Frances Langford
Frances Langford died yesterday at the age of ninety-two. If know who Frances Langford is, you're seriously into old pop culture. Ms Langford, a Floridian, was a vaudeville singer who made it big, trouping with Bob Hope during the war and pairing with Don Ameche for The Bickersons, a popular radio show whose title conveys an idea of its tone. She appeared on an episode of The Honeymooners, improbably dressed to the nines - I seem to recall a mink stole. And she appeared quite gloriously, alongside Eleanor Powell, Una Merkel, and Virginia Bruce, in Born To Dance (1936). Did I forget Jimmy Stewart?
According to the obituary, Ms Langford's second husband was Ralph Evinrude - yes, that Evinrude - and after their marriage she became more interested in boats that in singing. But she did have a great voice. Here's a novelty number that I suspect was actually recorded in Hawai'i - sounds like Alfred Apaka in the background. Listen to In Waikiki
