Brass Diva: The Life and Legends of Ethel Merman (101 page)

22. Sidney Whipple, NYWT, 3 October 1940, MCNY, SC 8.

23. Hattie's ostensibly backward class is also coded in ethnic and national terms.
She gets along effortlessly with the American sailors and the working men and
women of Panama, just as Ethel did when appearing in the southwestern bar in the
short Be Like Me.

24. Dorothy Kilgallen, "Voice of Broadway" (syndicated), 4 November 1940,
MCNY, SC 8.

25. Hollywood Reporter, 29 November 1940, MCNY, SC 8.

26. "Ethel Merman Now Mrs. W. B. Smith: Blues Singer Becomes Bride of Local
Actors' Agent," Los Angeles Examiner, 16 November 1940, AMPAS.

27. "Individuality Brings Ethel Merman Fame," Philadelphia Inquirer, zo January 1944, MCNY, SC it.

z8. Telegram from Buddy DeSylva to EM, 18 February 1941, MCNY, SC 9.

29. TC, interview with author, July zoo6.

30. NYJA, 30 January 1940, MCNY, SC 7.

31. Brooklyn Eagle, 1939, MCNY, SC 7.

32. "Comedians Take Broadway's Mind off World Strife," Hartford Times, i June
1940, MCNY, SC 7.

33. RL, interview with author, July 2004-

34 Staten Island Advance, 1o May 1940, MCNY, SC 7.

3 5. Alexander Woollcott, The Story oflrvingBerlin, quoted in Laurence Bergreen,
As Thousands Cheer: The Life of Irving Berlin (New York: Viking, 199o), 223.

36. Walter Cronkite quoted in Bergreen, As Thousands Cheer, 580.

37. CP, interview with PM, transcript, 3, USC, HMC: Pete Martin Collection.

38. Bergreen, As Thousands Cheer, 450.

39. NYP, "Stars to Act in `Fun to Be Free,"' 13 September 1941, MCNY, SC 9.

40. Unidentified article, [ii] May 1931, MCNY, box 2.

41. RL, interview with author, July 2004.

42. Ibid.

43. News-Organizer (Raleigh, NC), "In Broadway Theatres," 24 January 1943,
MCNY, SC io.

44. Helen Harrison, "Pull Down Your Vest, Lady!" NYWJT, 7 September 1940,
MCNY, SC 8.

45. Dorothy Kilgallen, "Voice of Broadway," NYJA, 14 November 1939, MCNY,
SC 7.

46. Bordman, American Musical Theater, 518-

47. For an extended discussion of this, see Andrea Most, MakingAmericans: Jews
and the Broadway Musical (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004).

48. Marilyn Cantor Baker, telephone interview with author, June 2004.

49. Richard Watts, "Review of DuBarry," NYHT, 7 December 1942, MCNY,
SC 7.

50. By 1940 the average price of a jukebox was $285, and owners expected average weekly returns of $3.5o per machine. The amount was split with location owners, and the jukebox owners soon tried to change profit percentages to 65/35, arguing that disc replacement was costly, with records wearing out after about sixty
playings. "The Story behind a Hit," Boston Sunday Advertiser: "Green Magazine," 21
January 1941, MCNY, SC 8.

51. Elliot Norton, Boston Post, 19 December 1942, NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre
Collection: Special Collections.

52. "Ethel Merman Is Getting Big Laughs on Broadway in Her Newest Musical,"
Milwaukee Journal, 25 January 1943, NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre Collection: Something
for the Boys file.

53. Mike Todd quoted in John Anderson, "Merman in New Hit Musical," NYJA,
24 January 1943, NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre Collection: Something for the Boys file.

54. Elliot Norton, Boston Post, 19 December 1942, NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre
Collection.

55• Unidentified article, ca. December 1942, MCNY, SC 1o.

