- published: 21 Jun 2011
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Helen Forrest (April 12, 1917 – July 11, 1999) was an American singer.
She served as the "girl singer" for three of the most popular big bands of the Swing Era (Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, and Harry James), thereby earning a reputation as "the voice of the name bands."
Helen was born Helen Fogel in Atlantic City, New Jersey on April 12, 1917. Her parents, Louis and Rebecca Fogel, were Russian-born Jews.
While she was still an infant, Helen's father died from influenza. Helen was raised by her mother, who often blamed her husband's death on the birth of Helen. She believed that God had taken her husband because she had wished so much for a baby girl. Helen had three older brothers: Harry, Ed, and Sam. The family relocated to Brooklyn when Helen was in her early teenage years. Her mother married a house painter, a man that Helen disliked. Soon, Helen's mother and stepfather turned the family's home into a brothel. At age 14, Helen was nearly raped by her stepfather. Helen defended herself with a kitchen knife, injuring him. Following this, she was permitted by her mother to live with her piano teacher, Honey Silverman, and her family. While learning piano, Honey noticed Helen's singing ability and encouraged her to focus on singing instead. Anxious to find a career in singing, Helen dropped out of high school to pursue her dream.
Actors: Andrew Tombes (actor), Ray Teal (actor), Francis Pierlot (actor), Alphonse Martell (actor), Edmund Mortimer (actor), Red Skelton (actor), Basil Rathbone (actor), Russell Hicks (actor), Herbert Evans (actor), Donald Meek (actor), Eddie Kane (actor), Xavier Cugat (actor), Harry Hayden (actor), Dorothy Adams (actress), Joe Yule (actor),
Plot: Songwriter Steve Elliott is about to marry Caroline Brooks. A strange woman who's been paid by Steve's agent to say she's his wife interrupts the ceremony. An angry Caroline gets her old job back teaching at a girl's college. Determined to win her back, Steve enrolls in the school to become its only male student.
Keywords: actress, airplane, annulment, ballet, bigamy, college, confession, dance-teacher, dean, dogActors: Billy Lechner (actor), Mike Lally (actor), Eddie Kane (actor), Sheldon Jett (actor), William Bailey (actor), Van Johnson (actor), Frank Jenks (actor), Xavier Cugat (actor), Ben Blue (actor), Lee Bennett (actor), Tom Drake (actor), Jimmy Durante (actor), Jimmy Durante (actor), Fred Coby (actor), Carl M. Leviness (actor),
Plot: A sailor helps two sisters start up a service canteen. The sailor soon becomes taken with gorgeous sister Jean, unaware that her sibling Patsy is also in love with him.
Keywords: catfight, dream-sequence, number-in-title, sailor, sister-sister-relationship, skeleton, warehouseActors: John Roche (actor), John Payne (actor), Patrick O'Moore (actor), Alexander Pollard (actor), Russell Hicks (actor), Frank Orth (actor), Edward Everett Horton (actor), George Lloyd (actor), Chick Chandler (actor), Jackie Gleason (actor), Iron Eyes Cody (actor), Dick Elliott (actor), Harry Hayden (actor), Jeffrey Sayre (actor), Cesar Romero (actor),
Plot: Broadway partners Vicky Lane and Dan Christy have a tiff over Christy's womanizing. Jealous Vicky takes up with her old flame and former dance partner, Victor Price, and Dan's career takes a nosedive. In hopes of rekindling their romance and getting Vicky back on the boards with him, Dan follows her to a ritzy resort in the Canadian Rockies, where she and Victor are about to open their new act. But things get complicated when Dan wakes after a bender to find that he's hired an outlandish Latin secretary, Rosita Murphy, which makes Vicky think he's just up to his old tricks again.
Genres: Musical,