she had one of the first female managers in the music business, Anna Sosenko, who helped
transform her from Milwaukee farm girl Hildegarde Loretta Sell to a one-name, designer
gown-wearing, continental chanteuse--thus making Hildegarde the first popular singer with
one name. She was one of the first international recording artists, playing London and
Paris, and King Gustov of Sweden fell madly in love with her. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt
dubbed her "the First Lady of supper clubs. Friends George and Ira Gershwin wrote
songs about her ("My Cousin From Milwaukee") and for her, and she was the first
artist to record many of the songs we think of as "old standards" today
("I'll Be Seeing You" is just one example). In 1937 she starred in a show for a
little experiment called Television, making Hildegarde one of the first TV stars.
Hildegarde was a founding member of AFTRA, SAG, and Actor's Equity.
And as if all that wasn't enough, she counted among her friends Cole Porter, Rogers and
Hammerstein, and Liberace. Her neighbors in New York were Katharine Hepburn and Greta
Garbo. |
The Incomparable Hildegarde performing
at age 84 in this 1990 photo. Photo courtesy
Don Dellair.
In the 40's, Hildegarde hosted her own radio
show. In the 50's and 60's she was one of the most popular cabaret acts in the world, and
she continued to tour steadily until retiring at the age of 89 in 1998. Oh--and did we
mention Hildegarde is also a 3rd Order Carmelite nun? But let's back up a minute...
Hildegarde was born on February 1, 1906 in Adell, Wisconsin. Growing up in Milwaukee, she
was a classically trained pianist. While still in school, she began playing piano in
silent movie theaters to earn extra money, and in 1926 she got up the nerve to go
backstage at a vaudeville show called "Gerri and her Baby Grand" and ask for
audition. She auditioned by playing "12th Street Rag"--which remained in
Hildegarde's act thereafter--and sang "Am I Blue." Three weeks later Hildegarde
received a telegram asking her to join the show, which was her introduction to the
vaudeville circuit. During her time in vaudeville she accompanied several famous
performers, including Gus Edwards--who suggested she use just her first name (manager Anna
Sosenko agreed)--and Ruth Etting. Continued
Rediscovered Talent Home |