56. Az, 129-30-

57. William McBrien, Cole Porter: A Biography (New York: Knopf, 1998), 241.

58. Unidentified clipping, ca. November 1936, MCNY, box 15.

59. Allan Berube, Coming Out under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women in
World War Two (New York: Free Press, 1990), 70, 72.

6o. Burton Rascoe, "Why Gentlemen Prefer Brunette La Merman," NYWT, 21
January 1943, MCNY, SC 10; italics added.

61. Deborah Grace Winer, On the Sunny Side of the Street: The Life and Lyrics of
Dorothy Fields (New York: Schirmer Books, 1997), 12,9-30-

CHAPTER 6: FORGING A FAMILY

1. RLS, interview with PM, transcript, 1-2, USC, HMC: Pete Martin Collection.

2. EM, interview with PM, transcript, USC, HMC: Pete Martin Collection.

3. RLS, interview with PM, transcript, 13, USC.

4. RL, interview with author, July 2004.

5. A2,121.

6. Various sources, MCNY, SC 7.

7. RLS, interview with PM, transcript, 5, USC.

8. Variety, 3 June [1942], MCNY, SC io.

9. Az, 1z5.

to. In Biography episode: "Ethel Merman: There's No Business Like Show Business," A&E, 1999 broadcast. For as common as the vocabulary of new "productions"
and "roles" was, Ethel's own family deployed the same metaphors: granddaughter
Barbara Geary refers to Ethel's time as housewife and mom as her "best performance."

ii. NYWT "Navy Relief Show," to March [1942], MCNY, SC 9.

12. M.L.A., "Ethel Merman Scores as Always in New York," Boston Morning
Globe, 27 December 1942, MCNY, SC m.

13. Danton Walker, "Broadway: Bob Levabitt [sic] Is Assigned to the Quartermaster Corps in Brooklyn," New York News, 26 May 1942, MCNY, SC 9. As a member of the military, Levitt's nonjournalist salary would be cut as a result of payroll cutbacks affecting all Americans from President Roosevelt on down.

14. RLS, interview with PM, transcript, 30, USC.

15. DF, interview with PM, transcript, z8, USC, HMC: Pete Martin Collection.

16. "The Rambling Reporter," Hollywood Reporter, 17 April 1944; also in Hal
Eaton, "Going to Town," Long Island City Star-journal, 24 April 1944; both articles
in MCNY, SC H.

IT Dorothy Kilgallen, "Voice of Broadway," NYJA,1o April 1944, MCNY, SC it.

18. Danton Walker, "Broadway," New York News, 21 June 1944, MCNY, SC it.

19. Ed Sullivan, "Little Old New York," New York News, 19 June 1944, MCNY,
SC u.

20. A. P. Waxman, personal note to EM, MCNY, SC H.

21. Gerald Bordman, American Musical Theater: A Chronicle (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1978), 543-

22. Unidentified "Publicity Man from Fox on Lou Irwin," interview with PM,
transcript, iz, USC, HMC: Pete Martin Collection.

23. RE, interview with PM, transcript, i9, USC, HMC: Pete Martin Collection.

24. Louella Parsons, "'Stage Door Canteen' Film Dazzles with Star Galaxy," Los
Angeles Examiner, July 1943

25. Az, 132-

z6. "Film Bond Drive Extended as Battle Costs Increase," Variety, 6 July 1944,
MCNY, SC H.

27. Telegram, 6 November 1944, MCNY, SC zr.

28. Dorothy Kilgallen, "Voice of Broadway," 1VYJA, 14April 1945, MCNY, SC u.

29. Ed Sullivan, "Little Old New York: Weep No More My Ladies," New York
News, 16 July 1944, MCNY, SC H.

30. RL, letter to author, z8 January 2007.

31. RLS, interview with PM, transcript, 13, USC.

32. RL, interview with author, July 2004. Dorothy Fields says that Levitt Sr. was
the one with the mouth in front of the kids; it was people who didn't know Ethel
who insist that Ethel used her salty language everywhere she went.

