Back in 1940, a young singer called
Virginia O'Brien made her debut in the LA production of
"Meet the People" when she was seized by a paralyzing case of stage fright. The policeman daughter nevertheless bravely kept on singing while the audience roared with laughter. Surprisingly, her frozen-faced delivery, far from cutting her career short, created a unique niche for her instead (her wide vocal range and stunning looks also helped). Within short, she'd be appearing as deadpan "featured singer" in a number of golden-age MGM comedies, such as the
"In the Storehouse",
"Panama Hattie", or, most memorably,
"Du Barry was a Lady". It's a bit sad that such a singing and acting talent was reduced to a novelty act, but, damn,
what an act!
posted by Skeptic
on Oct 27, 2008 -
21 comments
