Born in the Astoria section of Queens, New York City, Ethel Merman was surely the pre-eminent star of 'Broadway' musical comedy. Though untrained in singing, she could belt out a song like quite no one else, and was sought after by major songwriters such as Irving Berlin and Cole Porter. Having debuted in 1930 in "Girl Crazy, " she is yet remembered for her marvelous starring appearances in so many great musicals that were later adapted to the silver screen. Among the film versions, Merman herself starred in Transatlantic Follies (1936) and Appelez-moi madame (1953). That wonderfully boisterous blonde, Betty Hutton, had the Merman lead in both L'ange endiablé (1949) and Annie, la reine du cirque (1950). Besides Hutton, other Merman screen stand-ins included Lucille Ball (in La du Barry était une dame (1943)), Ann Sothern (in Panama Hattie (1942)), Vivian Blaine (in Something for the Boys (1944)) and Rosalind Russell (in Gypsy, Venus de Broadway (1962)). (Russell could never render Stephen Sondheim and Jule Styne's "Everything's Coming Up Roses" the way the immortal Merman did, over and over again.)