33. Tyrone Power, letter to EM, 3 March 1940, MCNY, SC 7.

34. RL, interview with author, July 2004-

35• Ibid.

36. RL, letter to author, undated, received 11 February 2004.

37. RL, interview with author, July 2004-

38. RL, letter to author, 28 January 2007.

39. RLS, interview with PM, transcript, z1-zz, USC.

40- Ibid.

41. RL, interview with author, July 2004.

CHAPTER 7: WHAT COMES NATUR'LLY

The epigraphs are from Ward Morehouse, "Broadway after Dark," New York Sun, 29
September 1946, MCNY, SC 13; and author unknown, unidentified Esquire article,
[1946]

i. Julia McCarthy, "Review of Annie Get Your Gun," NYDN, 20 May 1946,
NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre Collection: MWEZ, nc I, "Annie Get Your Gun."

2. Michael Kesterton, "Sharpshooter Was Always a Lady," Toronto Globe and
Mail, 4 November 2000.

3. Ibid.

4. Deborah Grace Winer, On the Sunny Side of the Street: The Life and Lyrics of
Dorothy Fields (New York: Schirmer Books, 1997), 149.

5. DF, interview with PM, transcript, 9, USC, HMC: Pete Martin Collection
(slightly modified for grammar).

6. Ibid., transcript, io.

7. June Herder, "Ethel Met `Annie' in Hospital," Philadelphia Record, 5 May
1946, NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre Collection: MWEZ, nc I, "Annie Get Your Gun."

8. Winer, On the Sunny Side of the Street, xvii.

9. The powerful, brooding song would be a hit by Bing Crosby but was later
banned from radio broadcasts for its downbeat message.

io. Winer, On the Sunny Side of the Street, 58.

H. Ibid., z8.

12. Az, 138-

13. Laurence Bergreen, As Thousands Cheer.- The Life ofIrving Berlin (New York:
Viking, 1990), 448-

14. Ibid., 45o.

15. Az, 139-

16. Herbert and Dorothy Fields, "Authors of `Annie Get Your Gun' Come
Clean," NYHT, zi April 1945, MCNY, SC ii.

17. Bergreen, As Thousands Cheer, 446.

18. Andrea Most, MakingAmericans:Jews and the Broadway Musical (Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press, 2004),119.

19. David Lahm, interview with author, November 2003.

zo. See the discussion by Most, Making Americans, lzzff

z1. Glenn Litton and Cecil Smith, Musical Comedy in America: From the Black
Crook through Sweeney Todd (New York: Routledge, 1978), 185-

22. Bergreen, As Thousands Cheer, 455.

23. Note from Dr. Herbert Graf, ii April 1946, MCNY, SC zr.

24. Az, 140-41.

25. Recently, the 1o percent federal admissions tax on all theater tickets had been
doubled. According to Variety (1o April1946), Annie's $6.6o ticket price reflected a $5.50
base with $i.io tax. Walter Winchell, reliably unreliable about money when gossiping
about the stars, reported $7.20 as the top price (various sources in MCNY, SC 1i).

z6. Bergreen, As Thousands Cheer, 458.

27. A2, 141-42.

z8. Ward Morehouse, "Annie Get Your Gun Hit at the Imperial: Merman Overcomes Flimsy Book," NYWTS, 17 May 1946.

29. Elsa Maxwell, "Elsa Maxwell's Party Line: Review of Annie Get Your Gun,"
NYP, 8 August 1946, MCNY, SC 12.

30. Robert Garland, "`Annie Get Your Gun' at Imperial Theatre," NYJA
(unidentified date), NYPL, Billy Rose Theater Collection: MWEZ, nc I, "Annie Get
Your Gun."

31. Stanley Green, The World of Musical Comedy, 4th ed. (San Diego, CA: Da
Capo Press, 1980).

32. Ai, 187. Martin actually took the remark from his interview with Jule Styne,
who said, "I think Berlin made more of a lady out of Ethel" in Annie Get Your Gun.
"He showed her softer side ... because the other type of girl [she usually played] is a
cliche character ... [who] was good in the zos and 30s, the gangster moll, the `hey hey'
girl." JS, interview with PM, transcript, 9 (?), USC, HMC: Pete Martin Collection.

33. Henry Pleasants, The Great American Popular Singers (New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1985), 342-

34. Joshua Logan, Josh: My Up and Down, In and Out Life (New York: Delacorte,
1976),184-85.

35. Ai, 19o.

36. Richard P. Cooke, "A Perfect Score," WallStreetjournal, 20 May1946, NYPL,
Billy Rose Theatre Collection: MWEZ, nc I, "Annie Get Your Gun."

37. Newsweek, "Annie Scores a Bull's Eye," 27 May 1946, NYPL, Billy Rose
Theatre Collection: MWEZ, nc I, "Annie Get Your Gun."

38. Unidentified clipping, USC, HMC: Pete Martin Collection, box i9: 2-3, 6,
and 194.

39. John Mason Brown, "Seeing Things: La Merman," Saturday Review, 15 June
1946, NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre Collection: MWEZ, nc I, "Annie Get Your Gun."

40. Az, 143.

41. Wolcott Gibbs, "Ethel Merman," Life, 8 July 1946, 92, MCNY, SC 12.

42. Unidentified article, ca. 1938, NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre Collection: Special
Collections.

43• Most, MakingAmericans, 136.

44. RE, interview with PM, transcript, ii, USC, HMC: Pete Martin Collection.

45. Kaye Ballard, conversation with author, z8 June 2004.

46. Anonymous fan, informal conversation with author.

47. Marilyn Cantor Baker, interview with author, June 2004.

48. Chicago Daily News, "Ethel's Voice Can Bowl 'Em," 2 August 1948, MCNY,
SC 13-

49. Jill Bosworth, interview with author, November 2003.

50. Anonymous fan, informal conversation with author, spring 2004.

51. David Lahm, letter to author, November 2005.

52. See Most, Making Americans, the chapter "The Apprenticeship of Annie
Oakley," 142 ff

53. Dorothy Kilgallen, "Voice of Broadway," NYJA, 25 July 1946, MCNY, SC 12.

54. Berlin would receive 4.5 percent of gross box office receipts; the Fieldses
would each receive 2.25 percent.

55. Thanks to Al F. Koenig Jr. for this quote.

56. Marilyn Cantor Baker, interview with author, June 2004.

57. Sherri R. Dienstfrey, "Ethel Merman: Queen of Musical Comedy," Ph.D. dissertation, Kent State University, 1986.

58. G. A. Falzer, "The Two Annie Oakleys," Newark Sunday Call, MCNY, SC 12.

59. Ai, 196.

6o. Earl Wilson, "The Midnight Earl," Daily Mirror, 30 March 1946, MCNY,
SC 11.

61. John Chapman, "Holiday Time along Rialto Finds Actors Ready to Take
Over," 23 June 1948, New York News, MCNY, SC 13-

6z. William Hawkins, "'Annie' Still Shoots 'Em Dead," NYWT, 17 May 1948,
MCNY, SC 13-

63. Pleasants, The Great American Popular Singers, 338-

64. Mary Martin, My Heart Belongs (New York: William Morrow, 1976), 147.

65. Bergreen, As Thousands Cheer, 458-59

66. Ethan Mordden, BeautifulMornin'• The Broadway Musical in the 194os (New
York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 36.

67. George Frazier, Holiday Magazine, October 1947, 132-33, MCNY, SC 12.

68. Ibid.

69. Correspondence from Al F. Koenig Jr. Koenig wrote liner notes for the subsequent releases of her Decca singles on LP and CD.

70. Louis Sobol, "New York Cavalcade," NYJA, z8 October 1946, MCNY, SC 12.

71. Wolcott Gibbs, "Seasons in the Sun and Other Pleasures," excerpted in Reader's
Digest, October 1946, 88, NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre Collection: Special Collections.